Ave Atque Vale Wim Zwiers

My previous post was about shutting down this blog. That is still my intention. The delay has been in part due to avoidance and in part, mundanely, old-man wise, I don't know how to do so without losing the content.

I don't want to lose the content because I've found that people are interested in this work and are referencing it. I posted how part of my Jan de Jong story was included in a book about jujutsu in Holland during WWII. Someone else recently contacted me about my source of information about Hannie Schaft, the girl with the red hair, and her two teenage accomplices in the Dutch resistance. Apparently I have sourced more material than is currently available in any one source. Others have kindly contacted me to express their gratitude for developing and informing on the story of Jan de Jong.

However, another milestone has occurred this week that needs to be recorded and acknowledged as part of the Jan de Jong story. I was informed that Wim Zwiers passed away.

Wim was a friend of Jan de Jong's from WWII. He designed an ex libris (see above) for Jan de Jong which then went on to become the logo for his school. Please follow this link to my post about Wim and this logo.

Wim and Jan de Jong told me the story of how they met during WWII. Wim went to complain about the noise coming from a party that Jan de Jong was hosting. Jan de Jong responded by folding him up in a bed that folded into the wall and wouldn't let him out until he agreed to join the party. He agreed and they became life long friends after that.

I met Wim with Jan de Jong on one of our teaching tours throughout Western Europe. It was a highlight of my trip. He was an amazing artist, a down-to-earth character, an incredible intellect. Just check our some of his work on this link.

His lounge room was an amazing collection of art. Some of his, but some from others who had created and gifted them to him in memory of his departed wife. All of the art had a story and meaning, and I was fortunate enough for Wim to share with me those stories and meanings.

Wim showed me how he created his ex libris. They are etched on a copper plate before they are printed on a paper by an old hand-cranked printing press. They are limited quantities as the printing process eventually wears down the copper plate. A fascinating aspect of this process is that he had to etch the copper plate in reverse, a mirror image. The etching he was working on when he was giving me the tour of his studio was a commissioned work of a person's deceased cat, however, he was using pointillism to etch the image.

I was fortunate to be gifted a work by Wim which now sits proudly on our wall and which is included at the top of this post.

Ave atque vale, I salute you and farewell, Wim Zwiers.