1 00:00:02,279 --> 00:00:06,199 Speaker 1: Hey, listeners. This episode is part of our new playlist 2 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:08,920 Speaker 1: to help everybody get through these times we're living in. 3 00:00:09,440 --> 00:00:12,400 Speaker 1: It's our host faves playlist. Yeah, these are just some 4 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:15,000 Speaker 1: of our personal favorites, ones that we had a particular 5 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:18,599 Speaker 1: affinity for, and because these are stressful and trying times, 6 00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:22,240 Speaker 1: we tried to stick to the ones that weren't quite 7 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:25,160 Speaker 1: as dour. So hopefully they'll give you a little lift. 8 00:00:25,320 --> 00:00:31,560 Speaker 1: Stay safe. Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, 9 00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:41,440 Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to 10 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:44,920 Speaker 1: the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly Frye. 11 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:49,599 Speaker 1: Once you have read some of Edward Gorey's books, it 12 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:53,520 Speaker 1: is almost impossible to mistake his work for anyone else's, 13 00:00:53,640 --> 00:00:56,520 Speaker 1: unless maybe they are intentionally working in the style of 14 00:00:56,600 --> 00:01:01,240 Speaker 1: Edward gory His black and white pen and illustrations look 15 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:04,640 Speaker 1: almost like engravings. They're just full of hatching and cross hatching. 16 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:08,240 Speaker 1: The words are lettered by hand, and the stories a 17 00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:11,880 Speaker 1: lot of times unfold through either rhyming couplets or limericks 18 00:01:11,959 --> 00:01:15,360 Speaker 1: or some of their verse. The plots a lot of 19 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:19,560 Speaker 1: times and really ambiguously, or they never resolve at all. 20 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:26,080 Speaker 1: It's this gloomy, foreboding, typically Edwardian world that's populated by 21 00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:29,840 Speaker 1: bats and cats and odd creatures and grown ups who 22 00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:33,120 Speaker 1: are usually in very glamorous clothing, and a lot of 23 00:01:33,240 --> 00:01:38,959 Speaker 1: children who somehow come to harm. And one of one 24 00:01:38,959 --> 00:01:41,560 Speaker 1: of his most well known books, which is an alphabet 25 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:44,959 Speaker 1: book called The Gashly cramb Tiny's m is for Maud 26 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:48,360 Speaker 1: who was swept out to see n is for Neville 27 00:01:48,360 --> 00:01:52,720 Speaker 1: who died of anu. The other Tinys are and assaulted 28 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:55,760 Speaker 1: by bears, their sucks dry by leeches, they're run through 29 00:01:55,840 --> 00:02:00,320 Speaker 1: with all's it's all very darkly whimsical. So if don't 30 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:04,200 Speaker 1: know much about Edward Gorey's life, you might imagine the 31 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:08,160 Speaker 1: person who did this to be a dour Englishman with 32 00:02:08,200 --> 00:02:10,520 Speaker 1: the peak of his career, maybe sometime in the nineteen 33 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:14,360 Speaker 1: twenties or thirties, whose own childhood was marked with a 34 00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:18,640 Speaker 1: series of tragic deaths. But Edward Gorey was none of 35 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:22,200 Speaker 1: those things. No, he's delightful. He's who were going to 36 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:27,640 Speaker 1: talk about today. Edward Gorey, nicknamed Ted, was born Edward St. 37 00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:33,240 Speaker 1: John Gory on February twenty second in Chicago, Illinois. He 38 00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:36,960 Speaker 1: was the only child of Edward Leo Gory and Helen Garvey, 39 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:40,880 Speaker 1: who divorced when he was eleven. His father later remarried 40 00:02:40,919 --> 00:02:44,200 Speaker 1: singer and guitarist Karina Mura, who was most well known 41 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:47,280 Speaker 1: for being the guitar player at Rick's Cafe America in 42 00:02:47,320 --> 00:02:52,320 Speaker 1: the movie Casablanca. Gory's parents remarried one another in nineteen 43 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:55,760 Speaker 1: fifty two. Already it's kind of whimsical and cooky, I know. 44 00:02:57,680 --> 00:03:01,720 Speaker 1: The family had predominantly Irish roots, with ancestors on both 45 00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:04,280 Speaker 1: sides immigrating to the United States in the mid to 46 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:08,320 Speaker 1: late nineteenth century. Although his father was Roman Catholic and 47 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:13,320 Speaker 1: his mother was Episcopalian, Gory himself wasn't particularly religious, and 48 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:15,120 Speaker 1: later on in his life he would say that if 49 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:18,320 Speaker 1: he was anything, he was a Taoist. He was also 50 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:21,359 Speaker 1: quite precocious, and he started drawing before he was even 51 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:25,919 Speaker 1: two years old. His oldest surviving drawing, called the Sausage Train, 52 00:03:26,639 --> 00:03:29,280 Speaker 1: is of the trains that passed by his grandparents house 53 00:03:29,280 --> 00:03:31,840 Speaker 1: in Chicago, and he drew that when he was about 54 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:35,120 Speaker 1: eighteen months old. This is full of oblong shapes that 55 00:03:35,160 --> 00:03:39,160 Speaker 1: are recognizably trains, but they were also very definitely drawn 56 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:41,120 Speaker 1: by a small child, So it's not like he just 57 00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:44,960 Speaker 1: whipped out realistic drawings and people went, Wunderkin, No, I 58 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:49,040 Speaker 1: mean it's uh. It is starting startlingly adept for an 59 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:53,720 Speaker 1: eighteen month old, but still obviously a child's drawing. By three, 60 00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:57,200 Speaker 1: Edward Gorey had taught himself to read, and by five 61 00:03:57,280 --> 00:03:59,800 Speaker 1: or six, sometimes he said, he would say seven and 62 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:03,119 Speaker 1: reviews buried a little bit. He had read two books 63 00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:06,600 Speaker 1: whose influence on his own work is really obvious, Alice 64 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:09,720 Speaker 1: in Wonderland and Dracula. So if you ever read an 65 00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:12,080 Speaker 1: Edward Gory book and