An amateur executor.

Maurice Sendak named as the executor of his estate a woman who had worked with him and taken care of his home for several decades.  He created a foundation which owns his royalties, and named the same woman, Lynn Caponera, as its president.  Ms. Caponera began working for Mr. Sendak at age 19, has no other work experience, and did not go to college.  However, she does have an intimate knowledge of his property, which includes rare books, and his life's work.

A controversy has broken out with the Rosenbach Museum and Library in Philadelphia, which had expected to be the permanent home of Sendak's papers.  Ms. Caponera instead plans to add a museum to Sendak's home, and open the grounds to the public.  Lawsuits are in progress.

Shades of Albert Barnes, who tried in vain to keep his eclectic art collection in his home and out of the museums of Philadelphia.  See "The Art of the Steal"  for the story of the 60-year effort to break the terms of his will, ultimately successful.

The comments to the NYTimes article are generally more sympathetic to Caponera than the article is.  The commentors have a charmingly naive belief that the terms of the will should be controlling, and they identify with Caponera's decades of loyalty.  Fortunately, Caponera has a committee to help back up her decisions.  But shouldn't Sendak also have named a corporate executor?