Jan Willem Lincoln van de Wetering (February 12, 1931 – July 4, 2008) was the author of a number of works in English and Dutch.

Biography

Van de Wetering was born and raised in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

, but in later years he lived in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

and most recently in

Surry, Maine Surry is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,632 at the 2020 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and is water. Climate This clima ...

, the setting of two of his Grijpstra and de Gier novels and his children's series about the

porcupine Porcupines are large rodents with coats of sharp Spine (zoology), spines, or quills, that protect them against predation. The term covers two Family (biology), families of animals: the Old World porcupines of the family Hystricidae, and the New ...

"Hugh Pine". Van de Wetering studied Zen under the guidance of

Oda Sessō Oda Sessō (小田雪窓, 1901 – 16 September 1966)Stirling 2006, pg. 50 was a Rinzai Rōshi and abbot of the Daitoku-ji (大徳寺) in Kyoto, Japan, a Dharma successor of Gotō Zuigan. He was elected abbot of Daitoku-ji upon Goto's re ...

, together with

Walter Nowick Walter Nowick (January 29, 1926—February 6, 2013) was an American teacher of Rinzai Zen. He was a Juilliard-trained pianist and a veteran of World War II. He studied Zen in Japan for 16 years while teaching university-level piano and voice, th ...

, at

Daitoku-ji is a Rinzai school Zen Buddhist temple in the Murasakino neighborhood of Kita-ku in the city of Kyoto Japan. Its ('' sangō'') is . The Daitoku-ji temple complex is one of the largest Zen temples in Kyoto, covering more than . In addition to ...

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

. Van de Wetering lived a year in Daitoku-ji and half a year with Nowick outside the temple, and described his experiences in his book ''The Empty Mirror''. The book includes an account of a visit to the monastery by

Hugo Enomiya-Lassalle Hugo Makibi Enomiya-Lassalle (11 November 1898 in Gut Externbrock near Nieheim, Province of Westphalia, Westphalia – 7 July 1990 in Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, Westphalia) was a German Jesuits, Jesuit priest and one of the foremost tea ...

, describing his own mixed thoughts about this representative of what he deemed an old-fashioned religion.

Sōkō Morinaga The traditional Chinese calendar divides a year into 24 solar terms (节气/節氣). ''Shuāngjiàng'', ''Sōkō'', ''Sanggang'', or ''Sương giáng'' () is the 18th solar term. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 210 ...

, Walter Nowick's Dharma brother, wrote in ''Novice to Master'' about traditional practices at that time. Van de Wettering also encountered American poet and author

Gary Snyder Gary Snyder (born May 8, 1930) is an American poet, essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist. His early poetry has been associated with the Beat Generation and the San Francisco Renaissance and he has been described as the "poet laureate ...

(referred to in ''The Empty Mirror'' as "Gerald") during his time at Daitoku-ji. Snyder was also studying under abbot Oda Sesso Roshi at that time. His many travels, and his experiences in a

Zen Buddhist Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...

monastery and as a member of the Amsterdam Reserve Constabulary ("being a policeman in one's spare time" as he phrased it in his introduction to ''Outsider in Amsterdam'') lend some authenticity to his works of fiction and non-fiction. Van de Wetering was awarded the French

Grand Prix de Littérature Policière The (or the Police Literature Grand Prize) is a French literary award, literary prize founded in 1948 by author and literary critic Maurice-Bernard Endrèbe. It is the most prestigious award for crime fiction, crime and detective fiction in Franc ...

in 1984 for his novel ''Maine Massacre''. He died in

Blue Hill, Maine Blue Hill is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States, located on Blue Hill Bay. The population was 2,792 at the 2020 census. It is home to the Blue Hill Public Library, Blue Hill Memorial Hospital, George Stevens Academy, the Blue Hill ...

, aged 77.

Bibliography

Van de Wetering was particularly noted for his

detective fiction Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an criminal investigation, investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around ...

, his most popular creations being Grijpstra and de Gier, a pair of

police officers who figure in a lengthy series of

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

s and

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

. Most of the mysteries are rich with images from Amsterdam, where most of them take place; some also feature a cat: in earlier novels, one named Oliver; in later novels, a female named Tabriz. He also wrote stories for children and nonfiction works. He usually wrote in Dutch and then in English; the two versions often differ considerably.

