Beloved children’s book author, Maurice Sendak, (Where the Wild Things Are) was the guest on NPR’s Fresh Air yesterday. The interview made me uncomfortable. I had to try very hard not to turn the station.
Why? He was so sad. Very sad and reminiscent, somewhat rambling and, at times, I think he was crying. He commented that he was in a very “soft mood” because he had just experienced the deaths of two of his very close friends.
Sendak’s first words in the interview are, “It’s been a rough time. I’ve gotten quite old…”
An excerpt from the interview:
“I have nothing now but praise for my life. I’m not unhappy. I cry a lot because I miss people. They die and I can’t stop them. They leave me and I love them more. … What I dread is the isolation. … There are so many beautiful things in the world which I will have to leave when I die, but I’m ready, I’m ready, I’m ready.”
About his new book, Bumble-ardy:
“When I did Bumble-ardy, I was so intensely aware of death,” he says. “Eugene, my friend and partner, was dying here in the house when I did Bumble-ardy. I did Bumble-ardy to save myself. I did not want to die with him. I wanted to live as any human being does. But there’s no question that the book was affected by what was going on here in the house. … Bumble-ardy was a combination of the deepest pain and the wondrous feeling of coming into my own. And it took a long time. It took a very long time.”
I was so sad when the interview was over.
