As John so eloquently posted yesterday, the death of a celebrity always leads to an outpouring of grief, real or feigned. Maurice Sendak’s profound influence on children over the past fifty years stands on its own. And if I may hypothesize, someone who spent so much of his life breaking barriers wouldn’t want to be constructed along the same lines of everyone else in death. So, I leave you, dear readers, with the trailer for Where the Wild Things Are, and an invitation to post your favorite childhood memories connected to his books in the comments section. For Sendak’s influence was transcendent, and the way he stood out as an author was in the way his readers resonated with his characters – for their flaws as well as their virtues. Sendak taught generations that it was okay to be wild.
My favorite memory; I loved Wild Things, but I was particularly attached to In the Night Kitchen. My favorite part was when Mickey created the airplane – I admired his inventive thinking and boldness. What’s your favorite memory?