Grijpstra and de Gier novels

Adjutant-Detective Henk Grijpstra and Detective-Sergeant Rinus de Gier, along with their never-named elderly superior, the Commissaris, are the most popular creations of Janwillem van de Wetering. They are police detectives in the Murder Brigade of the

Municipal Police, and are featured in fourteen

detective novel Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as specu ...

s and several

published in ''

Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine ''Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine'' is a bi-monthly American digest size fiction magazine specializing in crime fiction, particularly detective fiction, and mystery fiction. Launched in fall 1941 by Mercury Press, ''EQMM'' is named after the fic ...

'' and ''

Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine ''Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine'' (''AHMM'') is a bi-monthly digest size fiction magazine specializing in crime and detective fiction. ''AHMM'' is named for Alfred Hitchcock, the famed director of suspense films and television. History ''AH ...

''. Grijpstra, heavy, middle-aged, and less than happily married, is the senior partner of the duo. Though he was raised in Amsterdam, he is a Frisian (from Friesland, a northern area of the Netherlands) born in the port city of Harlingen. In his youth he dreamed of becoming a jazz musician or a painter. When a set of drums mysteriously appeared in police headquarters he appropriated them. De Gier, a younger man with deep brown eyes and curly hair, and most-often sporting a tasteful denim suit, is single, handsome, and very successful with women. He is an avowed bachelor and dedicated to his cats. He is a dreamer and a deep thinker, often pondering aloud on "the void," Zen, and life. A native of

, de Gier is, like Grijpstra, an amateur musician. He often carries a small flute, and in odd moments he and Grijpstra improvise together in their office, where Grijpstra has his set of drums. The Commissaris, small, elderly, and often nearly incapacitated by chronic rheumatism, supervises the partners' field investigations. Intelligent and broadly experienced, he often provides key insights into his juniors' cases, as well as philosophical commentary. A Frisian like Grijpstra, the Commissaris is fond of

jenever Jenever (, ), also known as Hollands, genever, genièvre, peket, or sometimes as Dutch gin (archaic: Holland gin or Geneva gin), is the juniper-flavoured traditional liquor in the Netherlands, Belgium, and adjoining areas in northern France ...

and small cigars. Only his first name, Jan, is ever mentioned. Grijpstra, de Gier, and the Commissaris first appeared in the novel ''Outsider in Amsterdam''. The novels (in both publishing order and internal chronological order) are: #''Outsider in Amsterdam'' (1975) #''Tumbleweed'' (1976) #''The Corpse on the Dike'' (1976) #''Death of a Hawker'' (1977) #''The Japanese Corpse'' (1977) #''The Blond Baboon'' (1978) #''The Maine Massacre'' (1979) #''The Mind-Murders'' (1981) #''The Streetbird'' (1983) #''The Rattle-Rat'' (1985) #''Hard Rain'' (1986) #''Just a Corpse at Twilight'' (1994) #''The Hollow-Eyed Angel'' (1996) #''The Perfidious Parrot'' (1997) A complete anthology of short stories, ''The Amsterdam Cops: Collected Stories'', was published in 1999, replacing two earlier anthologies, ''The Sergeant's Cat and Other Stories'' and ''The Amsterdam Cops and Other Stories''. (The latter has also been published, confusingly, under the title ''The Sergeant's Cat'', with some stories taken from the earlier collection of that title.)

Children's books

* ''Little Owl'', 1978 * ''Hugh Pine'', 1980 * ''Hugh Pine and the Good Place'', 1981 * ''Hugh Pine and Something Else'', 1983 * ''Eugen Eule und der Fall des verschwundenen Flohs'', 2001

Other fiction

* ''The Butterfly Hunter'', 1982 * ''Bliss and Bluster'', 1982 * ''Inspector Saito's Small Satori'', 1985 (collection) * ''Murder by Remote Control'', 1986 (graphic novel, with Paul Kirchner) * ''Seesaw Millions'', 1988 * ''Mangrove Mama and Other Tropical Tales of Terror'', 1995 (anthology) * ''Judge Dee Plays His Lute: A Play and Selected Mystery Stories'', 1997 (anthology; includes the original play ''Judge Dee Plays his Lute'' and a selection of uncollected short stories) * ''Die entartete Seezunge'', 2004 (inspired by the World War 2 bombing of Rotterdam and the 9/11 disaster in NYC) (a novel in German, appeared as an article in Dutch)

Non-fiction

* ''The Empty Mirror: Experiences in a Japanese Zen Monastery'', 1971 * ''A Glimpse of Nothingness: Experiences in an American Zen Community'', 1975 * ''De doosjesvuller en andere vondsten'' (The boxfiller and other findings), 1984 (essays in Dutch) * ''Waar zijn we aan begonnen?'' (What have we started?), 1985 (essays in Dutch on the stages of life with the psychologist

Hans van Rappard Hans may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Hans (name), a masculine given name * Hans Raj Hans, Indian singer and politician ** Navraj Hans, Indian singer, actor, entrepreneur, cricket player and performer, son of Hans Raj Hans ** Yuvraj Hans, Punjabi ...

