Pardon my sentimentality, but this is a little how I feel about Sendak’s death. As a still-aspiring writer at age 48, I can only hope to experience this kind of fame in whatever time I have left.
Sendak Book Sales Skyrocket
Here’s more proof that art and literature have lives of their own. The day after his death, Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are jumped from #204 on Amazon’s bestseller list to #14. The other top 9 are also Sendak books, including Higglety Pigglety Pop!: Or There Must Be More to Life, which leapt to #52 all the way from #315,110. Here’s the complete list.
- Where the Wild Things Are (#14 from #204)
- Higglety Pigglety Pop!: Or There Must Be More to Life (hardcover; #52 from #315,110)
- Brundibar (#189 from #372,499)
- BUMBLE-ARDY (#36 from #50,046)
- Outside Over There (paperback; #90 from #89,042)
- Higglety Pigglety Pop!: Or There Must Be More to Life (paperback; #327 from #265,681)
- In the Night Kitchen (#309 from #134,501)
- The Sign on Rosie’s Door (#324 from #134,206)
- Outside Over There (hardcover; #199 from #65,546)
- Mommy? (#338 from #96,237).
Filed under News
Former Publishers Weekly News Editor Madalynne Reuter Dead at 90
Madalynne Reuter, a fiction writer and former news editor of Publishers Weekly, died May 3 in Manhattan at age 90. Reuter joined Publishers Weekly in 1975 as an associate editor in the news department. It was called The Week at that time. She became editor of the section the following year and retired in 1992.
Born in Santa Ana, California, in 1921, Reuter was the daughter of Herman Reuter, an editor and reporter at the Santa Ana Register, Hollywood Citizen-News, and an art critic for the L.A. Times. She graduated from UCLA sometime in the late 1930’s and immediately moved east to Newark, N.J., and began working for the War Department during WWII. She moved to Manhattan and began working as an editor for women’s magazines, editing fiction and other articles, in addition to writing and publishing her own short fiction in many of the most highly regarded magazines of the day. In 1953 Reuter married Lawrence Kurtz in New York City; the couple had one child, John Kurtz, who survives his mother. The marriage ended in divorce in 1975.
During the 1960’s Reuter published short stories in McCall’s, The Saturday Evening Post and Good Housekeeping, in addition to many other publications. Her short story “Waxing Roth” was awarded an O. Henry prize in 1966 and is included in the hardcover collection, Prize Stories 1967 O. Henry Awards, edited by William Abrahams and published by Doubleday in 1967.
Reuter was described by John Baker, former longtime editor-in-chief of Publishers Weekly, as “calm, cool and sophisticated; aristocratic and always under control.”
Filed under News
May 8, 2012 – 226 Days Until Baktun 12
Survivalist Tip: In continuing with my entomological diet, I want to add grasshoppers to the list. As with worms, people around the world consume grasshoppers on a regular basis. And, like worms, these insects are a good source of protein. They’re easy to catch and even easier to cook. They’re normally roasted over an open fire, but you can also sauté them in mushroom sauce or with spices such as salt and garlic. You can even dip them in chocolate. There’s only one thing you need to remember: make sure they’re dead first. You never know what’s in a grasshopper’s insides, but cooking them will ensure you don’t get sick. If you’re already getting sick, just hope you can remain at home and live off your normal food products when the apocalypse hits.
Filed under Mayan Calendar Countdown
May 8 Notable Birthdays
If today is your birthday, “Happy Birthday!”
Author – naturalist David Attenborough (Life on Earth, Trials of Life) is 86.
Comedian – actor Don Rickles (Kelly’s Heroes, CPO Sharkey, Beach Blanket Bingo) is 86.
Author Thomas Pynchon (V., Slow Learner: Early Stories) is 75.
Singer Toni Tennille (Captain & Tenille) is 72.
Actor James Mitchum (In Harm’s Way, Code Name: Zebra, Hollywood Cop) is 71.
Drummer Alex Van Halen (Van Halen) is 59.
Actor David Keith (The Great Santini, Take This Job & Shove It, An Officer and a Gentleman) is 58.
Actress Melissa Gilbert (Little House on the Prairie, The Miracle Worker, Her Own Rules) is 48.
Filed under Birthdays
On May 8…
1541 – Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto reached the Mississippi River, south of present-day Memphis, TN.
1847 – Robert W. Thomson of England patented the rubber tire on this day.
1848 – Playwright Oscar Hammerstein I was born in Sceczin, Germany.
1879 – George Selden of Rochester, NY applied for the first automobile patent, or what he called a “road engine.”
1884 – Harry S. Truman, the 33rd U.S. President, was born in Lamar, MO.
