I Stand Corrected

In an earlier post, I claimed that the childhood nickname my parents called me by was Bumbalardee and was named after a Sesame Street cartoon that I loved, featuring a poor child’s birthday party with rats as guests. While I’m convinced that such a cartoon or puppet piece was performed, I must humbly apologize for the story of Bumbalardee itself. My mother recently wrote the following letter to me:

The name Bumbleardy (my spelling) is, indeed, from an old Sesame Street bit but it had nothing to do with rats. The number nine was the subject of the animated piece. Bumbleardy was turning nine and invited a bunch of pigs to his birthday party. They showed up early while his mother was out and behaved quite piggishly, more or less trashing the place. Bumbleardy, however, remained at ease in the midst of the commotion. We nicknamed you for him, not because of the piggish party, but because you were always so comfortable around animals. A favorite photo, from a trip to the African Safari in Hamilton, captures you at about two surrounded by taller petting zoo animals, donkeys and such, barely visible but totally relaxed.

Sure enough, when I did a Google search for the name Bumbleardy, it popped right up as Bumble Ardy. Not only was there a cartoon with the pigs and number nine, it was done by none other than Maurice Sendak, the author most well known for creating Where the Wild Things Are. Apparently, he has put the cartoon into book form this year.

So, I humbly ask for forgiveness from both my parents, Mr. Sendak and the folks over at Sesame Street for my faux pas.