The second is that he's had a lifelong fascination with the Lindbergh Baby kidnapping, so much so that he's spent years searching for one of the miniature souvenir ladders that were sold outside the New Jersey courtroom where Bruno Hauptmann was tried and convicted for the crime in 1935. [According to the Times, "He traded one of his drawings for it," which is one pricey toy ladder.]
But then, he is 80 years old, which means he was four when Charles Lindbergh Jr. disappeared and six for the trial, so why wouldn't he have been concerned? Can you imagine being a kid when all anyone in the world is talking about is the kidnapping and murder of a little boy?
Concerns Beyond Just Where the Wild Things Are [nyt via choire. image: corbis/bettmann via google books]
greg you should definitely look up the interview he did with terry gross a few months ago---he talks about this and a bunch of other awesome stuff. it was on his birthday, if I recall correctly.