{{short description|German-born artist, illustrator of American children's books}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2016}} {{Infobox writer | birth_date = 2 October 1943 | death_date = 26 September 2008 | birth_place = Goslar, Germany | alma_mater = University of Fine Arts of Hamburg | death_place = Poughkeepsie, New York, USA | image = Cruizin 4.jpg | caption = Second row, far left side: Dirk Zimmer (Dizi), the artist as a young man; exhibition poster by Werner Nöfer, 1967 | occupation = Children's book author and illustrator }} [[File:Гослар9.jpg|thumb|Goslar, near Harz Mountains, Zimmer's birthplace]] '''Dirk''' "'''Dizi'''" '''Zimmer''' (2 October 1943 – 26 September 2008) was a German artist and an illustrator and writer of American children's books.<ref name=goodreads/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jacketflap.com/dirk-zimmer/39278 |title=About Dirk Zimmer |website=jacketflap.com}}</ref>
==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 from 1963 to 1968.
===The German period=== In 1965, he, with fellow artists Francesco Mariotti, Herman Prigann, Werner Nöfer, and Dieter Glasmacher, co-founded ''Cruizin 4'', an art organisation best known for two events: the opening of the exhibition ''Cruizin 4'' in the ''Gallery Mensch'' at Fischmarkt Hamburg-Altona<ref>Cf. Gottfried Sello: ''Die Künstler kamen im Kolossalauto...sie nennen sich Syndikat für Kunstbetrieb'' in: ''Hamburger Abendblatt'' 30. März 1967.</ref> and a performance at Cosinus,<ref>Cf. Natias Neutert: ''Wo er hintrat, wuchs wieder Gras'' (where he walked, grass grew again) in: ''Humus. Hommage à Helmut Salzinger''. Ed. by Klaus Modick, Mo Salzinger und Michael Kellner. Kellner Verlag, Hamburg 1996, p. 98. {{ISBN|3-89630-101-2}}</ref> a pub in the university district. The Happening ''1. World Record in Permanent Painting'' took place under medical, and specifically psychiatric care, by doctors of the University Hospital Eppendorf. (The planned 80-hour performance was cancelled after 36 hours on medical advice because of collapse of one of the participants).<ref>Cf. Wolfgang Feucht: ''Mal-Schlacht um Weltrekord unter ärztlicher Aufsicht'' in: Bremer Nachrichten, 10. November 1967.</ref><ref>Cf. Anke Grundmann: ''Weltmeister im Dauermalen'' in: ''Die Welt'', 06. November 1967.</ref>
Under the moniker 'Dizi', Zimmer had a brief career as a painter during the German avant-garde movement and then turned to film-making, which he eventually dropped in the late 1970s to work as an illustrator for American publications including ''Crawdaddy'', ''The New York Times'', and ''The New-York Magazine''. Over the years, both his paintings and illustrations were shown in private galleries in New York, Germany, Switzerland, and France.{{Cn|date=November 2025}}
===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 lived in a flat in John Street for a lengthy period of time. The only media contact with his homeland was through the German ''Boa Vista'' magazine, in which he first published vignettes,<ref>Cf. ''Boa Vista'' 5. Zeitschrift für Neue Literatur. Ed. by Daniel Dubbe/Manfred Henning/Natias Neutert/Peter Waldheim, Hamburg 1977, pp. 1, 96.</ref> then later his written and illustrated (from 1977, New York) short-story comic with the cryptically and untranslatable German title ''Die mysteriöse Schratzmichlöse''.<ref>Cf. ''Boa Vista'' 6. Zeitschrift für Neue Literatur. Ed. by Natias Neutert/Peter Waldheim/Manfred Henning, Hamburg 1978, pp. 49–55.</ref> From 1978 to 2004 Zimmer published more than thirty children's books.<ref name=goodreads/>
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. In 1990, he was one of a small group of illustrators—including Natalie Babbitt, Maurice Sendak, Marc Simont and Barbara Cooney—whose work was featured in ''The Big Book for Peace'' (Dutton, 1990), an anthology of 34 artists and writers.<ref name="SLJ" />
===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 from his injuries on September 26 at St. Francis Hospital in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. He is survived by two sisters who live in Germany. The sequel of the book ''Egon'' (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."<ref name=SLJ/>
==Legacy== {{Unreferenced section|date=November 2025}} Zimmer's offbeat, sometimes grotesque, but always gentle humour made him much sought-after as an illustrator for "scary" picture books, two of which were included in the American Library Association Notable Book lists for children's books.
''The Trick-Or-Treat Trap -'' the only book that he wrote and illustrated himself - was critically well received. ''The New York Times'' praised its "tongue-in-cheek" humour: "His pen has bite as he pictures a wonderfully wicked assortment of ornery little beings."
==Bibliography== ===Books in cooperation===
==== In German==== * 1982 ''Egon'' 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 ''Egon'' 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'' by Alvin Schwartz * 1985 ''Buster Loves Buttons'' by Fran Manushkin; ''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; ''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; ''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 * 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== {{Unreferenced section|date=November 2025}} * 1978 Irma Simonton Schwarz Award from the Bank Street College of Education for ''Felix in the Attic'', Harvey House
==References== {{Reflist |25em |refs=
<ref name=goodreads> {{cite web |url=https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/32426.Dirk_Zimmer |title=Dirk Zimmer |website=goodreads.com}}</ref> <ref name=SLJ> [http://www.slj.com/2008/10/industry-news/childrens-book-illustrator-dirk-zimmer-dies-at-64/ "Children's Book Illustrator Dirk Zimmer Dies at 64"]. ''School Library Journal''. 3 October 2008. Retrieved 2017-06-01.</ref>
}}
==External links== {{Portal|Children's literature}} * {{isfdb name|8599}} * {{LCAuth|n79011656|Dirk Zimmer||}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zimmer, Dirk}} Category:1943 births Category:2008 deaths Category:American children's book illustrators Category:German artists Category:German male writers Category:People from Goslar