) * ''Robert Van Gulik: His Life, His Work'', 1988 * ''Afterzen: Experiences of a Zen Student out on His Ear'', 1999

Articles/stories not included in books

* "Astral Bodies and Tantric Sex."

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

, January 10, 1988. (review of a two-volume biography of

Alexandra David-Néel Alexandra David-Néel (born Louise Eugénie Alexandrine Marie David; 24 October 1868 – 8 September 1969) was a Belgian–French explorer, spiritualist, Buddhist, anarchist, opera singer, and writer. She is most known for her 1924 visit to Lha ...

) * "The Way Life Should Be - Maine: coastline on a clean, cold sea."

The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...

, September 1, 2003.

Translations

and

Lama Yongden Lama () is a title bestowed to a realized practitioner of the Dharma in Tibetan Buddhism. Not all monks are lamas, while nuns and female practitioners can be recognized and entitled as lamas. The Tibetan word ''la-ma'' means "high mother", a ...

: ''The Power of Nothingness.'' Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1982 (French to English, with an introduction by the translator) *Van de Wetering translated many books from English to Dutch and two books from French to Dutch.

Filmography

* '' Grijpstra & De Gier'' (Netherlands, 1979), based on the novel ''Outsider in Amsterdam'', script by

Wim Verstappen Wim Verstappen (4 May 1937 – 24 July 2004) was a Dutch film director and producer, television director, and screenwriter. Verstappen grew up in Curaçao. He began studies at the Netherlands Film and Television Academy in 1961, and released h ...

* ''Rattlerat'' (Netherlands, 1987), script by Wim Verstappen * ''Der blonde Affe'' (Germany, 1999), based on the novel ''The Blond Baboon''

Television

* A TV series based on the Grijpstra and de Gier characters started airing on Dutch TV in 2004, 30 episodes are made, another 15 are ordered.

Roef Ragas Rudolphus Henricus Cornelis "Roef" Ragas (25 May 1965 – 30 August 2007) was a Dutch actor from Harderwijk. He was the older brother of Bastiaan and Jeroen Ragas. From 1984 to 1990 Ragas studied Dutch at the University of Amsterdam. He graduated ...

and

Jack Wouterse Jack Wouterse (born 17 June 1957 in Soest) is a Dutch actor. His career as a movie actor took off with his role in the 1992 film ''The Northerners'', directed by Alex van Warmerdam. Wouterse made his international debut in an episode of the TV ...

play youthful versions of de Gier and Grijpstra. * CBS aired a TV special featuring the original Hugh Pine novel ('' Storybreak'' #12).

Radio

* Van de Wetering wrote 4 radio plays for German TV, again based on the Grijpstra and de Gier series. The plays were aired during the early nineties. Among these is ''Das Koan'' (1994), based on Van de Wetering's biography of

Robert van Gulik Robert Hans van Gulik (, 9 August 1910 – 24 September 1967) was a Dutch orientalist, diplomat, musician (of the guqin), and writer, best known for the Judge Dee historical mysteries, the protagonist of which he borrowed from the 18th-century ...

, creator of the

Judge Dee Judge Dee, or Judge Di, is a semi-fictional character based on the historical figure Di Renjie, County magistrate (China), county magistrate and statesman of the Tang dynasty, Tang court. The character appeared in the 18th-century Chinese detectiv ...

series. The English version, ''Judge Dee Plays His Lute'', was included in the anthology with the same name.

References

External links

Obituary of Janwillem van de Wetering
in the Guardian

Buddhist Network Television Interview with Janwillem van de Wetering
, in Dutch

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wetering, Janwillem Van De 1931 births 2008 deaths 20th-century American essayists 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American translators 21st-century American essayists 21st-century American male writers 20th-century Dutch novelists 21st-century Dutch writers American children's writers American male novelists American mystery writers American people of Frisian descent Dutch children's writers Dutch essayists Dutch emigrants to the United States Dutch mystery writers Dutch police officers 20th-century Dutch translators Nyenrode Business University alumni Writers from Rotterdam Dutch thriller writers English–Dutch translators French–Dutch translators French–English translators Novelists from Maine Dutch crime fiction writers American male essayists People from Surry, Maine Dutch male novelists Zen Buddhism writers