Jim Henson: The Biography

by Brian Jay Jones

Even in business, “he could integrate play into the process,” said Dave Goelz. “As a parent, one of my goals is to see whether I can raise my children to survive in the world without losing that childlike innocence, trust, optimism, curiosity and decency. I am certain it is possible, because Jim was the living embodiment of it.”

Always, then, the work had to matter—because to Jim, the world mattered.

“He wasn’t a saint, but he was as close as human beings get to it.” That had made Jim’s passing so much harder—and yet, said Hunt, “part of me feels … that Jim had done his work on earth.… He had done an amazing amount of work. He’d given an amazing amount of himself, and in turn to each person who was affected by him.”

“When I was young,” wrote Jim, “my ambition was to be one of the people who makes a difference in this world. My hope still is to leave this world a little bit better for my being here.” And he did.