said, man, this is like if 66 00:04:12,120 --> 00:04:15,520 Speaker 1: Alice in Wonderland had a baby with Dracula, you were 67 00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:19,680 Speaker 1: exactly right. That was right. And although Gory described his 68 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:24,719 Speaker 1: upbringing as very ordinary Midwestern childhood, in reality he moved 69 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:27,960 Speaker 1: around a lot. By the time he left for college, 70 00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:31,799 Speaker 1: he had had at least twelve different addresses, including staying 71 00:04:31,839 --> 00:04:35,039 Speaker 1: with relatives in Florida for a brief stretch after his 72 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:38,720 Speaker 1: parents divorce. He was overall a good student, and he 73 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:41,919 Speaker 1: was bright enough that he skipped first grade, but sometimes 74 00:04:41,960 --> 00:04:45,400 Speaker 1: after changing schools, his work would waver a little as 75 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:49,520 Speaker 1: he adjusted to a new environment. By eighth grade, Gory 76 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:52,600 Speaker 1: was drawing illustrations for the school yearbook, as well as 77 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:57,960 Speaker 1: participating in typing club, art club, Shakespeare Club, and glee club, 78 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:02,640 Speaker 1: along with serving as assembly president. He also sometime in 79 00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:06,400 Speaker 1: those years learned to play the piano. The most stable 80 00:05:06,480 --> 00:05:10,080 Speaker 1: period of Gory's education before college was when he was 81 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:14,560 Speaker 1: at Chicago's Francis W. Parker School. He enrolled there in 82 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:19,479 Speaker 1: the ninth grade and he graduated on June five, and 83 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:22,520 Speaker 1: while there he was clearly interested in art, hanging out 84 00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:26,320 Speaker 1: with a click of other artistically inclined students and participating 85 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:30,680 Speaker 1: in his first school art show in nineteen thirty nine. Reportedly, 86 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:33,400 Speaker 1: his senior yearbook had no photo of him, but a 87 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:36,960 Speaker 1: blank spot where he'd draw himself in when people asked. 88 00:05:38,320 --> 00:05:41,760 Speaker 1: Gory was offered several college scholarships when he graduated from 89 00:05:41,880 --> 00:05:44,279 Speaker 1: high school, but World War Two was underway by the 90 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:46,520 Speaker 1: time he got out of school and he was drafted 91 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:49,279 Speaker 1: into the United States Army. He was only able to 92 00:05:49,279 --> 00:05:51,320 Speaker 1: take a couple of classes at the Art Institute of 93 00:05:51,400 --> 00:05:55,640 Speaker 1: Chicago before reporting for duty. From nineteen forty three until 94 00:05:55,640 --> 00:05:58,280 Speaker 1: after the end of the war, he served stateside as 95 00:05:58,279 --> 00:06:01,920 Speaker 1: a clerk, spending most of those years at Dugway Proving 96 00:06:01,960 --> 00:06:05,719 Speaker 1: Grounds in Utah. This was a testing ground for biological 97 00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:10,480 Speaker 1: and chemical weapons and their countermeasures. Gorey did not talk 98 00:06:10,520 --> 00:06:13,120 Speaker 1: a whole lot about his World War Two service, although 99 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:16,040 Speaker 1: when it did come up in interviews, he virtually always 100 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:19,359 Speaker 1: mentioned the Dugway Sheep incident, which took place much later. 101 00:06:20,120 --> 00:06:23,080 Speaker 1: That was a nineteen sixty eight incident in which thousands 102 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:27,000 Speaker 1: of sheep were killed in western Utah, purportedly by nerve 103 00:06:27,080 --> 00:06:30,240 Speaker 1: agents from the facility. But it was while in the 104 00:06:30,279 --> 00:06:33,599 Speaker 1: military that Gory started writing plays as a way to 105 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:38,440 Speaker 1: occupy his time. After being discharged from the army, Gorey 106 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:40,640 Speaker 1: enrolled at Harvard, which was paid for by the g 107 00:06:40,839 --> 00:06:44,200 Speaker 1: I Bill, where he majored not in art but in 108 00:06:44,240 --> 00:06:48,000 Speaker 1: French literature. Even though he wasn't majoring in art, he 109 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:51,400 Speaker 1: continued to both write and draw. He published poems and 110 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:55,160 Speaker 1: stories in the campus magazine's signature, as well as illustrating 111 00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:59,120 Speaker 1: for the magazine and for other publications. At Harvard, Gorey 112 00:06:59,160 --> 00:07:01,880 Speaker 1: became friends and for a couple of years roommates with 113 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:05,440 Speaker 1: poet Frank O'Hara. They decked out their dorm suite with 114 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:08,159 Speaker 1: rented furniture and they made it into their own little salon. 115 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:13,040 Speaker 1: Poet Donald Hall, another Harvard graduate, is quoted in Harvard Magazine, 116 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:17,120 Speaker 1: is saying quote, they gave the best parties. O'Hara was 117 00:07:17,160 --> 00:07:19,800 Speaker 1: definitely the bigger partier of the two young men, though, 118 00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:22,640 Speaker 1: so they eventually drifted apart a bit. Uh and this 119 00:07:22,680 --> 00:07:25,480 Speaker 1: would be an ongoing theme in Gory's life. He was 120 00:07:25,560 --> 00:07:28,200 Speaker 1: charming and generous once you got close to him, but 121 00:07:28,280 --> 00:07:32,760 Speaker 1: he often preferred to be more solitary than social. Gory 122 00:07:32,840 --> 00:07:36,720 Speaker 1: graduated from Harvard in nine fifty and he stayed in Cambridge, 123 00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:39,400 Speaker 1: Massachusetts for a couple of years after that, working in 124 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:43,600 Speaker 1: bookstores and helping to start the Poets Theater. The Poets 125 00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:47,160 Speaker 1: Theaters founders and original members were all students are recent 126 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:51,520 Speaker 1: graduates from Harvard, including Alison Lurie, John Ashbury, and Donald Hall. 127 00:07:52,160 --> 00:07:55,920 Speaker 1: They would stage their own and revival works of poetic drama. 