Zbigniew Preisner
An author who masterfully blends meticulous journalism with page-turning suspense, both in bestselling thrillers and gripping nonfiction accounts of the ancient world.
Born 1955 (age 71)·Polish film score composer·Birthday: May 20·Baby Boomers
Biography
Douglas Preston's career reads like one of his own adventurous plots. He started at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, an experience that ignited a lifelong passion for science and archaeology. This foundation in fact served him perfectly when he turned to fiction, co-authoring with Lincoln Child the blockbuster 'Relic', a thriller set in a museum. The Preston & Child partnership became a fixture on bestseller lists, known for deeply researched, high-concept suspense. Yet Preston never abandoned nonfiction. He has trekked through Honduran rainforests searching for lost cities and investigated the coldest cases of the FBI's art crime team, translating these exploits into compelling narratives. Whether excavating a dinosaur or plotting a villain's scheme, his work is united by a storyteller's zeal for uncovering hidden truths.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Zbigniew was born in 1955, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Zbigniew Was Born
The biggest hits of 1955
#1 Movie
Lady and the Tramp
Best Picture
Marty
#1 TV Show
The $64,000 Question
Zbigniew's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1955Born
Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat
Gas: $0.29/galHome: $9,550Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Rock Around the Clock" — Bill Haley & His CometsBest Picture: Marty
1960Started school
Kennedy-Nixon debates become first televised presidential debates
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,900Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Theme from A Summer Place" — Percy FaithBest Picture: The Apartment
1968Became a teenager
Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy assassinated
Gas: $0.34/galHome: $14,950Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Hey Jude" — The BeatlesBest Picture: Oliver!
1971Could drive
Voting age lowered to 18 in the US
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $18,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Joy to the World" — Three Dog NightBest Picture: The French Connection
1973Could vote
US withdraws from Vietnam; Roe v. Wade decided
Gas: $0.39/galHome: $22,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" — Tony Orlando & DawnBest Picture: The Sting
1976Turned 21
Apple Computer founded; US bicentennial
Gas: $0.59/galHome: $29,300Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Silly Love Songs" — WingsBest Picture: Rocky
1985Turned 30
Live Aid concerts raise money for Ethiopian famine
Gas: $1.12/galHome: $62,900Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Careless Whisper" — Wham!Best Picture: Out of Africa
1995Turned 40
Oklahoma City bombing; Windows 95 released
Gas: $1.15/galHome: $96,500Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Gangsta's Paradise" — CoolioBest Picture: Braveheart
2005Turned 50
Hurricane Katrina devastates New Orleans; YouTube launches
Gas: $2.30/galHome: $167,500Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"We Belong Together" — Mariah CareyBest Picture: Crash
2015Turned 60
Paris climate agreement; same-sex marriage legalized in the US
Gas: $2.43/galHome: $171,900Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Uptown Funk" — Mark Ronson ft. Bruno MarsBest Picture: Spotlight
2025Turned 70
AI agents go mainstream
Gas: $3.10/galHome: $385,000Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"APT." — Rose & Bruno Mars
2026Age 71 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Co-authored the bestselling Pendergast series with Lincoln Child, beginning with the novel 'Relic' in 1995.
- Wrote the nonfiction book 'The Monster of Florence', which inspired Thomas Harris's 'Hannibal' sequel.
- His solo novel 'Jennie', based on a true story of a chimpanzee raised as a human, was adapted into a film by Disney.
- Served as a writer and editor for the American Museum of Natural History and published in magazines like The New Yorker and Smithsonian.
Did You Know?
He worked as an editor at the American Museum of Natural History, where he met Lincoln Child.
Preston lived in Italy for several years while researching the 'Monster of Florence' murders and faced legal challenges from Italian authorities.
He is a founding member of the International Thriller Writers organization.
With his brother Richard, also an author, he has written about the history of the American West.
“The difference between fiction and nonfiction is that fiction has to be believable.”
