Schönes Postscript ... ... von Mariana Cook
im [New Yorker] vom 21. Mai 2012. Das Bild zeigt Maurice Sendak 2005 bei sich zu Hause in Ridgefield/Connecticut, die Textausschnitte stammen aus einem Interview aus dem Jahre 2009.

I am in my bathrobe in the forest with my dog, Herman, who is a German shepherd of unknowable age, because I refused to ever find out. I don't want to know. I wish I didn't know how old I was. This is far more than I expected, far more than I need, far more than I desire. I didn't think I'd live this long. (...)

... And then - things change when you get older. You're doing what you want to do. You're very lucky. Oh, the books, the books, the books, the books; the prizes, the prizes, the prizes, the prizes. It doesn't matter that you've done a hundred books. It doesn't mean anything when people say "I read your book. I like it so much." People do say awfully nice things, but it doesn't change the fact that you're a stinky person by nature. (...)

... It's hard to be happy. Some people have the gift of pulling themselves up and out and saying there is more to life than just tragedy. And then there are those who can't, and I'm one of them. Do you believe it when people say they're happy?