Maurice Sendak Remembered by Authors, Celebrities

Maurice Sendak was not interested in being loved. His curmudgeonly persona became as much a part of his legend as his famed book, "Where the Wild Things Are." But loved he was. The death on Tuesday of the author and illustrator who revolutionized children's books prompted an outpouring from authors and other celebrities roaring their terrible roars.

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"Maurice Sendak was strikingly honest. His art gave us a fantastical but unromanticized reminder of what childhood truly felt like. We are all honored to have been briefly invited into his world." - comedian Stephen Colbert

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"A sad day in children's books and for the world. I just learned that Maurice Sendak has died." - Author RL Stine, via Twitter

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"Maurice Sendak has died. I cannot put into words what I am feeling, what he and his work meant to me." - Author Judy Blume, via Twitter

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"He began to be honest in the '50s. He was laceratingly honest at a time when few others were." - "Wicked" author Gregory Maguire

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"And the walls became the world all around." -Where the Wild Things Are. (hash)RIPMauriceSendak" - Author Jodi Picoult, via Twitter

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"He was unique, grumpy, brilliant, gay, wise, magical and made the world better by creating art in it. (hash)RIPMauriceSendak" - Author Neil Gaiman, via Twitter

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"Maurice Sendak has left us for the land of the wild things. May he carry on adventuring." - Actor Elijah Wood, via Twitter

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"RIP Maurice Sendak. I will always think of you in the Night Kitchen." - Actress Molly Ringwald, via Twitter

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"RIP Maurice Sendak. A literary GIANT for the kids and the kids inside all of us." - Adam Savage, host of "Mythbusters," via Twitter

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"Maurice Sendak is painting with the gods now. Rest in peace, friend." - Author L Halse Anderson, via Twitter

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"My daughter and I just poured out a sippy-cup of apple juice on the curb for the great Maurice Sendak." - Jeopardy uber-champion Ken Jennings, via Twitter