Famed children’s book author Robert Munsch reveals decision to die by assisted suicide — while cracking jokes

Robert Munsch, the famed children’s book author behind classics like “The Paper Bag Princess,” has decided to die by assisted suicide after being diagnosed with dementia — while making light of his grim decision.

“Hello, Doc — come kill me!” the Canadian citizen joked to the New York Times. “How much time do I have? Fifteen seconds!”

Munsch, whose other best-selling kids’ books include “Love You Forever,” was diagnosed with the debilitating disease in 2021 and said he decided to end his life after watching one of his brothers face an agonizing death from Lou Gehrig’s disease.

While others wanted his brother to keep seeking more treatment, Munsch realized he didn’t want to suffer a similar fate.

“They kept him alive through all these interventions. I thought, ‘Let him die,’” he told the Times.

He has now received approval for “medical assistance in dying,” or MAID, which was legalized in Canada in 2016.

While he hasn’t picked a date for his death, it must happen when he still has the capacity to consent to his suicide, according to the newspaper. He believes he’ll choose to die when he starts struggling to communicate.

“I have to pick the moment when I can still ask for it,” said Munsch, before turning to his wife and cracking another joke.

“You’re stuck with me being a lump,” he said if he misses the ability to sanction his own death.

Munsch, 80, was born in Pittsburgh, growing up as one of nine siblings before he later plunged into Jesuit priest studies for seven years.

After realizing he “was lousy priest material,” he pivoted to working with kids and wrote his first book, “Mortimer,” according to his bio.

He later became a Canuck, and eventually skyrocketed to become one of Canada’s top authors around the 1980s while also gaining fame in the US.

Munsch, who has admittedly battled with manic depressive disorder and addiction issues, has penned more than 70 books and many of his characters are based on children he met in real life.

“I am a storyteller,” he wrote on his website. “I write books for kids, I talk to kids, and I listen to kids.”