1 00:00:01,160 --> 00:00:04,120 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:14,080 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com k Low and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:18,079 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly Fine. Once you 4 00:00:18,160 --> 00:00:22,239 Speaker 1: have read some of Edward Gorey's books, it is almost 5 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:26,240 Speaker 1: impossible to mistake his work for anyone else's, unless maybe 6 00:00:26,280 --> 00:00:29,600 Speaker 1: they are intentionally working in the style of Edward gory 7 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:33,680 Speaker 1: His black and white pen and ink illustrations look almost 8 00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:36,559 Speaker 1: like engravings. They're just full of hatching and cross hatching. 9 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:40,120 Speaker 1: The words are lettered by hand, and the stories a 10 00:00:40,159 --> 00:00:43,760 Speaker 1: lot of times unfold through either rhyming couplets or limericks 11 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:47,239 Speaker 1: or some of their verse. The plots a lot of 12 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:51,479 Speaker 1: times and really ambiguously, or they never resolve at all. 13 00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:58,000 Speaker 1: It's this gloomy, foreboding, typically Edwardian world that's populated by 14 00:00:58,040 --> 00:01:01,760 Speaker 1: bats and cats and odd creatures and grown ups who 15 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:05,039 Speaker 1: are usually in very glamorous clothing, and a lot of 16 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:10,840 Speaker 1: children who somehow come to harm. And one of one 17 00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:13,440 Speaker 1: of his most well known books, which is an alphabet 18 00:01:13,480 --> 00:01:16,880 Speaker 1: book called The Gashly Curbs, Tiny's m is for Maud 19 00:01:16,959 --> 00:01:20,240 Speaker 1: who was swept out to see n is for Neville 20 00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:24,600 Speaker 1: who died of Anu. The other Tinese are and assaulted 21 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:27,640 Speaker 1: by bears. There sucks dry by leeches, there run through 22 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:31,880 Speaker 1: with alls. It's all very darkly whimsical. So if you 23 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:36,000 Speaker 1: don't know much about Edward Gorey's life, you might imagine 24 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:39,680 Speaker 1: the person who did this to be a dour Englishman 25 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:42,000 Speaker 1: with the peak of his career, maybe sometime in the 26 00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:46,240 Speaker 1: nineties or thirties, whose own childhood was marked with a 27 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:50,560 Speaker 1: series of tragic deaths. But Edward Gorey was none of 28 00:01:50,600 --> 00:01:54,120 Speaker 1: those things. No, he's delightful. He's who were going to 29 00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:59,520 Speaker 1: talk about today. Edward Gory, nicknamed Ted, was born Edward st. 30 00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:05,120 Speaker 1: John Ory on February twenty s in Chicago, Illinois. He 31 00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:08,840 Speaker 1: was the only child of Edward Leo Gory and Helen Garvey, 32 00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:12,800 Speaker 1: who divorced when he was eleven. His father later remarried 33 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:16,119 Speaker 1: singer and guitarist Karina Mura, who was most well known 34 00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:19,200 Speaker 1: for being the guitar player at Rick's Cafe America in 35 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:24,240 Speaker 1: the movie Casablanca. Gory's parents remarried one another in nineteen 36 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:29,680 Speaker 1: fifty two. Already it's kind of whimsical and cooky. The 37 00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:34,040 Speaker 1: family had predominantly Irish roots, with ancestors on both sides, 38 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:36,440 Speaker 1: immigrating to the United States in the mid to late 39 00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:40,400 Speaker 1: nineteenth century. Although his father was Roman Catholic and his 40 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:45,560 Speaker 1: mother was Episcopalian, gory himself wasn't particularly religious, and later 41 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:47,120 Speaker 1: on in his life he would say that if he 42 00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:51,360 Speaker 1: was anything, he was a Taoist. He was also quite precocious, 43 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:54,120 Speaker 1: and he started drawing before he was even two years old. 44 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:58,760 Speaker 1: His oldest surviving drawing, called the Sausage Train, is of 45 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:02,160 Speaker 1: the trains that passed his grandparents house in Chicago, and 46 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:04,840 Speaker 1: he drew that when he was about eighteen months old. 47 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:08,600 Speaker 1: This is full of oblong shapes that are recognizably trains, 48 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:11,920 Speaker 1: but they were also very definitely drawn by a small child. 49 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:14,600 Speaker 1: So it's not like he just whipped out realistic drawings 50 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:18,080 Speaker 1: and people went wonderkin, No, I mean it's uh. It 51 00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:21,880 Speaker 1: is starting startling lye adept for an eighteen month old, 52 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:26,880 Speaker 1: but still obviously a child's drawing. By three, Edward Gorey 53 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:29,560 Speaker 1: had taught himself to read, and by five or six, 54 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:33,000 Speaker 1: sometimes he says he would say seven and interviews buried 55 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:35,880 Speaker 1: a little bit. He had read two books whose influence 56 00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:39,280 Speaker 1: on his own work is really obvious Alice in Wonderland 57 00:03:39,400 --> 00:03:42,320 Speaker 1: and Dracula. So if you ever read an Edward Gory 58 00:03:42,360 --> 00:03:44,440 Speaker 1: book and said, man, this is like if Alice in 59 00:03:44,480 --> 00:03:48,200 Speaker 1: Wonderland had a baby with Dracula, you were exactly right. 