Arno Zimmer was born in Rochester, NY and grew up in several towns in Upstate New York. He attended the University of Connecticut, from which he graduated cum laude with distinction in English. Subsequently, he received a master's degree in literature from Georgetown University where he wrote his thesis on John Milton's "Paradise Lost".

His initial foray into writing was a 1981 business book entitled "Employing The Handicapped", directed at employers trying to comply with federal laws and regulations governing the rights of disabled workers. This book was published by AMACOM, the book division of the American Management Associations, and was cited by Library Journal as one of the best business books of the year.

In 2011, he started researching life in 1950s small town America, resulting in his first novel,"The Parlor City Boys", an eBook released in 2015 featuring Det. Billy Meacham, Jr.

"Return to Parlor City," the sequel to "The Parlor City Boys," was released on Amazon as an eBook on October 22, 2016.

In November of 2017, "A Murder In Parlor Harbor" was published, completing the Det. Billy Meacham, Jr. eBook mystery trilogy.

In August of 2018, "Death Comes To The Torpedo Factory" was released in both paperback and eBook formats.