'Where the Wild Things Are' Author Maurice Sendak is Dead at 83
Maurice Sendak, the gay author of iconic children's books like Where the Wild Things Are and In the Night Kitchen, has died at 83.
The cause was complications from a recent stroke, said Michael di Capua, his longtime editor.
Sendak came out of the closet publicly in 2008 in an interview with the New York Times:
"Was there anything he had never been
asked? He paused for a few moments and answered, 'Well, that I’m gay...I
just didn’t think it was anybody’s business,' Mr. Sendak added. He
lived with Eugene Glynn, a psychoanalyst, for 50 years before Dr.
Glynn’s death in May 2007. He never told his parents: 'All I wanted was
to be straight so my parents could be happy. They never, never, never
knew.' Children protect their parents, Mr. Sendak said. It was like the
time he had a heart attack at 39. His mother was dying from cancer in
the hospital, and he decided to keep the news to himself, something he
now regrets. A gay artist in New York is not exactly uncommon, but Mr.
Sendak said that the idea of a gay man writing children books would have
hurt his career when he was in his 20s and 30s."
Sendak recently appeared in two genius interviews with Stephen Colbert. If you missed them, makes sure to take a look HERE and HERE.
Posted May. 8,2012 at 8:32 AM EST by Andy Towle in Books, Deaths, MAurice Sendak, News
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