Maurice Sendak, Author of ‘Where the Wild Things Are,’ Dies at 83

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As if we haven’t had a chance to overcome the loss of Adam Yauch, another prominent childhood just passed away – Maurice Sendak, the writer and illustrator behind many children’s books.

Sendak was born in Brooklyn to a Polish Jewish parents, of a family whose many members were murdered in the Holocaust. He became an illustrator at early age, and spent most of his 20s illustrating books before buying is fame in 1963 for the book “Where the Wild Things Are.”

Sendak talked openly about being gay for the first time in September 2008 in a New York Times interview. He donated $1 million to the Jewish Board of Famiy and Children’s Services in honor of his life partner Eugene Glynn, who died in 2007.

He died earlier today in Connecticut from a stroke.

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