RIP Maurice Sendak

[EddieColeslaw]

Maurice Sendak, widely considered the most important children’s book artist of the 20th century, who wrenched the picture book out of the safe, sanitized world of the nursery and plunged it into the dark, terrifying and hauntingly beautiful recesses of the human psyche, died on Tuesday in Danbury, Conn. He was 83 and lived in Ridgefield, Conn.

 

The cause was complications from a recent stroke, said Michael di Capua, his longtime editor.

 

Roundly praised, intermittently censored and occasionally eaten, Mr. Sendak’s books were essential ingredients of childhood for the generation born after 1960 or thereabouts, and in turn for their children. He was known in particular for more than a dozen picture books he wrote and illustrated himself, most famously “Where the Wild Things Are,” which was simultaneously genre-breaking and career-making when it was published by Harper & Row in 1963.

Source

 

 

I keep meaning to read Where the Wild Things Are (and failing to fulfil that), but I saw the movie and loved the soundtrack.

Edited May 8, 2012 by EddieColeslaw

[Magnus]

At least now there's a spot open for Ine.

[Dan_Dare]

Too soon?

 

Kind of sad news but he had a good run, right? What a talent, though.

[Hamishmash]

He was a pretty awesome person. He has too many great quotes to know where to start. He was with the same man for 50 years, during times when being gay was illegal, his family rejected him... he didn't have a good life, and his books didn't cloud over that. He didn't lie to children that life was all perfect and simple. And that inspires me.

[Rummy]

Never read the original, nor saw the film. However I saw a picture today with an apparent quote by him about a boy who wrote him a letter, and I thought it was awesome.

[The Peeps]

Never read the original, nor saw the film. However I saw a picture today with an apparent quote by him about a boy who wrote him a letter, and I thought it was awesome.

 

Ditto