Mark I. Pinsky

Journalist and author Mark I. Pinsky was born in Miami, Florida, in 1947, and raised in the southern New Jersey suburbs, in a Conservative Jewish home, where he was active in United Synagogue Youth. In 1967 he was a civilian volunteer with the Israel Defense Force in and around El Arish, Sinai, immediately following the Six Day War, where he helped to salvage captured Egyptian army tanks, trucks, and armored personnel carriers from the desert.

Over five decades, Pinsky’s journalism career has been composed of two strands: writing about social justice as a complement to political activism; and straight reporting for traditional, establishment outlets, bringing social justice issues – sometimes diluted – to broader audiences. On occasion, these strands have been integrated and intertwined. At other times they have been strained and in conflict. For him there was – and is again – a time to demonstrate, march, rally, and get arrested. And a time to write