Continuing to write books and advertising copy, Zern became a contributing editor of the new Sports Illustrated magazine for four years.
[2] Zern was deeply involved in environmental issues and conservation, but excused his less-than-strident advocacy of these causes in print, saying, "I have problems being serious."
He detested "game hogs" (hunters and fishers who take more than the limit), those who pollute the air and water, and he thought that a strong conservation ethic is about the finest trait any sportsman can possess.
The awards were presented annually to 10 professional conservationists employed by nonprofit organizations, and to 10 persons whose conservation efforts were voluntary.
"[4] in his articles for Field and Stream, Zern would casually mention Wagner (comparing his operas to big game hunting), Bach (trout fishing with a dry fly), Proust and Joyce.
He once included an offhand "book review" of "Lady Chatterley's Lover": Although written many years ago, Lady Chatterley's Lover has just been reissued by Grove Press, and this fictional account of the day-to-day life of an English gamekeeper is still of considerable interest to outdoorminded readers, as it contains many passages on pheasant raising, the apprehending of poachers, ways of controlling vermin, and other chores and duties of the professional gamekeeper.
Unfortunately one is obliged to wade through many pages of extraneous material in order to discover and savor these sidelights on the management of a Midland shooting estate, and in this reviewer's opinion this book can not take the place of J. R. Miller's Practical Gamekeeping.
Zern continued, editorially: "Personally, I believe wholeheartedly in "discrimination"— against game-hogs, fish-hogs, violators of the written and the unwritten laws of sportsmanship, conservation, decency, and courtesy.
Noting that marijuana impairs the faculties, he asked, "Is he fearful lest the local perch should fail their bar exams, or the pike flunk their courses in nuclear physics?
Zern was survived by his companion, Sandra Weiner; his daughter, Erica; son, Brook; brother, Gordon; and two granddaughters.
[2] When Zern retired from Field and Stream in 1993, the magazine's managing editor, Maggie Nichols, said, "No one could possibly take Ed's place."