Lester Ziffren (April 30, 1906 – November 12, 2007) was an American reporter and Hollywood screenwriter.Born in Rock Island, Illinois, Ziffren became a reporter for United Press. He was among the first to report on the Spanish Civil War in 1936. He met Ernest Hemingway in Spain, and the two became good friends. Ziffren used a cipher to evade censors. He left Spain just ahead of Francisco Franco's troops.He then went to Hollywood where he got a job writing movie screenplays.