He attended college at University of Massachusetts Amherst, obtaining a Bachelor of Science in Zoology in 1986.

[1] During his years in Prague (1990–95), he worked as editor-translator for the English-language section of the Czech News Agency,[2] copy editor–translator for the English-language newspaper Prognosis,[3] and freelance translator for a variety of Czech and English-language cultural reviews and literary magazines, including Raut,[4] Trafika,[3] Yazzyk,[3] and Zlatý řez.

From 2002 to 2004, Zucker taught Czech at the NYU School of Continuing and Professional Studies.

[8] In 2011, he received a Creative Writing Fellowship[9] from the National Endowment for the Arts to support his translation of the 1931 Czech classic Marketa Lazarová, by Vladislav Vančura.

Zucker has also translated lyrics by Filip Topol,[25] leader of the Czech rock group Psí vojáci (Dog Soldiers).