He was a native to Waukegan Illinois, which is where I went to school. In his book "Dandelion Wine", he talks about a park where he collected dandelions. This is the same park that I used to play football with my friends. We were all of us severely outclassed by the locals that played with us, but we still had fun nonetheless. I broke my nose in that park. I still remember the stream of blood coming out of my nose, onto the white field of snow, steam rising from the puddle...
It was just a tip fracture. I got it stitched up and I was fine. That wasn't anywhere near the worst injury I suffered at that park.
He will be missed... Oh well... At least I'll always have those stories...
Something Wicked This Way Comes was one of my favorites. Hopefully his death will spark a reading revival, but I won't hold my breath. Nothing against Whitney Houston, but it's sad that her death was such a big deal and his was barely a blip on the radar. Come to think of it Sendak didn't warrant much coverage either.
Yep. Something Wicked and the Martian Chronicles are both great books. Not to mention Fahrenheit 451, which is a classic that every school children should read. (Do they read that book in school still? I had to when I was in Jr. High)
Yep. Maurice Sendak is with the wild things now.
The commotion over the death of Houston vs. Bradbury does say something about out culture as a whole, doesn't it? I'm afraid what is being said is nothing flattering. One of the things that it says to me is that the culture has become trivial. I find that to be a little sad.
Amen!