Author Robert Munsch shares more details on dementia diagnosis in CBC interview

Beloved children’s author Robert Munsch shared more details about his dementia diagnosis in a CBC News interview he said would be his “last hurrah.”

The “Love You Forever” author was diagnosed with dementia in 2021 and says he has chosen a medically assisted death, but hasn’t set a date.

In an interview posted online Wednesday, he said his death wasn’t imminent but that he forgets words, falls down and can’t trust his own thinking anymore.

The 80-year-old also told chief correspondent Adrienne Arsenault that his publisher will continue to release books even after his death.

He said he has about 50 previously unseen stories that are written, with one per year intended for release.

“There’s about 50 stories. Not all of them are going to make it, but when I’m dead they’ll still be putting out Robert Munsch books,” he said in the CBC interview conducted at his Guelph, Ont., home.

Ann, his wife of over half a century, said they both feel the choice of a medically assisted death is valid and legitimate.

“He’s decided that’s what he wants to do when the time comes. Fortunately for both of us, especially for me, it’s a long ways away,” Ann told Arsenault.

Munsch said his mind still has a stronghold on his stories, though he said at some point he will lose that too.

“In my brain the stories are all stacked there. They are locked. Everything else is up for grabs,” he said.

Arsenault asked Munsch if he was afraid to die.

He shook his head.

The interview was posted on CBC’s YouTube channel Wednesday morning, and was to air on “The National” later that day.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 10, 2025.

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