128 00:07:56,680 --> 00:07:59,400 Speaker 1: Even though he had been writing poems and since high 129 00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:02,160 Speaker 1: school and plays since his time in the Army, a 130 00:08:02,200 --> 00:08:04,880 Speaker 1: lot of Gory's work with the Poets Theater was more 131 00:08:04,960 --> 00:08:07,560 Speaker 1: as an artist and a designer for both the stage 132 00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:11,600 Speaker 1: and the productions, programs and promotional materials. You can still 133 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:15,240 Speaker 1: see like scans of old programs that he drew in 134 00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:20,120 Speaker 1: these years. Immediately after he graduated, gory stayed in Massachusetts 135 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:23,120 Speaker 1: for a couple of years, mainly working part time in bookstores, 136 00:08:23,520 --> 00:08:25,560 Speaker 1: before he made the move to New York City, and 137 00:08:25,600 --> 00:08:28,440 Speaker 1: that marked a huge shift in his life and career. 138 00:08:28,520 --> 00:08:30,640 Speaker 1: And we're going to talk about that more after we 139 00:08:30,680 --> 00:08:43,000 Speaker 1: pause for a sponsor break. While Edward Gorey liked his 140 00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:46,200 Speaker 1: work with the Poets Theater, he wasn't able to support 141 00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:51,199 Speaker 1: himself working part time at Cambridge Bookstores. In late nineteen two, 142 00:08:51,320 --> 00:08:54,080 Speaker 1: he designed a couple of book covers as a freelancer 143 00:08:54,120 --> 00:08:57,680 Speaker 1: for Barbara's Zimmerman and Jason Epstein, who he knew from Harvard. 144 00:08:58,280 --> 00:09:01,680 Speaker 1: Epstein soon offered him a job at the art department 145 00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:05,280 Speaker 1: at Double Day Anchor in New York City. He started 146 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:08,319 Speaker 1: out doing paste up and corrections of other people's work 147 00:09:08,559 --> 00:09:12,400 Speaker 1: and eventually started designing book covers. He was good at it, 148 00:09:12,440 --> 00:09:14,640 Speaker 1: and he was efficient, which left him time to work 149 00:09:14,679 --> 00:09:17,440 Speaker 1: on his own projects and to do additional work as 150 00:09:17,480 --> 00:09:21,359 Speaker 1: a commercial illustrator. In his own work, he was primarily 151 00:09:21,440 --> 00:09:23,760 Speaker 1: drawing in black and white because he knew from his 152 00:09:23,840 --> 00:09:25,480 Speaker 1: day job that it would be hard to find a 153 00:09:25,520 --> 00:09:29,480 Speaker 1: publisher for full color illustrated books at the time, but 154 00:09:29,559 --> 00:09:31,880 Speaker 1: the covers that he was drawing while at Anchor usually 155 00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:35,559 Speaker 1: were in color, often with subtle, muted tones. There are 156 00:09:35,559 --> 00:09:39,600 Speaker 1: people who have written whole papers about Edward Gorey's use 157 00:09:39,640 --> 00:09:43,040 Speaker 1: of color on the book covers he was drawing for publishers, 158 00:09:44,160 --> 00:09:47,240 Speaker 1: especially since his own his own books are so often 159 00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:51,320 Speaker 1: in black and white. Gory's first book, which was The 160 00:09:51,400 --> 00:09:54,720 Speaker 1: Unstrung Harp or Mr Earbrass Writes a Novel, came out 161 00:09:54,720 --> 00:09:58,880 Speaker 1: in ninety three. This is about a frustrated man trying 162 00:09:58,920 --> 00:10:02,160 Speaker 1: to write a novel on the closest to an autobiographical work, 163 00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:06,160 Speaker 1: probably of of all of his work. The Listing Addict 164 00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:09,839 Speaker 1: followed in nineteen fifty four. Neither of these books sold 165 00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:13,280 Speaker 1: particularly well, though, and later on Gorey bought up copies 166 00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:15,480 Speaker 1: that he found on remainder tables to give them his 167 00:10:15,600 --> 00:10:19,680 Speaker 1: friend to France as presents. Soon after moving to New York, 168 00:10:19,880 --> 00:10:23,000 Speaker 1: Gorey found one of his truly great loves, and that 169 00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:25,960 Speaker 1: was the New York City Ballet under the helm of 170 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:30,120 Speaker 1: its founder, George Balancheen. Gorey had been to the ballet 171 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:33,040 Speaker 1: before he had gone as a child in Chicago, but 172 00:10:33,160 --> 00:10:36,880 Speaker 1: after attending a few performances in the nineteen nineteen fifty 173 00:10:36,920 --> 00:10:41,040 Speaker 1: three season, he started attending more and more of Balanchine's productions, 174 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:45,120 Speaker 1: until starting in nineteen fifty six, he was attending literally 175 00:10:45,280 --> 00:10:51,199 Speaker 1: every performance. This took dedication, apart from the obvious that 176 00:10:51,200 --> 00:10:53,720 Speaker 1: that is a lot of ballet to his hand. At 177 00:10:53,800 --> 00:10:58,840 Speaker 1: Christmas time, it meant attending nearly forty performances of The Nutcracker. 178 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:03,120 Speaker 1: I read an interview with him where the interviewer was like, 179 00:11:03,200 --> 00:11:05,880 Speaker 1: please explain this to me, how are you able to 180 00:11:05,920 --> 00:11:12,319 Speaker 1: sit through thirty nine performances of The Nutcracker. Here's why 181 00:11:12,320 --> 00:11:15,840 Speaker 1: I'm laughing so hard. I feel like should one day 182 00:11:15,880 --> 00:11:18,160 Speaker 1: someone attempted to write a biography of me, they would 183 00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:21,240 Speaker 1: be like, and she saw Star Wars thirty seven times 184 00:11:21,480 --> 00:11:25,439 Speaker 1: in the theater, So I understand a little bit. How 185 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:28,200 Speaker 1: you could go see The Nutcracker forty times in a row. Well, 186 00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:31,400 Speaker 1: it was forty times in a row for like years 187 00:11:31,440 --> 00:11:34,080 Speaker 1: and years in a row. Like he did it every season, 188 00:11:34,280 --> 00:11:37,240 Speaker 1: and then he saved all of his ticket stubs from 189 00:11:37,280 --> 00:11:39,959 Speaker 1: all of these trips to the ballet. He loved the 190 00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:44,000 Speaker 1: ballet so much that he wrote The Lavender Leotard, or 191 00:11:44,120 --> 00:11:46,440 Speaker 1: Going a Lot to the New York City Ballet. Then 192 00:11:46,440 --> 00:11:49,120 Speaker 1: this initially came out in play bill as part of 193 00:11:49,120 --> 00:11:54,320 Speaker 1: the celebration for the Ballet's fiftieth anniversary. When The Lavender 194 00:11:54,400 --> 00:11:58,960 Speaker 1: Leotard came out as its own standalone book, Edward Gory 195 00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:02,840 Speaker 1: hand painted covers for its first run addition, because the 196 00:12:02,880 --> 00:12:05,280 Speaker 1: printer had not been able to match the exact right 197 00:12:05,320 --> 00:12:08,280 Speaker 1: shade of lavender. This is how dedicated he was to 198 00:12:08,320 --> 00:12:10,600 Speaker 1: the New York City Ballet. I love him so much. 199 00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:15,040 Speaker 1: Gory wrote one other book explicitly about ballet during his career, 200 00:12:15,360 --> 00:12:18,319 Speaker 1: The Gilded Bat, which came out in nineteen sixty six, 201 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:21,280 Speaker 1: but the influence of ballet is clear in his other 202 00:12:21,320 --> 00:12:24,439 Speaker 1: works as well. The people he draws often have turned 203 00:12:24,440 --> 00:12:29,440 Speaker 1: out toes elongated, extended poses, and even when something terrible 204 00:12:29,559 --> 00:12:32,360 Speaker 1: is happening, to them a sort of graceful presence on 205 00:12:32,400 --> 00:12:35,839 Speaker 1: the page. On nights when Gory wasn't going to the 206 00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:38,200 Speaker 1: New York City Ballet, he was often at the opera 207 00:12:38,400 --> 00:12:41,800 Speaker 1: or the movies, and he became a very recognizable presence 208 00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:45,360 Speaker 1: around New York City. He typically wore a full length 209 00:12:45,520 --> 00:12:49,880 Speaker 1: fur coat over jeans the shirt and converse sneakers, and 210 00:12:49,920 --> 00:12:53,319 Speaker 1: he wore a lot of very heavy jewelry, especially rings, 211 00:12:53,360 --> 00:12:55,680 Speaker 1: a lot of which was made out of iron or brass. 