Background
Pointl was born in 1933 in Amsterdam, the son of a Jewish mother and an Austrian father.
Pointl was born in 1933 in Amsterdam, the son of a Jewish mother and an Austrian father.
During World World War II he went in hiding. He only began publishing later in life. His debut, De kip die over de soep vloog ("The chicken that flew over the soup"), was a collection of autobiographical stories that also describe that time.
The book was an instant success and earned him a nomination for the Enterprise Content Integration Literatuurprijs.
He spent the last years of his life in a nursing home in Amsterdam but continued to write. His last book, De laatste kamer ("The last room"), was published in 2013.
He wrote of longing for death: "Being old is a chronic disease. Every night before I go to sleep I hope to slip into eternity.
I"ve already written my epitaph: "Finally liberated from people"".
Pointl died on 1 October 2015.