1945 – Great Britain and the U.S. celebrate Victory in Europe, or V-E Day. The Allied Forces had achieved victory in Europe with the unconditional surrender of Germany.
1973 – The American Indian Movement (AIM) ended its 71-day siege of Wounded Knee, site of the infamous 1890 massacre of 300 Sioux by the U.S. Army, and surrendered to federal authorities.
Filed under History
Quote of the Day
“If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn’t help the poor, either we’ve got to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we’ve got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don’t want to do it.”
–Satirist Stephen Colbert, quoted in an article on Gov. Rick Perry and God.
Filed under News
In Memoriam Maurice Sendak 1928 – 2012
Maurice Sendak at his Ridgefield, CT, home with his German shepherd, Herman, in 2006.
Renowned children’s author Maurice Sendak died today in Danbury, Connecticut, at age 83. Widely considered one of the 20th century’s most important children’s writers, Sendak’s works pulled picture books out of the quaint wholesome world of nursery rhymes and plunged them into the dark, yet beautiful recesses of the human mind. His most famous, Where the Wild Things Are, was also his first. It upended the traditional concepts of children’s literature when first published in 1963, inciting controversy and even censorship. People at the time thought they knew how children’s minds functioned and subsequently what was best for them. Sendak made people realize that the human psyche wasn’t so straightforward and perfectly defined.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Sendak was a frail child who said he witnessed a number of real-life horrors: the Great Depression, World War II and the Nazi Holocaust, in which many of his European relatives perished. He even recalled the kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh’s baby in 1932 and feared such a tragedy could happen to him. His myriad illnesses as a youngster relegated him to lonely days and nights in bed where he would write and draw. At age 20, he found a job building window displays for F.A.O. Schwartz and, through the store’s children’s book buyer, he met Ursula Nordstrom, the editor for children’s books at Harper & Row. Their meeting commenced a long and studious business relationship whereupon Sendak illustrated books by many well-known children’s authors. But, Where the Wild Things Are is the one project that established his career as a self-made children’s author. In his later years, he also designed and built theatrical sets, many of them productions inspired by his books. His last book, Mommy?, came out in 2006.
I remember when I first read Where the Wild Things Are. I fell in love with it, and it actually remains one of my favorite books. I still have an original copy. I wasn’t frightened by the hideous-looking monsters that populated the dreams of its central character, Max; in fact, I found them fascinating. I even identified with Max, although my parents never sent me to bed without dinner. But, as an only child, shy and introverted, my mind often created fantastic images and characters. Yet, I think other children could make a connection with Max who didn’t cower in fear at the thought of hairy, snaggle-toothed monsters lurking in his bedroom. He established his supremacy over them, and they made him their king.
Sendak, who was gay, leaves no heirs. His last work, My Brother’s Book, is an ode to his late brother, Jack, and will be published next February.
Filed under News
May 7, 2012 – 227 Days Until Baktun 12
Survivalist Tip: If the thought of eating worms to survive is sickening, then you’d better hope you can stay indoors when the apocalypse hits. As strange – even repulsive as it seems – worms are a good source of protein. Ancient peoples all over the world have used them in their diets. The Mayans used to fry them with chili peppers and then take a chocolate enema. Contemporary survivalist courses in the military often talk about living off of various insects, including worms. I’ve actually only consumed a worm once in my life – after almost completely downing a bottle of tequila. My fellow frat brothers saved the worm just for me. I felt special and loved.
Pound for pound, though, worms have higher protein content than most animal products. Mealworms are a great starter worm for the uninitiated. They can be found in any bait and tackle shop, specialty sellers, or garden center. If you choose the latter place to get them, try to buy a plant first, or they’ll call security when they see you crawling around looking for worms. You can even raise them, if you’re so inclined. People all over Latin America and Asia do this; they even sell them to locals and occasionally the adventurous tourist. You can eat them raw, or – as I stated above – cook them somehow with another ingredient. If you feel like getting your protein and caffeine at once, you could even dip them into warm chocolate.
Regardless, don’t turn up your nose at the thought of consuming insect larvae. The Mayan deities strike down anyone who thinks they’re too good to eat something that comes from the blessed Earth. Just remember, though, no matter where or how you’re buried, worms will work their way into your body somehow. You might as well enjoy some while you’re still alive.
Filed under Mayan Calendar Countdown
May 7 Notable Birthdays
If today is your birthday, “Happy Birthday!”
Writer – producer – director Amy Heckerling (Clueless, Look Who’s Talking series, National Lampoon’s European Vacation, Fast Times at Ridgemont High) is 58.
Actor Michael E. Knight (All My Children, Hexed, Date with an Angel) is 53.
Filed under Birthdays
Chief Writing Wolf 