Van Zandt, Clint 1945(?)- (Clinton R. Van Zandt)

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Van Zandt, Clint 1945(?)- (Clinton R. Van Zandt)

PERSONAL:

Born c. 1945. Education: Southern Illinois University, undergraduate degree, c. 1967; State University of New York, Brockport, graduate degrees; attended Eastern Illinois University.

ADDRESSES:

Home—VA.

CAREER:

Writer. Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1970-95, chief hostage negotiator and behavioral science supervisor; Van Zandt Associates, Inc., founder. Frequent guest on television and radio shows. Military service: Vietnam War veteran; former U.S. Army counterintelligence agent.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Best Book Award, International Association for Conflict Management, 1998, for Dynamic Processes of Crisis Negotiation: Theory, Research, and Practice.

WRITINGS:

(Editor, with Randall G. Rogan and Mitchell R. Hammer) Dynamic Processes of Crisis Negotiation: Theory, Research, and Practice, Praeger (Westport, CT), 1997.

(With Daniel Paisner) Facing Down Evil: Life on the Edge as an FBI Hostage Negotiator, Putnam (New York, NY), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

Clint Van Zandt spent twenty-five years working for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), much of that as a psychological profiler and hostage negotiator. During this time he played pivotal roles in solving a number of major national and international cases, including the investigations against Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and Branch Davidian leader David Koresh. After retiring from the FBI in 1995, Van Zandt founded Van Zandt Associates, Inc., a threat assessment company offering personal safety consultation services. He recounts his experiences with the FBI's Hostage Negotiation Program in Facing Down Evil: Life on the Edge as an FBI Hostage Negotiator. The book includes many of Van Zandt's most newsworthy investigations, such as bank robberies, hostage standoffs, prison riots, and kidnappings. In an article for Kirkus Reviews, a critic commented that the memoir documents "triumphs and tragedies in the career of a former FBI agent who became one of the Bureau's first hostage-negotiation specialists." "Van Zandt's revelations about hostage negotiation tactics and actual encounters are fascinating," remarked Connie Fletcher in a Booklist review. A Publishers Weekly reviewer pointed out that Van Zandt "successfully converted his reminiscences into a surprisingly entertaining series of anecdotes," the result being "gripping reading."