I wrote about Maurice Sendak when he died, and tried to articulate some of my impressions of him as a person and artist-- but I think the interview below captures (and reveals) him better than anything I've ever read.  I knew a little about his family history and even heard him talk about it briefly, and this conversation fills in some of the details that helped me better understand the kind of man and artist he became.  I found it very moving.

http://www.believermag.com/issues/201211/?read=interview_sendak

Hmmm, funny how... ... the word thoughtful has come to connote (primarily) concern and/or consideration  for others.  Actually kind of like the fact that this is the case since "thoughtfulness"  without a social perspective isn't fully thoughtful.  ... some people ( not you sister Debby...) will say "we redid the kitchen"  or  "we put on a new roof " when it would be more accurate to say  "we had the kitchen redone"  etc.  (when I was a kid, we visited some relatives who  said they had built two new rooms on their house, and  for years I was (unduly) impressed with their  amazing construction skills) ...you can try and rig a national election ( see: multiple State Governors and  Secretaries of State) and still retain your job, but if you seek a little love and affection in your personal life (see: David Petraeus) while performing your duties in an  honorable fashion, you're compelled to resign.  ...the term "brilliant politician" generally refers to someone with a talent for  manipulating people and circumstances for personal gain or power.   Politics may be the only field in which the qualifier " brilliant"   is synonymous with "evil".  ...in the aftermath of a tense and nerve wracking election season in which it seemed  that what was at stake was truly monumental, it was almost impossible for me to maintain even a modicum of interest in the outcome of a sporting event.   Knicks are off to a surprisingly great start  and frankly my dears,  I don't seem to give a damn.   Due to  popular demand...  More Craig Swanson P is for:
pandiculation	Stretching and yawning before going to bed or after waking up
petrichor	The smell of rain on dry ground
philosophunculist	One who pretends to know more than they do to impress others
pogonotomy	The act of cutting a beard
polyphloisboian	Making a lot of noise or loud racket
preantepenultimate	Fourth from last
prosopography	The description of a person's appearance
psithurism	The sound of wind in trees or rustling leaves
pyknic	Short and fat