The first thing I discovered when I opened my computer yesterday was that Maurice Sendak had passed away at 83. He was immediately and deeply mourned by readers, writers and members of the literary community, and also by every child (even grown up ones) who ever imagined themselves as Max, who ever let loose with a wild rumpus of their own, or who gathered all the sheets that they could to build the most extraordinary fort known to man (or mum).

Yesterday my facebook was awash with posts, tributes and links by people who had experienced that magic of Maurice Sendak’s books. People everywhere shared articles and quotes or pictures of themselves hosting celebratory readings of Where the Wild Things Are Felice Arena drew his own wild thing (left). Leanne Hall wrote the beautiful Maurice Sendak: a bookseller’s tribute here.

One of my favourite quotes, now rapidly making the rounds was this, in an interview with Terry Gross, host of National Public Radio‘s “Fresh Air”. When asked what his favourite piece of fan mail had been Maurice replied

“Once a little boy sent me a charming card with a little drawing on it. I loved it. I answer all my children’s letters, sometimes very hastily, but this one I lingered over. I sent him a card and I drew a picture of a Wild Thing on it. I wrote, ‘Dear Jim: I loved your card.’ Then I got a letter back from his mother, and she said, ‘Jim loved your card so much he ate it.’ That to me was one of the highest compliments I’ve ever received. He didn’t care that it was an original Maurice Sendak drawing or anything. He saw it, he loved it, he ate it.”

Finally, and so fittingly, many farewelled Maurice by echoing his own wild things. “Oh please don’t go. We’ll eat you up. We love you so!”

You might imagine that Maurice had this in mind when he spoke of his own feelings about death and loss. “I cry a lot because I miss people. They die and I can’t stop them. They leave me and I love them more.” – Maurice Sendak. Let the wild rumpus begin!