Maurice Sendak (1928-2012)
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger
Maurice Sendak is considered to be the most important children’s book author in the 20th century. Among his books are “Where the Wild Things Are” (1963) and the more recent “Bumble-Ardy.” He also was a designer who worked on many operas and ballets. Here is a quote where he mentions a fan letter from a child:
“A little boy sent me a charming card with a little drawing on it. I loved it. I answer all my children’s letters – sometimes very hastily – but this one I lingered over. I sent him a card and I drew a picture of a Wild Thing on it. I wrote, ‘Dear Jim: I loved your card.’
Then I got a letter back from his mother and she said: ‘Jim loved your card so much he ate it.’ That to me was one of the highest compliments I’ve ever received. He didn’t care that it was an original Maurice Sendak drawing or anything. He saw it, he loved it, he ate it.”
Sendak was gay and he lived with his partner for 50 years. He also was an atheist and he often talked about death. He said that his friends who were “believers” had a less difficult time than he did with that subject. Below is a link to four NPR interviews with Terry Gross of “Fresh Air.”
I heard the last interview where he talks about being old. I found it moving.
He said that he was “a happy old man,” but he cried a lot because his friends have died. “They leave me,” he said. Sendak was an atheist, but he was sure that he would meet his deceased brother later. In discussing his life now, he said that he couldn’t walk much due to illness, but he used his time to read books and to listen to music. His favorite author was Emily Dickinson, and he loved the music of Mozart. He said that there were four “young people” whom he mentored that lived with him, so he was not alone.
It seems he liked to express himself in triplets. Regarding death, he said, “I’m ready, I’m ready, I’m ready.” And regarding his advice for those who get close to the end, he said, “Live your life, live your life, live your life.”
Maurice Sendak died of a stroke in 2012 at his home in Connecticut at age 83.
Link below to Maurice Sendak interviews on NPR .
And, in honor of Maurice Sendak, here is a quote from Emily Dickinson and, below that, a selection from Mozart:
“Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all”
–Emily Dickinson. The Complete Poems
Mozart: Serenade in B flat, K.361. “Gran partita” Adagio by the London Wind Soloists