Maurice Sendak on life, death and children

bird in the air

As I was doing the endless after the holiday errands, I was listening to Fresh Air on WNYC.  Terry Gross was replaying  a previously recorded phone  interview with  Maurice Sendak , age 83 . He is house bound due to multiple physical illnesses. However, his ability to express his thoughts and feelings  was still  exquisitely beautiful. He was describing his most recent book, titled" Bumbelardi", published in  the fall of 2011 . It is the story of an orphaned pig who throws himself a birthday party and has to live with the consequences  for a very long time.
He said that the act of writing this book brought him  " the deepest pain and the wondrous  feeling of coming into my own".  He wrote the story while his partner was dying of cancer. He said that writing the book helped him to continue living with death all around him.  About aging he said," It is a blessing to get old. It is a blessing to find the time to listen to music and to read books"....."
To Terry Gross, he stated  that she is the only  interviewer  that  brings out these deep thoughts and emotions during interviews. I cried as the interview drew to a close and Mr. Sendak said "I am a happy old man and  remember to live your life".Maurice Sendak on life , death and children