212 00:12:55,760 --> 00:12:58,600 Speaker 1: He was a very recognizable person, so if you want 213 00:12:58,640 --> 00:13:02,160 Speaker 1: to throw together a fine Halloween costume, go as Edward Gorey. 214 00:13:03,280 --> 00:13:05,000 Speaker 1: It's a pretty easy one to put together, and it's 215 00:13:05,040 --> 00:13:08,320 Speaker 1: kind of nerdy and cool. He also started accumulating the 216 00:13:08,320 --> 00:13:11,680 Speaker 1: books that would eventually grow into his own personal library 217 00:13:11,800 --> 00:13:14,600 Speaker 1: during this time. He loved to read, and he tended 218 00:13:14,640 --> 00:13:16,800 Speaker 1: to come back home with a book anytime he left 219 00:13:16,800 --> 00:13:20,760 Speaker 1: the house. A particular favorite was Agatha Christie, who he 220 00:13:20,760 --> 00:13:24,480 Speaker 1: had been reading and rereading since childhood. He also loved 221 00:13:24,520 --> 00:13:28,400 Speaker 1: Jane Austen, describing her as his idol. Another favorite was 222 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:31,920 Speaker 1: Anthony Trollop, although he did not revisit Trollop's work very 223 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:34,800 Speaker 1: much as he got older, and he also loved poetry, 224 00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:39,040 Speaker 1: particularly the work of W. H. Auden. He did not 225 00:13:39,240 --> 00:13:44,040 Speaker 1: love everything he read, though, and he was very candid 226 00:13:44,280 --> 00:13:49,280 Speaker 1: about authors and actors and anyone else that he did 227 00:13:49,280 --> 00:13:51,760 Speaker 1: not particularly like, So he made no secret of the 228 00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:55,720 Speaker 1: fact that he despised nearly everything by Henry James in 229 00:13:55,800 --> 00:13:57,560 Speaker 1: spite of the fact that he had drawn the cover 230 00:13:57,720 --> 00:14:00,640 Speaker 1: art for some of Henry James's books. There's a little 231 00:14:00,720 --> 00:14:03,560 Speaker 1: sign in the Edward Gory House today that says, please 232 00:14:03,600 --> 00:14:09,560 Speaker 1: know Henry James and the Edward Gory House. I love 233 00:14:09,559 --> 00:14:13,280 Speaker 1: it so much. Gory's New York City apartment also became 234 00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:15,680 Speaker 1: home to a number of cats, many of them named 235 00:14:15,679 --> 00:14:19,840 Speaker 1: after characters in Murasaki Shikibu's eleventh century Japanese novel The 236 00:14:19,880 --> 00:14:24,840 Speaker 1: Tale of Genji, another lifelong favorite work of literature. Throughout 237 00:14:24,920 --> 00:14:27,160 Speaker 1: this time in New York City, Gory was writing and 238 00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:31,160 Speaker 1: illustrating his own books. Even though most people remember him 239 00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:33,400 Speaker 1: for his art, he really thought of himself as a 240 00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:36,960 Speaker 1: writer first. With every line, he would think, can this 241 00:14:37,120 --> 00:14:40,160 Speaker 1: make a drawing? But he didn't actually start illustrating until 242 00:14:40,160 --> 00:14:42,920 Speaker 1: he was satisfied with the words, and he revised as 243 00:14:42,960 --> 00:14:46,160 Speaker 1: he went. He would get one sentence exactly right before 244 00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:50,720 Speaker 1: he moved on to the next one. In seven Double 245 00:14:50,800 --> 00:14:54,120 Speaker 1: Day published Gory's The Doubtful Guest, which carries a lot 246 00:14:54,200 --> 00:14:57,440 Speaker 1: of the hallmarks of his later work. A peculiar guest 247 00:14:57,480 --> 00:14:59,600 Speaker 1: who looks a little like a penguin shows up, but 248 00:14:59,640 --> 00:15:02,800 Speaker 1: a man him inhabited by a family that looks somewhere 249 00:15:02,840 --> 00:15:07,160 Speaker 1: between Victorian and Edwardian. Whatever it is, the guest is 250 00:15:07,320 --> 00:15:10,080 Speaker 1: ill mannered and weird, and it has been bothering the 251 00:15:10,120 --> 00:15:12,600 Speaker 1: family for seventeen years. At the end of the book, 252 00:15:13,280 --> 00:15:17,000 Speaker 1: The Very Strange The object Lesson came out a year later. 253 00:15:17,880 --> 00:15:19,520 Speaker 1: I tried to figure out how to sum up the 254 00:15:19,560 --> 00:15:23,680 Speaker 1: object Lesson in a sentence. It's not really possible. It 255 00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:31,440 Speaker 1: involves like some tongs and prosthetic leg It's there's just there's. 256 00:15:31,480 --> 00:15:33,800 Speaker 1: It's very surreal. It's one of the things that people 257 00:15:33,840 --> 00:15:38,400 Speaker 1: point to when they talk about surrealist influences on Edward Gory. 258 00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:42,200 Speaker 1: So in ninety nine, The Doubtful Guest caught the eye 259 00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:44,640 Speaker 1: of Edmund Wilson. He wrote about it in an article 260 00:15:44,720 --> 00:15:47,760 Speaker 1: called the Albums of Edward Gory in the December issue 261 00:15:47,760 --> 00:15:51,160 Speaker 1: of The New Yorker. This brought Edward Gory a lot 262 00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:53,600 Speaker 1: more attention than he had before, and it was the 263 00:15:53,640 --> 00:15:56,440 Speaker 1: first time a lot of people had ever heard of him, 264 00:15:56,480 --> 00:15:59,240 Speaker 1: although at this point he was creating so many book 265 00:15:59,280 --> 00:16:02,440 Speaker 1: covers for Double Day Anchor that they had almost certainly 266 00:16:02,640 --> 00:16:07,040 Speaker 1: seen something he had drawn before nineteen fifty nine was 267 00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:09,960 Speaker 1: also when Gorey left Double Day Anchor to serve as 268 00:16:10,040 --> 00:16:13,480 Speaker 1: art director at looking Glass Library, which set out to 269 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:17,360 Speaker 1: repackage classic works for children. In addition to being the 270 00:16:17,480 --> 00:16:20,200 Speaker 1: art director, he helped select some of the twenty eight 271 00:16:20,240 --> 00:16:23,480 Speaker 1: books that were ultimately published, and he did illustrations for 272 00:16:23,520 --> 00:16:26,560 Speaker 1: a few of them. The most famous was his illustrated 273 00:16:26,600 --> 00:16:29,080 Speaker 1: War of the Worlds, which came out in nineteen sixty. 