President Barack Obama: Spike Jonze

Maurice Sendak Dept: The writer died early Tuesday morning at a hospital in Danbury after suffering a stroke on Friday night, said his longtime friend and caretaker, Lynn Caponera, according to CBC. The book's myriad fans include U.S. President Barack Obama, who read it for one of the White House's annual Easter Egg Roll events, and the story was adapted into a 2009 movie of the same name, directed by Spike Jonze. Author and illustrator Maurice Sendak, seen at his Ridgefield, Conn., home in September, cultivated a personality of a recluse and curmudgeon. Mary Altaffer/Associated Press Maurice Sendak, author and illustrator of the children's classic Where the Wild Things Are , has died at age 83 in Connecticut. Brooklyn born and raised, the author and illustrator is best known for 1963's Where the Wild Things Are , about a rebellious boy named Max who sets off on a fantastical journey in his imagination after being sent to bed with no dinner. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.