John Niendorff

author

John Niendorff

A Texas-born artist and designer, he built a creative career that included work for major Hollywood studios before returning home later in life. His background in fine art and visual storytelling gives his work an appealing sense of craft and imagination.

1 Audiobook

Divine Adventures: A Book of Verse

by John Niendorff

About the author

Born in Marshall, Texas, on August 12, 1906, John Franklin Starr Niendorff studied at Southern Methodist University, the University of Virginia, and the Art Institute of Chicago. He was remembered as a gifted fine artist with a strong visual sensibility.

During the 1930s and 1940s, Niendorff worked for Walt Disney Studios and MGM Studios as a layout artist and set designer. That mix of studio experience and formal art training suggests a creator who understood both careful design and popular storytelling.

He later returned to Texas with his family in 1949, lived in Dallas, and retired in Austin in 1966. He died in Austin on November 22, 1994.