274 00:16:29,480 --> 00:16:31,960 Speaker 1: He also illustrated a book of ghost stories called The 275 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:35,400 Speaker 1: Haunted looking Glass, and he also chose the stories themselves 276 00:16:35,440 --> 00:16:39,800 Speaker 1: for that one. Looking Glass Library folded in nineteen sixty two, 277 00:16:39,880 --> 00:16:42,680 Speaker 1: and Gory started doing some work for other publishers as 278 00:16:42,720 --> 00:16:47,520 Speaker 1: well as working freelance, including designing advertisements. He also started 279 00:16:47,520 --> 00:16:50,920 Speaker 1: granting permission for his existing illustrations to be used in 280 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:54,640 Speaker 1: other work. One example from later in his career is 281 00:16:54,720 --> 00:16:57,840 Speaker 1: an end of life planning booklet called Before I Go 282 00:16:58,000 --> 00:17:01,120 Speaker 1: You Should Know My Funeral and Final Lands, which was 283 00:17:01,160 --> 00:17:05,800 Speaker 1: distributed by Funeral Consumers Alliance. It sort of seems perfect 284 00:17:05,800 --> 00:17:10,359 Speaker 1: for Edward Gorey to have a great tease. Also in 285 00:17:10,440 --> 00:17:13,920 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty two, the much beloved The Gashly Crumb Tinese 286 00:17:13,960 --> 00:17:16,720 Speaker 1: debuted as part of a three volume work called The 287 00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:21,080 Speaker 1: Vinegar Works three Volumes of Moral Instruction, which also included 288 00:17:21,119 --> 00:17:25,040 Speaker 1: The Insect God and The West Wing. The Gashly Crumb 289 00:17:25,119 --> 00:17:29,440 Speaker 1: Chinese has never been out of print. That same year, 290 00:17:29,640 --> 00:17:32,280 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty two, was a big year Edward Gorey and 291 00:17:32,359 --> 00:17:36,520 Speaker 1: Francis Stelloff launched the Fantad Press. Stellof was founder of 292 00:17:36,600 --> 00:17:39,640 Speaker 1: the Gotham Bookmark, which was a bookstore in Literary Haven 293 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:42,600 Speaker 1: that had become the primary distribution point for a lot 294 00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:46,040 Speaker 1: of Corey's work. Gotham Bookmark is where Gory sat to 295 00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:48,960 Speaker 1: hand paint all those copies of the Lavender Leotard, and 296 00:17:49,040 --> 00:17:51,840 Speaker 1: when it opened an art gallery in nineteen sixty seven, 297 00:17:51,920 --> 00:17:55,800 Speaker 1: he was one of its first exhibitors. Gory and Steeloff 298 00:17:55,880 --> 00:17:59,480 Speaker 1: launched Fantad Press together because Gory had trouble finding a 299 00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:02,240 Speaker 1: publisher for a lot of what he had written, and 300 00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:05,520 Speaker 1: he wanted a way to publish it himself. The press's 301 00:18:05,600 --> 00:18:08,800 Speaker 1: first book was The Beastly Baby, which was the first 302 00:18:08,800 --> 00:18:11,719 Speaker 1: word Gory had ever tried to publish. It was one 303 00:18:11,720 --> 00:18:14,000 Speaker 1: of the many books that came out under a pseudonym 304 00:18:14,040 --> 00:18:17,160 Speaker 1: that was an anagram or near anagram of Gorey's own 305 00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:22,440 Speaker 1: name in this case, Agdred Weary. The Beastly Baby features 306 00:18:22,440 --> 00:18:26,200 Speaker 1: a big, sticky, shrieking, gurgling baby that does horrible things 307 00:18:26,280 --> 00:18:29,560 Speaker 1: like burning the upholstery with acid. According to Gory, it 308 00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:32,040 Speaker 1: made people so angry that mothers tore it up and 309 00:18:32,119 --> 00:18:35,000 Speaker 1: mailed the pieces back to him. I have always contended 310 00:18:35,040 --> 00:18:36,840 Speaker 1: that seeing this book as a kid is one of 311 00:18:36,840 --> 00:18:42,080 Speaker 1: the reasons I never wanted children. In the late nineteen sixties, 312 00:18:42,080 --> 00:18:47,080 Speaker 1: Gory started spending more time on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, transporting 313 00:18:47,160 --> 00:18:50,040 Speaker 1: his cats with him back and forth between there in 314 00:18:50,119 --> 00:18:53,560 Speaker 1: New York City. He was always in New York during 315 00:18:53,640 --> 00:18:56,240 Speaker 1: ballet season, but eventually he would move out to the 316 00:18:56,280 --> 00:18:59,320 Speaker 1: Cape permanently. We were going to talk about that after 317 00:18:59,359 --> 00:19:12,040 Speaker 1: another QUI sponsor break. Edward Gorey had relatives who lived 318 00:19:12,040 --> 00:19:14,879 Speaker 1: on Cape Cod, so he had visited there from time 319 00:19:14,880 --> 00:19:17,920 Speaker 1: to time over the years. As he started to spend 320 00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:20,560 Speaker 1: more time there in the sixties and seventies, he got 321 00:19:20,600 --> 00:19:24,760 Speaker 1: involved in local theaters all along the Cape, designing promotional 322 00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:28,399 Speaker 1: materials and costumes, staging work of his own, some of 323 00:19:28,400 --> 00:19:31,480 Speaker 1: it quite experimental. He continued to do some of the 324 00:19:31,520 --> 00:19:35,960 Speaker 1: same work in New York City as well. In three 325 00:19:35,960 --> 00:19:38,800 Speaker 1: Gorey designed the set for a production of Dracula that 326 00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:41,080 Speaker 1: was to be staged on Nantucket, off the coast of 327 00:19:41,119 --> 00:19:44,440 Speaker 1: Cape cod. When he was drawing for books, Gorey usually 328 00:19:44,480 --> 00:19:47,760 Speaker 1: worked at about the same size as the finished printed product. 329 00:19:48,160 --> 00:19:50,920 Speaker 1: For this set, which looks like a black and white 330 00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:54,200 Speaker 1: cross hatched illustration from one of his books, he drew 331 00:19:54,280 --> 00:19:57,080 Speaker 1: larger images that were then blown up for the stage. 332 00:19:58,080 --> 00:20:02,520 Speaker 1: This same staging opened on Broadway on October twenty nine, 333 00:20:02,760 --> 00:20:05,840 Speaker 1: seventy seven, where it ran until January of nine eight. 334 00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:09,439 Speaker 1: It was nominated for three Tony Awards, one for the 335 00:20:09,480 --> 00:20:12,840 Speaker 1: sets in the costumes, which which Gorey had also designed, 336 00:20:13,119 --> 00:20:16,560 Speaker 1: and he was also It was also nominated for Best Revival. 337 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:20,000 Speaker 1: Gory won the Tony for his costume work, and the 338 00:20:20,080 --> 00:20:23,119 Speaker 1: production also won the Tony for Best Revival. But I 339 00:20:23,200 --> 00:20:25,840 Speaker 1: always really bothered him that the sets had not won 340 00:20:26,359 --> 00:20:30,560 Speaker 1: as well. They are quite striking. It's one of those 341 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:32,800 Speaker 1: things that happens, where are you shrug where it doesn't 342 00:20:32,840 --> 00:20:36,520 Speaker 1: make sense. We see it all the time. Apparently it 343 00:20:36,600 --> 00:20:41,040 Speaker 1: rankled him. I can understand that a musical adaptation of 344 00:20:41,080 --> 00:20:45,119 Speaker 1: Gory's own work, Gory Stories, appeared on Broadway in v 345 00:20:45,359 --> 00:20:48,840 Speaker 1: eight after getting its start at the University of Kentucky, 346 00:20:48,920 --> 00:20:52,080 Speaker 1: and Gory adored this production, which had a brief run 347 00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:56,439 Speaker 1: off Broadway in January and February, along with sixteen previews. 348 00:20:57,119 --> 00:21:01,439 Speaker 1: It officially opened on Broadway on October and it closed 349 00:21:01,440 --> 00:21:04,399 Speaker 1: the very same night. The New York Times and Daily 350 00:21:04,440 --> 00:21:06,760 Speaker 1: News had been on strike for months, and it just 351 00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:10,240 Speaker 1: had not gotten much publicity. There's there are, of course, 352 00:21:10,359 --> 00:21:13,679 Speaker 1: other stagings of Gory's work or place he was related with, 353 00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:17,480 Speaker 1: but Dracula on Broadway and gory Stories are the two 354 00:21:17,560 --> 00:21:22,320 Speaker 1: Broadway productions. Gory spent more and more time on Cape 355 00:21:22,359 --> 00:21:25,440 Speaker 1: Cod in the late nineteen seventies and early nineteen eighties. 356 00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:28,280 Speaker 1: He started easing up on his patronage of the New 357 00:21:28,320 --> 00:21:31,720 Speaker 1: York City Ballet as George Balanchine started passing some of 358 00:21:31,760 --> 00:21:36,639 Speaker 1: his leadership onto his successors. When Balantine died in three, 359 00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:39,280 Speaker 1: Gory decided it was time to think about leaving New 360 00:21:39,359 --> 00:21:44,280 Speaker 1: York entirely. At first, he moved to Barnstable, Massachusetts, where 361 00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:47,760 Speaker 1: he stayed in a house belonging to relatives. Then he 362 00:21:47,840 --> 00:21:50,440 Speaker 1: moved into a two hundred year old sea captain's home 363 00:21:50,520 --> 00:21:54,040 Speaker 1: in yarmouthport that he'd bought with his Dracula royalties, and 364 00:21:54,119 --> 00:21:58,240 Speaker 1: he nicknamed it the Elephant House. The Elephant House became 365 00:21:58,280 --> 00:22:01,520 Speaker 1: home to Gory, his cat and his collections for the 366 00:22:01,560 --> 00:22:04,720 Speaker 1: rest of his life. In terms of cats, he typically 367 00:22:04,720 --> 00:22:07,479 Speaker 1: had five or six. He thought six cats were a 368 00:22:07,520 --> 00:22:10,520 Speaker 1: lot harder to keep up with than five, and seven 369 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:15,320 Speaker 1: was far too many. This is exactly my numbers. Six 370 00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:19,720 Speaker 1: is where I'm maxed out. Five is kind of perfect. Yeah. 371 00:22:19,760 --> 00:22:21,720 Speaker 1: He had a whole thing about when when there are 372 00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:26,359 Speaker 1: six cats they somehow form this phalanx of cat and 373 00:22:26,400 --> 00:22:29,560 Speaker 1: then five is like not not having so much of 374 00:22:29,560 --> 00:22:33,600 Speaker 1: a supernatural level of combined cat intelligence. But seven is 375 00:22:33,840 --> 00:22:37,680 Speaker 1: right out in my experience. This is all entirely accurate. Uh. 376 00:22:37,720 --> 00:22:41,720 Speaker 1: And for collections, moving from a tiny New York apartment 377 00:22:42,119 --> 00:22:44,560 Speaker 1: to an entire house meant that he could spend his 378 00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:48,800 Speaker 1: weekends poking around yard sales and looking for treasures, and 379 00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:53,399 Speaker 1: he collected all kinds of things. There were, of course, books, 380 00:22:53,480 --> 00:22:56,399 Speaker 1: of which he had approximately twenty five thousand by the 381 00:22:56,480 --> 00:23:00,399 Speaker 1: end of his life, but also cheese graters, salt and 382 00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:07,800 Speaker 1: pepper shakers, knickknacks, interesting rocks, toys, games, art, including some 383 00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:12,160 Speaker 1: terrifically bad art, on and on. He was often inspired 384 00:23:12,200 --> 00:23:15,480 Speaker 1: by the Japanese concept of wabi sabi, which ties to 385 00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:19,120 Speaker 1: beauty found in the simple, the impermanent, and the mundane. 386 00:23:20,280 --> 00:23:23,399 Speaker 1: His time on Cape cod really contributed to the perception 387 00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:26,480 Speaker 1: that Edward Gorey was a recluse in New York City. 388 00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:29,240 Speaker 1: He had gone out almost every night, especially when the 389 00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:33,359 Speaker 1: ballet was performing, always wearing this very recognizable fur coat 390 00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:36,399 Speaker 1: and jewelry. But after he moved into the Elephant House 391 00:23:36,480 --> 00:23:40,000 Speaker 1: he stayed whole a lot more. In addition to working, 392 00:23:40,119 --> 00:23:42,880 Speaker 1: he read a vast number of books, and he also 393 00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:46,159 Speaker 1: watched a whole lot of TV. He spoke often for 394 00:23:46,240 --> 00:23:49,520 Speaker 1: his love of things like Dr Who, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 395 00:23:49,680 --> 00:23:54,159 Speaker 1: and daytime soap operas. Gorey's work is also on TV. 396 00:23:54,640 --> 00:23:58,159 Speaker 1: In he worked with Derek Lamb to animate the Introduction 397 00:23:58,240 --> 00:24:01,960 Speaker 1: to Mystery from Boston Public Television, which for some people 398 00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:06,560 Speaker 1: was their first introduction to Edward Gory's work. Often, while 399 00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:09,720 Speaker 1: he was watching all this television, he'd make little bean 400 00:24:09,760 --> 00:24:14,200 Speaker 1: bag creatures filled with rice, recognizable animals like bats, frogs, 401 00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:17,560 Speaker 1: and elephants, as well as characters like fig Bash. A 402 00:24:17,640 --> 00:24:20,600 Speaker 1: long armed Creature from the Raging Tide or the Black 403 00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:24,800 Speaker 1: Dolls Inmbroglio, who would later also have his own alphabet book. 404 00:24:25,960 --> 00:24:29,480 Speaker 1: Some of this perception that Edward Gorey was reclusive came 405 00:24:29,520 --> 00:24:33,040 Speaker 1: from interviews as well. He could be quite charming and 406 00:24:33,080 --> 00:24:36,679 Speaker 1: gregarious in interviews, but really only if the interviewer was 407 00:24:36,720 --> 00:24:40,200 Speaker 1: asking him interesting questions. If you sat down with Edward 408 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:44,000 Speaker 1: Gorey with a list of boring, predictable, obvious questions, you 409 00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:46,760 Speaker 1: might get a bunch of one word or evasive answers 410 00:24:46,760 --> 00:24:51,360 Speaker 1: in response, especially if other interviewers before you had already 411 00:24:51,359 --> 00:24:55,000 Speaker 1: asked those same boring, predictable, obvious things. So if you 412 00:24:55,040 --> 00:24:57,760 Speaker 1: walked into an interview with Edward Gorey and you asked 413 00:24:57,800 --> 00:25:01,200 Speaker 1: him why do you like to draw such maccab pictures? 414 00:25:01,560 --> 00:25:04,800 Speaker 1: When he had been asked that question and also hated 415 00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:07,840 Speaker 1: being called macab in the first place, you might get 416 00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:13,480 Speaker 1: the impression he didn't like talking to people. To add 417 00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:17,720 Speaker 1: to all this solitude and curmudge, Linus Gory always lived 418 00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:21,840 Speaker 1: alone and he never had a serious romantic relationship. Combined 419 00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:24,760 Speaker 1: with an often campy way of speaking and presenting himself, 420 00:25:24,800 --> 00:25:28,440 Speaker 1: this led people naturally to wonder about his sexual orientation. 421 00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:33,560 Speaker 1: In interview with Boston magazine, Lisa's Salad asked him what 422 00:25:33,640 --> 00:25:36,960 Speaker 1: his sexual preferences were, and he answered, quote, well, I'm 423 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:40,520 Speaker 1: neither one thing nor the other. Particularly later in that 424 00:25:40,600 --> 00:25:44,400 Speaker 1: same interview, she asked, is the sexlessness of your books 425 00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:47,359 Speaker 1: a product of your a sexuality? And he answered I 426 00:25:47,400 --> 00:25:50,400 Speaker 1: would say so, although every now and then someone will 427 00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:54,680 Speaker 1: say my books are seething with repressed sexuality. These ideas 428 00:25:54,720 --> 00:25:57,800 Speaker 1: came up in other interviews as well. For example, in 429 00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:01,919 Speaker 1: four he told Richard die of Boston Globe Magazine quote, 430 00:26:02,320 --> 00:26:04,800 Speaker 1: sometimes I asked myself why I never ended up with 431 00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:06,679 Speaker 1: somebody for the rest of my life, and then I 432 00:26:06,720 --> 00:26:09,719 Speaker 1: realized that obviously I didn't want to, or I would have. 433 00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:14,240 Speaker 1: So it's definitely true that Gory led a solitary life, 434 00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:17,520 Speaker 1: particularly once he moved to Cape cod and he tended 435 00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:19,960 Speaker 1: not to answer the door, or the phone or the mail, 436 00:26:20,119 --> 00:26:23,280 Speaker 1: although that led to him feeling guilty about unopened piles 437 00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:26,320 Speaker 1: of fan mail, which he once called thank you for 438 00:26:26,359 --> 00:26:29,960 Speaker 1: being you crap. He didn't like to be flattered or 439 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:32,920 Speaker 1: fussed over or bothered. He didn't want to talk about 440 00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:35,760 Speaker 1: interpretations of his work because he liked the idea of 441 00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:40,280 Speaker 1: people's imaginations having their own possibilities. I'm just putting it 442 00:26:40,320 --> 00:26:42,480 Speaker 1: out there. I will read thank you for being you 443 00:26:42,560 --> 00:26:46,920 Speaker 1: crap any day of the week. At the same time, 444 00:26:47,040 --> 00:26:50,399 Speaker 1: though it is really not accurate to think of Edward 445 00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:53,720 Speaker 1: Gorey as a hermit or a recluse. He gave most 446 00:26:53,720 --> 00:26:55,919 Speaker 1: of those little being bag creatures that he made a 447 00:26:55,960 --> 00:26:59,119 Speaker 1: way to his friends, even as he developed a cult 448 00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:01,879 Speaker 1: fan follow He was listed in the phone book, and 449 00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:04,640 Speaker 1: he was generous with his time when fans ran into 450 00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:07,600 Speaker 1: him out in public. If he literally knocked on the door, 451 00:27:07,720 --> 00:27:10,320 Speaker 1: he might not answer it, but if he did answer it, 452 00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:12,960 Speaker 1: expecting it to be someone he knew, he would talk 453 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:16,399 Speaker 1: to you. He ate out almost every day, with Jack's 454 00:27:16,400 --> 00:27:20,359 Speaker 1: Outback Restaurant being a particular favorite. He did a lot 455 00:27:20,480 --> 00:27:23,879 Speaker 1: of work that required him to be social, particularly working 456 00:27:23,880 --> 00:27:27,800 Speaker 1: with community theaters all up and down Cape Cod staging plays, 457 00:27:27,840 --> 00:27:32,320 Speaker 1: and working on sets and costumes. Edward Gorey wrote and 458 00:27:32,400 --> 00:27:36,040 Speaker 1: published books continually from nineteen fifty three all the way 459 00:27:36,080 --> 00:27:38,720 Speaker 1: to the end of his life. He created more than 460 00:27:38,760 --> 00:27:41,159 Speaker 1: one hundred books of his own, and also designed the 461 00:27:41,200 --> 00:27:44,399 Speaker 1: covers for hundreds of others, as well as handling the 462 00:27:44,440 --> 00:27:48,040 Speaker 1: design and typography for at least a hundred more. His 463 00:27:48,080 --> 00:27:51,800 Speaker 1: illustrations accompanied the writings of T. S. Eliott, John Updyke, 464 00:27:51,960 --> 00:27:56,159 Speaker 1: Lewis Carroll, Virginia, Wolf, H. G. Wells, bram Stoker, and 465 00:27:56,200 --> 00:28:00,359 Speaker 1: Gilbert and Sullivan, among others. My introduction to T. S. 466 00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:03,480 Speaker 1: Eliot was actually an addition of Old Possums Book of 467 00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:09,760 Speaker 1: Practical Cats illustrated by Edward Gorey, which Edward Gorey's cats 468 00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:13,120 Speaker 1: are a lot friendlier and goofier than maybe anything else 469 00:28:13,160 --> 00:28:15,560 Speaker 1: that he drew, Like, they often have these big doofy 470 00:28:15,640 --> 00:28:18,520 Speaker 1: smiles on their faces, and they look really loungey and cuddly, 471 00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:21,960 Speaker 1: and so I got this impression that T. S. Eliot 472 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:28,159 Speaker 1: was like a uh, a little snug bug. Yeah. And 473 00:28:28,200 --> 00:28:30,200 Speaker 1: then I got to college and I had to read 474 00:28:30,240 --> 00:28:32,560 Speaker 1: The Waste Land, and I was like, what is the 475 00:28:33,040 --> 00:28:39,560 Speaker 1: where are the kiddies? I still have that book. So, 476 00:28:40,120 --> 00:28:44,520 Speaker 1: because Gory's original books are illustrated and they often feature 477 00:28:44,600 --> 00:28:48,680 Speaker 1: children as characters, and because about twenty of these original 478 00:28:48,720 --> 00:28:51,640 Speaker 1: books are alphabet books, sometimes people think of him as 479 00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:56,400 Speaker 1: a children's author, And because terrible things often are happening 480 00:28:56,440 --> 00:28:59,680 Speaker 1: to these children's these children in the books. He's also 481 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:04,320 Speaker 1: often imagined to have hated children, but really, in his 482 00:29:04,360 --> 00:29:06,720 Speaker 1: adult life he didn't know any children. He didn't have 483 00:29:06,760 --> 00:29:10,040 Speaker 1: any anti antipathy for them at all. At every time 484 00:29:10,040 --> 00:29:12,480 Speaker 1: this came up in an interview, he consistently would be like, no, 485 00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:16,880 Speaker 1: I don't actually know any kids. While many of his 486 00:29:16,920 --> 00:29:20,360 Speaker 1: books were suitable for most ages, others had a decidedly 487 00:29:20,440 --> 00:29:25,440 Speaker 1: adult twist. For example, he illustrated the recently Deflowered Girl 488 00:29:25,800 --> 00:29:29,480 Speaker 1: The Right Thing to Say on Every Dubious