in 1977 carmiggelt started a secret liaison with the author renate rubinstein. she wrote a book about this, titled "mijn beter ik" (my better self), which was published when both she and simon had died. simon carmiggelt's last kronkel was published in 1983. on 30 november 1987 he died of a heart attack. a year after his death, a statue of carmiggelt (made by kees verkade) was placed near his former house in amsterdam and one of him and his wife on a park bench near his summer house in de steeg (rheden). this last statue was stolen in the weekend of 21 january 2012. it was retrieved on 25 january, sawn into many pieces. three men have been arrested in relation to this event; the motive is still unclear. the statue was pieced together by the sculptor wik kuijl and then re-unveiled in its original site on 23 january 2013.