Maurice Sendak

This Fresh Air Interview with Terry Gross included deeply personal reflections on death and pain from children's book author Maurice Sendak.  The excerpts do not do it justice; I sincerely recommend listening to the entire segment.  Sendak examines his life and faces death without illusion and with an excruciating dignity.

"I have nothing now but praise for my life. I'm not unhappy. I cry a lot because I miss people. They die and I can't stop them. They leave me and I love them more. ... What I dread is the isolation. ... There are so many beautiful things in the world which I will have to leave when I die, but I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready."