Maurice Sendak (1928-2012)

Maurice Sendak, the celebrated illustrator and author of children’s books, has died at 83 following a stroke.

Sendak’s best-known work, “Where the Wild Things Are” (1963), was made into an opera in 1980 by the author and composer Oliver Knussen, as well as a 2009 film by Spike Jonze. In 2003, Sendak and playwright Tony Kushner collaborated on a book version of “Brundibar,” the children’s opera by Hans Kraza, first produced at the Theresienstadt (Terezin) concentration camp during World War II.

Sendak also created memorable designs for several operas, notably Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” and Janáček’s “The Cunning Little Vixen,” and for Tchaikovsky’s ballet “The Nutcracker.”

An obituary by Margalit Fox in The New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/09/books/maurice-sendak-childrens-author-dies-at-83.html?_r=1&hp&pagewanted=all