Caroll Spinney remembered being shocked when Jim once pulled Ernie off his arm and casually cast the character aside. Spinney scooped up the discarded puppet, cradled it in his arms and assured Ernie that Jim “hadn’t meant” to do it. When Spinney explained to Jim that he always apologized to a dropped puppet, Jim could only smile; to Jim, they were simply tools of their craft. “I’m not sentimental about them,” he told Spinney.
