Maurice Sendak Dies, Mourners Pay Tribute to Author Online

By Sami K. Martin, Christian Post Reporter Tuesday, May 08, 2012

Beloved children's author Maurice Sendak has died at age 83 of complications from a stroke, his publicist said. He was perhaps most known for the classic "Where the Wild Things Are," and fans are taking the loss quite hard.

"Thank you, Maurice Sendak, for the many times I got to read to my sons: 'Let the wild rumpus begin!'" tweeted Karen Tumulty. Sendak's name is trending on Twitter, a testament to his popularity and influence on popular culture.

"RIP, Maurice Sendak. May you go Where the Wild Things Are," added Michelle Muto.

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"Here's to Maurice Sendak, a man who understood that respecting children is the first step towards reaching them," tweeted Forever Young Adult.

According to the New York Times, Sendak's books were "roundly praised, intermittently censored and occasionally eaten … essential ingredients of childhood." It's a fitting testament to the author whose books delighted readers around the world and have remained in constant circulation since their original printing.

"In the Night Kitchen," "Where the Wild Things Are," "Kenny's Window," and "The Sign on Rosie's Door" are all parts of children's libraries and sections in bookstores. They have been translated for readers around the world, and Sendak told Vanity Fair that loneliness and removed parents are what he writes about because "as a kid, all I thought about was death, but you can't tell your parents that."

His books reached children and adults alike. Even President Obama read "Where the Wild Things Are" to a group of children last year at the White House's annual egg roll.

"I don't write for children … I write, and somebody says, 'That's for children,'" Sendak told Stephen Colbert in an interview earlier this year.

Sendak, while known for his dark side, also believed in living life to the fullest. Perhaps that is why his books are all about finding a way out of no way, finding another way to live and survive this world.

"Live your life. Live your life. Live your life," he famously told Terry Gross during an interview for NPR's Fresh Air podcast.