On May 8, 2012 Maurice Sendak passed away. Sendak won wild popularity with his 1963 book, “Where the Wild Things Are” and continued writing and illustrating books until 2011. As an artist, Sendak has said that he drew inspiration from Mickey Mouse, who made his debut the year Sendak was born, 1928. In a wonderful interview with NPR’s Terry Gross, Sendak said, “My gods are Herman Melville, Emily Dickinson, Mozart… I believe in them with all my heart.” He continued, “And you just read three poems of Emily. She is so brave. She is so strong. She is such a passionate little woman. I feel better.”
Sendak gave a recent and very funny interview with Stephen Colbert as well.
JKM Library is proud to have a small display dedicated to Maurice Sendak featuring the Wild Things, as well as The Cunning Little Vixen, and the art book, The Art of Maurice Sendak, 1980 to the present, celebrating his life, his art, and his contribution to the literary world.
Sendak was also Jewish and part of our larger monthly display celebrating Jewish History Month. Here we have other Jewish authors such as Cynthia Orzik, Saul Bellow, and Elie Wiesel as well as poetry and history.
May is also Asian American Pacific Islander Month. Both fiction and non-fiction books are featured from China, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, and Hawaii, such as The Tale of Genji, FireWife, and the haiku book, The Four Seasons.
June 18, 2012 at 5:47 am
Thx for great news!