SOURCE: The New York Times, 26 July 1970, pp. 1,3.

Here, in the course of arguing that drama is a form of expression inherent in humankind, Zindel recollects events in his own life that demonstrate an innate affinity for the theater.

I am told I am born a playwright at a time when the Theater is dying. Somehow I think if my "birth" were better understood, it would show that the Theater is breathing quite autonomously and will continue to do so until the last man on earth raises a pistol and blasts his head off (an occasion I am quite devoted to helping avoid).

I have come to this conclusion about theatrical respiration via what may be a unique path! I evolved into a writer of plays by never having gone near a theater until I was in my twenties. The fact that I had written two plays by that...