New York-- A few weeks ago we went to an 80th birthday celebration for Maurice Sendak at the 92nd Street Y in New York. It was a wonderful night of readings and music and funny stories, starting off with Where the Wild Things Are, read in yiddish (a language spoken by Maurice's family when he was growing up). You didn't have to understand a word of yiddish to follow along with the illustrations, projected on a large screen. It was charming and very funny.
Meryl Streep read from The Sign on Rosie's Door. Has anything ever been read so well? Dave Eggers told us about a novel he's writing based on Where the Wild Things Are. We saw clips from a movie in progress, directed by Spike Jones, also based on Wild Things. And then Maurice -- who seemed to genuinely enjoy this tribute came up to the stage. Truly an evening I won't forget.
So Happy Birthday Maurice! You and your incredible work will always be an inspiration to me. Did you know the first book Randy ever read aloud was Little Bear with your gentle and funny illustrations? Thank you for that, too.
Love,
Judy
