John van der Zee

JVDZ headshot - credit The American Experience
Born in San Francisco in 1936, a year before the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge, John van der Zee graduated from Stanford University with a degree in history and worked for 32 years in advertising agencies in San Francisco and New York, including at McCann-Ericson for 24 years, serving as Senior Vice-President and Creative Director. For ten years, he wrote commercials for Wells Fargo Bank which have been honored at every level of the advertising business and are considered the most successful financial advertising ever done.

Van der Zee is the author of four novels and nine books of nonfiction, including The Gate: The True Story of The Design and Construction of The Golden Gate Bridge, which is considered the defining work on the subject. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner, Town & Country, Zyzziva and salon.com.

His broadcast appearances include the Today Show, NBC, Building Big on PBS, American Experience “The Golden Gate Bridge” PBS, New York Times Forum, NPR’s “All Things Considered”, Public Radio International and Voice of America. His lectures include the Trent R. Dames Lecture for the Huntington Fund for the Heritage of Civil Engineering, and “The Golden Gate Bridge and its Forgotten Engineer” at the Commonwealth Club of California. (photo: The American Experience)


Click on the cover for details about the eBook:

The Gate eBook cover