He said it for the first time years ago: the stories will be the last to leave.
And now, the prolific and iconic child author Robert Munsch, loved by his stories about a brave princess named Elizabeth, about the protest song when bedtime of Mortimer, about a small child whose mother will love him forever, he is saying that despite the fact that the stories still remain with him, they are slipping.
In an interview with the New York Times, Munsch says he has decided a medically assisted death, also known as a maid, after being previously diagnosed with Parkinson’s dementia and disease. He requested and was approved shortly after his diagnosis, he said to the publication.
But when the author tributes began to arrive, her daughter, Julie Munsch, jumped to social networks on Tuesday to clarify that her father is not dying.
Julie Munsch thanked everyone for her good wishes, but in a publication shared on Robert Munsch’s official page, she emphasized that her father is still fine and that she will not die “in the short term.” He made his decision to use Maid five years ago, she wrote, adding that people should be careful with clickbait.
“My father is not dying!” She added.
“My dad is going well, but, of course, with a degenerative disease, he can start progressing quickly at any time.”
While Munsch, 80, says he hasn’t set an appointment, he told The Times that he can’t expect much more. According to the Canadian law, the person who receives maid must still have “having decision -making capacity.”
“I have to choose the moment I can still ask for it,” Munsch explained. “When I start having real problems to talk and communicate. Then I will know.”
‘I can’t write’
Since he published his first story, Mud puddleIn 1979, the writer Guelph, Ontario, has sold more than 80 million copies of his books only in North America. His stories have been translated into 20 languages, including Anishinaabeabemowin, Arabic and Swedish.
Among his many known books, some of the most popular include tThe princess paper bag (1980), Death (1983), I love you forever (1986), Murmel, Murmel, Murmel, (1982), and many more. Munsch has written about 75 books, all loved.
In 2021, Munsch told SHELAGH Rogers of CBC that he had continuous dementia.
“I can’t drive, I can’t ride a bicycle, I can’t write. So he has really been reducing who thought it was,” he told CBC at that time. “My stories, strangely, are all there. I think the stories will be the last.”
In the profile of the New York Times, he shared that he was then diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and spoken frankly about the toll that the disease has assumed. He has not written anything since 2023, when he wrote Bounce!Munsch told The Times. It is fragile, which has isolated it from children who inspire their work.
He says he wonders if it will be “a turnip” in a year.
“I can feel that it goes more and further,” he said in the long profile, describing how he used to think and write.
Munsch’s editors, Annick Press, Scholastic Canada and Firefly Books shared a statement about Instagram on Monday after the New York time profile came out. In it, they offered their “deep gratitude” to Munsch for opening and giving this update.
“As proud editors of Robert Munsch’s beloved books, we are grateful for all the stories he has shared, including his,” they said in the publication. “We love you forever.”
Robert Munsch opens how he writes timeless stories for children and their parents to enjoy.
