Dirk Zimmer (2 October 1943 – 26 September 2008), called ''Dizi'', was a German artist and an illustrator and writer of American children's books.

Biography

Zimmer was born in Goslar in Lower Saxony. He grew up mostly in Hamburg, where he attended the

University of Fine Arts of Hamburg The ''Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg (HFBK Hamburg)'' is the University of Fine Arts of Hamburg. It dates to 1767, when it was called the ''Hamburger Gewerbeschule''; later it became known as ''Landeskunstschule Hamburg''. The main build ...

from 1963 to 1968.

The German period

In 1965, he, with fellow artists Francesco Mariotti, Herman Prigann, Werner Nöfer, and Dieter Glasmacher, cofounded ''Cruizin 4'', an art organization best known for two events: the opening of the exhibition ''Cruizin 4'' in the ''Gallery Mensch'' at

Fischmarkt Hamburg-Altona The Fischmarkt Hamburg-Altona GmbH (FMH) develops and administrates the area of the fishing port in the Altona district of Hamburg, Germany. By doing so, it connects integrated services in frozen goods logistics, production and commerce with ...

and a performance at Cosinus, a pub in the university district. The

Happening A happening is a performance, event, or situation art, usually as performance art. The term was first used by Allan Kaprow during the 1950s to describe a range of art-related events. History Origins Allan Kaprow first coined the term "happen ...

''1. World Record in Permanent Painting'' took place under medical, and specifically psychiatric care, too, by doctors of the University Hospital Eppendorf. (The planned on about 80-hour performance was canceled after 36 hours on medical advice because of collapse of one of the participants). Under the moniker 'Dizi', Zimmer had a brief career as a painter during the German avant-garde movement and then turned to filmmaking, which he eventually dropped in the late 1970s to work as an illustrator for such American publications as '' Crawdaddy'', '' The New York Times'', and ''

The New-York Magazine ''The New-York Magazine; or, Literary Repository'' was a monthly literary magazine published in New York City from 1790 to 1797, and claimed as one of the four most important magazines of its time. One of the longest-running magazines of that era ...

''. Over the years, both his paintings and illustrations were shown in private galleries in New York, Germany, Switzerland, and France.

The American period

His work as a children's book illustrator began after moving permanently to New York City in 1977. He also continued to exhibit his artwork and to be a presence in the New York art scene. He found a flat in John Street, right under the roof, for a lengthy period of time. The only media contact to his homeland was through the German '' Boa Vista'' magazine, in which he first published vignettes, than later his written and illustrated (from 1977, New York) short-story comic with the cryptically and untranslatable German title ''Die mysteriöse Schratzmichlöse''.Cf. '' Boa Vista'' 6. Zeitschrift für Neue Literatur. Ed. by Natias Neutert/Peter Waldheim/Manfred Henning, Hamburg 1978, pp. 49–55. From 1978 to 2004 Zimmer published more than two and a half dozen kid's books. Zimmer moved to Barrytown, NY in the early 1980s, and later lived in the Rondout area of Kingston. He was a contributor and collaborator at the northern Dutchess quarterly ''AboutTown''. He later moved to

Tivoli, NY Tivoli is a village in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population is 1,012, according to the 2020 census. The village, which was incorporated in 1872 from parts of Upper Red Hook Landing and Madalin, is the northernmost settlement i ...

. In 1990, he was one of a small group of illustrators—including

Natalie Babbitt Natalie Zane Babbitt (née Moore; July 28, 1932 – October 31, 2016) was an American writer and illustrator of children's books. Her 1975 novel '' Tuck Everlasting'' was adapted into two feature films and a Broadway musical. She received th ...

Maurice Sendak Maurice Bernard Sendak (; June 10, 1928 – May 8, 2012) was an American author and illustrator of children's books. He became most widely known for his book ''Where the Wild Things Are'', first published in 1963.Turan, Kenneth (October 16, 200 ...

Marc Simont Marc Simont (November 23, 1915 – July 13, 2013) was a Paris-born American artist, political cartoonist, and illustrator of more than a hundred children's books. Inspired by his father, Spanish painter Joseph Simont, he began drawing at an early ...

and

Barbara Cooney Barbara Cooney (August 6, 1917 – March 10, 2000) was an American writer and illustrator of 110 children's books, published over sixty years. She received two Caldecott Medals for her work on ''Chanticleer and the Fox'' (1958) and '' Ox-Cart Ma ...

—whose work was featured in ''The Big Book for Peace'' ( Dutton, 1990), an anthology of 34 artists and writers.

Car accident and death

In Tivoli, on a walk to the river on the afternoon of September 21, 2008, Zimmer was struck by a car. He died five days later on September 26 from his wounds at St. Francis Hospital in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. He is survived by two sisters who live in Germany. The sequel of the book ''Egon'' (published 1980), on which he was working at that time, was left unfinished. Egon, Zimmer's adventurous, furry alter ego, leaves the following note at the end of the book: "I am having a good time. I will be home some day but not until the show ends. Maybe soon."

