Maurice Sendak
The creator of “Where the Wild Things Are” lived with his partner for fifty years – and only spoke about it publicly at 80.
Maurice Sendak grew up in Brooklyn, the youngest child of Jewish immigrants from Poland. Many of his relatives were murdered in the Holocaust, and his childhood was overshadowed by illness and fear. He found refuge in drawing, comics and Mickey Mouse.
He worked as a window decorator at the toy shop FAO Schwarz and began illustrating children’s books. In 1963 he published “Where the Wild Things Are”, the story of Max, who sails to an island of monsters and becomes their king. Some adults found the book frightening; children loved it. It became one of the best-selling children’s books of all time. “In the Night Kitchen” (1970) and “Outside Over There” (1981) followed. Sendak also designed sets and costumes for operas.
For fifty years he lived with the psychiatrist Eugene Glynn, until Glynn’s death in 2007. Sendak never hid the relationship from friends, but only spoke about it publicly in 2008, at the age of 80, in an interview with The New York Times. He said he had never told his parents, because he feared they would not understand.
He died in Connecticut in 2012, aged 83.