Researching Mary Zimmerman Yet Again

It wouldn't be a year ending in 3 (like 2003 or 2013) without a note about Mary Zimerman. Zimerman was a poet, playwright, and a one-time resident of Wisconsin, where John Bellairs met her when he came to town for a friend's wedding. She reportedly was a big fan of all things purple. Bellairs was intrigued and inspired to create a similarly-named character, Mrs. Florence Zimermann.

Researching Mary Zimmerman Again

With this year being the fortieth anniversary of The House with a Clock in its Walls we thought we’d revisit again the life and times of Mary Holoubek Zimmerman. Does that name sound almost familiar but not quite right? It should. Here’s some of our initial research from a decade ago.

Off-and-on this year we’ve dug back into the trenches for grins to see if anything new could be found. We did feel a bit foolish at the get-go of the hunt if only because we realized that we have had a street address for her all these years. Sort of. During our initial research a decade ago, the fine folks at the Wisconsin Historical Society sent us what amounts to an autobiographical sketch that includes her birth (Chicago; September 18, 1905), martial status (wife of Louis P. Zimmerman, married 1934), children (two), and an address.

Researching Mary Zimmerman

This past spring we began a series of queries with the Wisconsin Regional Writers' Association (WRWA) about Mary H. Zimmerman. Why, you’re undoubtedly asking? She’s someone John Bellairs met once while visiting Milwaukee for a friend’s wedding back in the early 1960s. John’s friend and the illustrator of his first three books, Marilyn Fitschen, was also on hand with her husband, Dale, and picks up the story from there: