A few years back, his son, T.S. Monk said on WKCR during a all day Monk fest, that one day in the late 70's, towards the end of his father's time on this earth, he yelled out, while sitting at the kitchen table "When I'm dead people will appreciate my music more, and call me a genius." I remember listening to his son tell this story. I do believe he has been recognized as a genius more since his death then when he was alive. Most, is not all musicuans knew he was a genius, but the general public took longer to put that label on him. It could be he was depressed, at least this is what I got from that quote.