Armin Abmeier 1940 - 2012

We just heard from our friends in Berlin that the editor and publisher Armin Abmeier passed away yesterday, he was 72 years old. Abmeier founded Die Tollen Hefte in 1991 and was responsible for commissioning a multitude of illustrators over the years for his books that received numerous international awards including in our 3x3 Children’s Show starting with No. 6 through this year’s show.

He started his career as a bookseller and eventually went on to become a sales representative for several leading literary and art book publishers before establishing Die Tollen Hefte.

Armin was a huge supporter of all things illustration and was especially fond of German illustrators. Not to say that he didn’t appreciate American illustrators, you’d see him at the annual American Illustration party and occasionally at the Society of Illustrators events.

He would always be perturbed when we listed his name as a winner online, he was quick to correct this and to give the illustrator full credit. He was the entrant but never believed in taking credit for a book, though he was throughly invested in each and every one of them.

He leaves behind his wife, illustrator Rotraut Susanne Berner. The illustration world will miss him greatly.