Wild Thing, We Surely Loved You

News came of Maurice Sendak‘s passing after the workday started, which means the collective calling-in-sick-and-cuddling-up-to-his-books will have to wait until tomorrow.

The author and illustrator of deeply loved children’s books such as Where the Wild Things Are, Higglety Pigglety Pop!, and Outside Over There, Sendak died this morning of complications from a recent stroke. While his dark-minded books have always held a place in children’s hearts, Sendak came to even wider attention when Spike Jonze adapted Where the Wild Things Are to screen in 2009, with Sendak’s blessing.

He sat for an interview with Stephen Colbert at the beginning of the year (embedded below); at 83 he was just as sharp, unsentimental, grumpily hilarious, politically engaged, and slyly sporting as ever. He’ll be missed.

This article appears in May 4 • 2012.