Maurice Sendak

My friend Alex L recently sent me a link of NPR’s remembrance of Maurice Sendak. Not bad at all. He really likes Terry Gross and lets it all hang out there during his interviews. He is absolutely honest about how horrible his childhood was, how much he loved his siblings, one brother in particular who helped him survive it. It’s very touching how easily he expresses his affection for folks he mentions, and he says aging is a blessing.

He also says he never wanted children — too much work when he wanted to be an artist. I agree. Having children is a lot of work and at times, sometimes much of the time, a misery, but I guess I do it because the gain I get is mucho love. That’s all. I truly love all three pains-in-the-arses a great deal. Hopefully, when I am 80, I will have sufficiently pleased one of them enough that they will deign to wipe the dribble off my trembling chin…kind of a role reversal pf what we’re going through now (though to be fair, I doubt as a senior I will throw up down their bra and in their hair quite as much as Boy Twin likes to do and First Son did.)

Anyway, check out the interview. Alex got a lot of life affirmation from the interview — he says to “live your life.” For me, it was a tremendous reminder that my spiritual identity is secular Jewish atheist. That’s what I’ve always been, and I forgot.

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