Legacy

Zimmer's offbeat, sometimes grotesque, but always gentle humor made him one of the most sought-after illustrators for "scary" picture books, two of which were selected as

American Library Association Notable Book American Library Association Notable lists are announced each year in January by various divisions within the American Library Association (ALA). There are six lists, part of the larger ALA awards structure. * ''ALA Notable Books for Adults'' (est ...

lists for children's books. ''The Trick-Or-Treat Trap''—the only book that he has written and illustrated by himself, got the most resonance and response in criticism. So '' The New York Times'' praised the humor of this work with the adjective "tongue-in-cheek": "His pen has bite as he pictures a wonderfully wicked assortment of ornery little beings."

Bibliography

Books in cooperation

In German

* 1982 ''

Egon Egon is a variant of the male given name Eugene. It is most commonly found in Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Estonia, Hungary, Slovakia, Sweden, Denmark, and parts of the Netherlands and Belgium. The name can also be derived from the G ...

'' by Larry Bograd. Reinbek bei Hbg., Carlsen Verlag (Reinbeker Kinderbücher), Reinbek bei Hamburg.

In English

* 1968 ''The Iron Giant: A Story in Five Nights'' by Ted Hughes * 1978 ''Felix in the Attic'' by Larry Bograd * 1980 ''

'' by Larry Bograd * 1981 ''Mean Jake and the Devils'' by William H. Hooks * 1983 ''Bony-Legs'' by Joanna Cole; ''Esteban and the Ghost'' by Sibyl Hancock * 1984 ''

In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories ''In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories'' is a collection of horror stories, poems and urban legends retold for children by Alvin Schwartz and illustrator Dirk Zimmer. It was published as part of the I Can Read! series in 1984. In 2017 ...

'' by Alvin Schwartz * 1985 ''Buster Loves Buttons'' by

Fran Manushkin Fran Manushkin (born November 2, 1942) is an American children's book author. She originally began as a children's book editor before transferring to an author. She attended the University of Illinois and Roosevelt University. Manushkin has auth ...

; ''Someone Saw a Spider: Spider Facts and Folktales'' by Shirley Climo * 1986 ''Poor Gertie'' by Larry Bograd; ''Perrywinkle and the Book of Magic Spells'' by Ross Madsen * 1987 ''Curse Squirrel Bk/Cass'' by Laurence Yep; ''The Naked Bear: Folktales of the Iroquois'' by John Bierhorst; ''Sky is Full of Song'' by Lee Bennett Hopkins * 1989 ''Weird Wolf'' by

Margery Cuyler Margery Cuyler is an American children's book author. She has written many picture books, including That's Good! That's Bad! and the rest of its series. Cuyler grew up in Princeton, NJ. She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1970. Besides wr ...

; ''Windy Day: Stories and Poems'' by Caroline Feller; ''John Tabor's Ride'' by Edward C. Day * 1990 ''The Big Book for Peace'' by Lloyd Alexander * 1991 ''The Cow Is Mooing Anyhow: A Scrambled Alphabet to Be Read at Breakfast'' by Laura Geringer * 1992 ''Moonbow of Mr. B. Bones'' by

J. Patrick Lewis J. Patrick Lewis (born May 5, 1942) is an American poet and prose writer noted for his children's poems and other light verse. He worked as professor of economics from 1974-1998, after which he devoted himself full-time to writing. Awards Lewis ...

; ''The One That Got Away (children's book), The One That Got Away'' by Percival Everett * 1993 ''Tsugele’s Broom'' by Valerie Scho Carey * 1994 ''Seven Spiders Spinning'' (''The Hamlet Chronicles'' # 1) by Gregory Maguire * 1995 ''Some Fine Grumpa!'' by Alan Arkin * 1996 ''One Eye, Two Eyes, Three Eyes: A Hutzul Tale''; ''The Great Turtle Drive'' by

Steve Sanfield Steven Sanfield (born August 3, 1937 – January 28, 2015) was an American poet, children's book author, and Freedom Rider. He published over 30 books during his lifetime. The University of California Davis library holds a collection of his writin ...

* 1997 ''Perrywinkle's Magic Match'' by Ross Martin Madsen * 2004 ''An I Can Read Halloween Treat'' by Michele Sobel Spirn *2006 ''Jake the Gardener: Guide Dog Digs Treasure'' by E. S. Aardvark

Books by himself

* 1982 ''The Trick-Or-Treat Trap'', Harper & Row

Awards, honours

* 1978 Irma Simonton Schwarz Award from the Bank Street College of Education for ''Felix in the Attic'', Harvey House

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zimmer, Dirk 1943 births 2008 deaths American children's book illustrators German artists German male writers People from Goslar