AP Photographer Walt Zeboski Dies At Age 83
Walt Zeboski, an Associated Press photographer most famous for covering President Ronald Reagan and a string of California Governors, has died at the age of 83 after a battle with pneumonia.
According to the Associated Press, Zeboski died at his Sacramento, California home on Monday.
Zeboski became a permanent employee of the Associated Press in 1966 but his photojournalism career spanned more than three decades. He covered four California governors, including Reagan. He also served photo editor when a colleague snapped a famous Vietnam era photo that won a Pulitzer Prize.
Zeboski covered everything from Labor Leader Cesar Chavez, to armed members of the Black Panther Party, to U.S. Sen. George McGovern’s failed campaign against Richard Nixon. He also covered Queen Elizabeth II’s trip to Yosemite.
The Star Tribune reports a photo Zeboski took of Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, a Charles Manson employee who tried to assassinate Gerald Ford, still gets frequent use in publications.
His wife, Virginia Zeboski, is 90 and said her husband often put himself in harms way to get the photo he needed for an assignment.
“He didn’t complain. He just did what he was told to do,” Virginia Zeboski said. “One time they had him flying upside down in a helicopter taking pictures of the Yosemite Valley, and that was scary.”
Virginia and Walt Zeboski celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary this week. The couple met while working at the The AP bureau located in the offices of the Indianapolis Star. In addition to his wife, Walt Zeboski is survived by his son, Jan, and seven grandchildren.
