In case you need a good Monday morning cry, artist Christoph Niemann has created a lovely animated video to accompany Maurice Sendak’s moving final interview with Terry Gross.
In case you want to see the full interview (trust me, you do), the transcript is available here.
(via Open Culture)(via The Dish)
From this NPR interview with Maurice Sendak in 2011:
“Yes. I’m not unhappy about becoming old. I’m not unhappy about what must be. It makes me cry only when I see my friends go before me and life is emptied. I don’t believe in an afterlife, but I still fully expect to see my brother again. And it’s like a dream life. But, you know, there’s something I’m finding out as I’m aging that I am in love with the world.
And I look right now, as we speak together, out my window in my studio and I see my trees and my beautiful, beautiful maples that are hundreds of years old, they’re beautiful. And you see I can see how beautiful they are. I can take time to see how beautiful they are. It is a blessing to get old. It is a blessing to find the time to do the things, to read the books, to listen to the music.”
The rest of the interview is extremely engaging and moving as well, especially today. Make sure to listen or read the full transcript.
In case you haven’t heard yet:
“Maurice Sendak, the children’s author and illustrator best known for the 1963 classic “Where the Wild Things Are,” died Tuesday in Danbury, Conn., reportedly of complications from a stroke. He was 83.”
Sad to lose such a powerful voice and talented artist in children’s literature. I hope many others will carry on his legacy of taking children seriously and providing them with engaging stories and compelling art.