Bill Zucker, Translator

The translator spent his teens doing a lot of gymnastics. So, what does that have to do with his obsession for translating stories from Danish? 

 

Everything. Not knowing what he wanted to do with the rest of his life upon graduating from college with a B.S., he traveled to Denmark, partly to get away from the school routine, but mostly to try his hand at gymnastics again. He stayed for a total of 4 years, doing more than gymnastics.

 

Why Denmark? Danish kids are doing gymnastics at very early ages. Schools there, as in Scandinavia generally, believe that an introduction to the strength requiring demands—and concentration learning skills--of gymnastics gives their students a leg-up on how to keep physically active and stay healthy throughout life. There are also literally hundreds of local gymnastic clubs serving these purposes for kids and adults alike.

 

 

The rest, as they say: ‘is history’.