Occasion, published 489 00:29:29,560 --> 00:29:33,440 Speaker 1: under the pseudonym of Miss Hyacinth Phipps. It's a faux 490 00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:36,680 Speaker 1: advice manual written by mel Juffey for what ladies should 491 00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:40,040 Speaker 1: say after being the flowered in a variety of odd 492 00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:44,680 Speaker 1: and sometimes awful situations. Gorey also wrote an illustrated The 493 00:29:44,760 --> 00:29:49,280 Speaker 1: Curious Sofa of pornographic work by augdred Weary, which contains 494 00:29:49,320 --> 00:29:53,480 Speaker 1: no nudity or explicit language, but also points the imagination 495 00:29:53,560 --> 00:29:57,720 Speaker 1: in a very particular direction. Today, many but not all 496 00:29:57,800 --> 00:30:01,040 Speaker 1: of Corey's books are available in collect shins with names 497 00:30:01,080 --> 00:30:04,280 Speaker 1: like Amfiguory and AM Figory two. The first of these 498 00:30:04,320 --> 00:30:08,360 Speaker 1: came out in nineteen seventy two. Although Gory himself preferred 499 00:30:08,400 --> 00:30:11,480 Speaker 1: his books as they were originally printed and bound, today 500 00:30:11,520 --> 00:30:13,640 Speaker 1: a lot of them are out of print. Outside of 501 00:30:13,680 --> 00:30:16,840 Speaker 1: these collections, you can definitely find a lot of standalone 502 00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:19,240 Speaker 1: books too, but there are things that are in those 503 00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:22,280 Speaker 1: collections that it's it's hard to find in any other way. 504 00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:26,000 Speaker 1: Gory died on April fifteenth, two thousand, at the age 505 00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:28,880 Speaker 1: of seventy five, following a heart attack that he had 506 00:30:28,880 --> 00:30:32,240 Speaker 1: had a few days before. He was cremated, with part 507 00:30:32,280 --> 00:30:34,400 Speaker 1: of his ashes sent to be buried with his family. 508 00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:37,040 Speaker 1: Part floated out to sea on a raft made of 509 00:30:37,040 --> 00:30:40,520 Speaker 1: branches from the magnolia tree that grows outside of Elephant House, 510 00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:43,240 Speaker 1: in a small part saved to be scattered in the 511 00:30:43,320 --> 00:30:45,520 Speaker 1: yard where the cats were to be buried after the 512 00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:48,880 Speaker 1: last of their deaths. He left most of his estate 513 00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:53,320 Speaker 1: to the Edward Gory Charitable Trust, which funds animal welfare organizations. 514 00:30:53,840 --> 00:30:57,760 Speaker 1: Edward Gorey was actually really interested in animal welfare, particularly 515 00:30:58,240 --> 00:31:03,280 Speaker 1: cats and bats, and in general uh the welfare of animals. 516 00:31:03,520 --> 00:31:06,840 Speaker 1: He actually gave up wearing all those famous fur coats 517 00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:09,960 Speaker 1: as he became more interested in animal where welfare. Later 518 00:31:09,960 --> 00:31:14,040 Speaker 1: on in his life, when a family of raccoons invaded 519 00:31:14,080 --> 00:31:17,400 Speaker 1: the Elephant House, he let them keep living there, almost 520 00:31:17,400 --> 00:31:20,600 Speaker 1: as penance for having worn a raccoon coat for so long. 521 00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:23,520 Speaker 1: By the time he died, he had amassed a collection 522 00:31:23,560 --> 00:31:27,000 Speaker 1: of twenty one fur coats, which the found The Foundation 523 00:31:27,120 --> 00:31:29,600 Speaker 1: started off selling at a rate of one per year, 524 00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:33,400 Speaker 1: and then sold the rest at auction in as a fundraiser. 525 00:31:34,280 --> 00:31:37,400 Speaker 1: In two thousand two, the Highland Street Foundation purchased the 526 00:31:37,480 --> 00:31:39,920 Speaker 1: Edward Gory Home, and today it is the Edward Gory 527 00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:45,720 Speaker 1: House Museum, which is open seasonally. Edward Gorey's influence continued 528 00:31:45,800 --> 00:31:48,160 Speaker 1: to grow in the last decades of his life and 529 00:31:48,200 --> 00:31:52,360 Speaker 1: after his death. In an article in The New York Times, 530 00:31:52,600 --> 00:31:56,280 Speaker 1: Daniel Handler, the author of a series of Unfortunate Events, 531 00:31:56,400 --> 00:32:00,000 Speaker 1: which was published under the name Lemony Snicket, said quote, well, 532 00:32:00,040 --> 00:32:02,880 Speaker 1: I was first writing a series of Unfortunate event events. 533 00:32:03,200 --> 00:32:06,200 Speaker 1: I was wandering around everywhere saying I am a complete 534 00:32:06,280 --> 00:32:10,440 Speaker 1: rip off of Edward Gory and everyone said, here's that. Now, 535 00:32:10,480 --> 00:32:13,440 Speaker 1: everyone says, that's right, you are a complete rip off 536 00:32:13,480 --> 00:32:20,760 Speaker 1: of Edward Gorey. Uh. That delights me. Daniel Handler dragging 537 00:32:20,800 --> 00:32:23,440 Speaker 1: himself cracks me up a little bit. The first volume 538 00:32:23,600 --> 00:32:25,520 Speaker 1: of that series of books came out the year before 539 00:32:25,640 --> 00:32:29,239 Speaker 1: Edward Gorey's death. Neil Gaiman had actually said that he 540 00:32:29,320 --> 00:32:32,880 Speaker 1: wanted Edward Gorey to illustrate his book Coral Line, but 541 00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:35,640 Speaker 1: Gory died the day that game and finished writing it. 542 00:32:36,400 --> 00:32:40,000 Speaker 1: I don't actually know if Tim Burton has ever specifically 543 00:32:40,120 --> 00:32:43,800 Speaker 1: cited Edward Gorey as an influence, but a lot of 544 00:32:43,880 --> 00:32:47,880 Speaker 1: people writing about Tim Burton make that connection. Well. The 545 00:32:47,960 --> 00:32:51,280 Speaker 1: style is very similar of his drawings, for sure. Um 546 00:32:51,520 --> 00:32:53,200 Speaker 1: So whether he said it or not, I think you 547 00:32:53,400 --> 00:32:57,480 Speaker 1: can't discount it. Like there's a very valid connection there. Uh. 548 00:32:57,520 --> 00:33:00,560 Speaker 1: And Tracy included this quote in her out to end 549 00:33:00,600 --> 00:33:04,120 Speaker 1: with quote for some reason, my mission in life is 550 00:33:04,160 --> 00:33:07,560 Speaker 1: to make everybody as uneasy as possible. I think we 551 00:33:07,560 --> 00:33:10,600 Speaker 1: should all be as uneasy as possible, because that's what 552 00:33:10,720 --> 00:33:14,280 Speaker 1: the world is like. And that was Edward Gory is 553 00:33:14,320 --> 00:33:19,200 Speaker 1: quoted by Richard Dyer in Boston Globe Magazine in We'll 554 00:33:19,240 --> 00:33:21,320 Speaker 1: also put a link in our show notes just for 555 00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:26,600 Speaker 1: fun from the Great sadly no longer actively in production. 556 00:33:26,920 --> 00:33:30,200 Speaker 1: Uh website the toast called how to Tell if You're 557 00:33:30,200 --> 00:33:34,880 Speaker 1: in an Edward Gory book, which is delightful that is 558 00:33:35,000 --> 00:33:43,000 Speaker 1: Edward Gory. Thank you so much for joining us today 559 00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:45,640 Speaker 1: for this classic. If you have heard any kind of 560 00:33:45,680 --> 00:33:48,040 Speaker 1: email address or maybe a Facebook you are l during 561 00:33:48,080 --> 00:33:50,320 Speaker 1: the course of the episode, that might be obsolete. 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