Maurice Sendak Wanted a “Yummy Death”

In an interview conducted before his death, but published in the November/December issue of The Believer, Maurice Sendak—creator of Where the Wild Things Are and a number of other popular children’s books—talks about love, war, family, ambition, and old age. He recounted his childhood and how Anne Frank’s death affected him. He talked about his homosexuality, his longtime partner, and how his family did and didn’t accept him. He commented on the state of the children’s publishing industry and called Salman Rushdie a “flaccid fuckhead.” In one of the last interviews before his death, Maurice Sendak was raw, insightful, emotional, and incredibly interesting. So, basically just the usual. [The Believer]

The Maurice Sendak Collection at the Rosenbach Museum features more than 10,000 objects including drawings, sketches, manuscripts, photos and rare prints.