This just goes to show you that a shitty day can become even shittier. Before, I didn’t even have a reason to be upset, but now it’s come to my attention that Maurice Sendak passed away today at 83 years-old. The openly gay (and openly awesome) author was the genius behind the classic children’s book Where The Wild Things Are.
Sendak’s work and illustrations were a direct influence on me as an artist (something I don’t talk about often on here). Where The Wild Things Are was not only one of my favorite books as a kid, but a story I would revisit time and time again.
I apologize for talking about myself so much in this post. There’s just something about Sendak’s death that feels very personal to me, like I’ve lost a small part of my childhood. Going forward, I can only hope that Sendak is remembered for the legend that he was, is and will continue to be.
– Dewitt
Go home, open up a bottle of wine, and reread Where the Wild Things Are. Celebrate, don’t mourn!
The movie was actually pretty good too.
A brilliant and sensitive creative genius. He will be missed.
One of the things that frustrates me most about his death is that most of the obituaries are ignoring Sendak’s homosexuality and making no mention of his longtime partner/husband. Sendak was not in the closet, and yet the media are closeting him. He was a wonderful author and will definitely be missed.
I suspect part of the matter was that his partner predeceased him so it’s not like he’s survived by anyone? Then again they were together for 50 years and I never knew that until something like five years ago.
I’ve never read an obituary of a straight person that didn’t mention a deceased spouse.