Mark Wiesner had a long and varied career that included time as an award-winning Staten Island Advance reporter.
Mark Wiesner had a long and varied career that included time as an award-winning Staten Island Advance reporter. MONTCLAIR -- A clinical psychologist, noted Hitler scholar, and former award-winning reporter has died.
Marcus "Mark" Wiesner, a former Staten Island Advance reporter, died at his home in Montclair on Sept. 13. He was 82 years old.
In his youth, Wiesner was a celebrated football player, winning the All-City honors as a senior at New Dorp High School in Staten Island, New York. He went on to play tackle for the Wagner College team, and was inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006.
Professionally, Wiesner had a vast and varied career.
As a reporter for the Staten Island Advance, Wiesner and his colleague, Michael Azzara, won the Citizens Budget Commission award for outstanding journalism. He left the paper to serve in several different roles in the administration of NYC Mayor John Lindsay. After that, he worked as a speech writer for the Prot Authority of New York and New Jersey, and is credited with initiating a school sound-proofing program near area airports.
Wiesner then went back to school to study psychology. He earned a Master's Degree from New York University and a doctorate from Saybrook Graduate School in San Francisco. He worked as a clinical psychologist at Northern State Prison in New Jersey for more than a decade, and maintained a private practice in Montclair.
The relative of victims of the Holocaust, Wiesner also dedicated much of his time to studying Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party. He has published several scholarly works on the Holocaust, and an in-depth psychological study on Albert Speer, Hitler's chief architect during World War II.
He also published two novels, "The Murder Artist," which was given a Writer's Digest Magazine Honorary Mention in 2010, and "The Heifer Chronicles," which was published under the pen name Marc Joseph.
Wiesner's wife, Lorraine Murphy, died in 1995. He is survived by a daughter, Annabel Tirado, of West Orange; son, Neal, of St. George, Staten Island; his life partner the Reverend Terry Troia; and godson Chakthip Phongdapki, of St. George.
Visitation will be held at Harmon Funeral Home in Staten Island on Thursday from 2 to 5 and 7 to 9 p.m. Contributions in Wiesner's memory may be made to the Dr. Marcus J. Wiesner Memorial Fund at Project Hospitality.
Jessica Mazzola may be reached at jmazzola@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessMazzola. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