60 00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:52,360 Speaker 1: That was right. And although Gory described his upbringing as 61 00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:57,320 Speaker 1: very ordinary Midwestern childhood, in reality he moved around a lot. 62 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:00,880 Speaker 1: By the time he left for college, he had had 63 00:04:00,920 --> 00:04:04,560 Speaker 1: at least twelve different addresses, including staying with relatives in 64 00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:08,760 Speaker 1: Florida for a brief stretch after his parents divorce. He 65 00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:11,440 Speaker 1: was overall a good student, and he was bright enough 66 00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:15,680 Speaker 1: that he skipped first grade, but sometimes after changing schools, 67 00:04:15,720 --> 00:04:18,080 Speaker 1: his work would waver a little as he adjusted to 68 00:04:18,120 --> 00:04:22,880 Speaker 1: a new environment. By eighth grade, Gorey was drawing illustrations 69 00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:26,240 Speaker 1: for the school yearbook, as well as participating in typing club, 70 00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:31,120 Speaker 1: art club, Shakespeare Club, and glee club, along with serving 71 00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:35,479 Speaker 1: as assembly president. He also, sometime in those years learned 72 00:04:35,520 --> 00:04:39,520 Speaker 1: to play the piano. The most stable period of Gorey's 73 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:43,640 Speaker 1: education before college was when he was at Chicago's Francis W. 74 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:47,640 Speaker 1: Parker School. He enrolled there in the ninth grade and 75 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:52,159 Speaker 1: he graduated on June five, and while there he was 76 00:04:52,279 --> 00:04:55,080 Speaker 1: clearly interested in art, hanging out with a click of 77 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:59,159 Speaker 1: other artistically inclined students and participating in his first school 78 00:04:59,279 --> 00:05:03,719 Speaker 1: art show in nineteen thirty nine. Reportedly, his senior yearbook 79 00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:06,360 Speaker 1: had no photo of him, but a blank spot where 80 00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:11,200 Speaker 1: he'd draw himself in when people asked. Gory was offered 81 00:05:11,240 --> 00:05:14,400 Speaker 1: several college scholarships when he graduated from high school, but 82 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:16,680 Speaker 1: World War Two was underway by the time he got 83 00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:19,080 Speaker 1: out of school and he was drafted into the United 84 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:21,720 Speaker 1: States Army. He was only able to take a couple 85 00:05:21,760 --> 00:05:24,679 Speaker 1: of classes at the Art Institute of Chicago before reporting 86 00:05:24,760 --> 00:05:28,040 Speaker 1: for duty. From nineteen forty three until after the end 87 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:31,680 Speaker 1: of the war, he served Stateside as a clerk, spending 88 00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:35,239 Speaker 1: most of those years at doug Way Proving Grounds in Utah. 89 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:38,760 Speaker 1: This was a testing ground for biological and chemical weapons 90 00:05:38,800 --> 00:05:42,880 Speaker 1: and their countermeasures. Gory did not talk a whole lot 91 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:45,480 Speaker 1: about his World War Two service, although when it did 92 00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:48,880 Speaker 1: come up in interviews, he virtually always mentioned the Dugway 93 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:52,320 Speaker 1: sheep incident, which took place much later. That was in 94 00:05:52,440 --> 00:05:56,120 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty eight incident in which thousands of sheep were 95 00:05:56,200 --> 00:06:01,120 Speaker 1: killed in western Utah, purportedly by nerve agents from the sility. 96 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:03,960 Speaker 1: But it was while in the military that Gory started 97 00:06:03,960 --> 00:06:08,040 Speaker 1: writing plays as a way to occupy his time. After 98 00:06:08,200 --> 00:06:11,599 Speaker 1: being discharged from the army, Gory enrolled at Harvard, which 99 00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:13,960 Speaker 1: was paid for by the g I Bill, where he 100 00:06:14,040 --> 00:06:18,360 Speaker 1: majored not in art but in French literature. Even though 101 00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:21,360 Speaker 1: he wasn't majoring in art, he continued to both write 102 00:06:21,360 --> 00:06:24,520 Speaker 1: and draw. He published poems and stories in the campus 103 00:06:24,560 --> 00:06:27,880 Speaker 1: magazine Signature, as well as illustrating for the magazine and 104 00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:32,240 Speaker 1: for other publications. At Harvard, Gorey became friends and for 105 00:06:32,279 --> 00:06:35,880 Speaker 1: a couple of years roommates with poet Frank O'Hara. They 106 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:38,520 Speaker 1: decked out their dorm suite with rented furniture and they 107 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:42,000 Speaker 1: made it into their own little salon. Poet Donald Hall, 108 00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:45,320 Speaker 1: another Harvard graduate, is quoted in Harvard Magazine is saying 109 00:06:45,400 --> 00:06:49,719 Speaker 1: quote they gave the best parties. O'Hara was definitely the 110 00:06:49,760 --> 00:06:52,200 Speaker 1: bigger partier of the two young men, though, so they 111 00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:54,840 Speaker 1: eventually drifted apart a bit uh and this would be 112 00:06:54,839 --> 00:06:58,080 Speaker 1: an ongoing theme in Gory's life. He was charming and 113 00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:00,800 Speaker 1: generous once you got close to him, but he often 114 00:07:00,839 --> 00:07:05,720 Speaker 1: preferred to be more solitary than social. Gory graduated from 115 00:07:05,760 --> 00:07:09,360 Speaker 1: Harvard in ninety and he stayed in Cambridge, Massachusetts for 116 00:07:09,400 --> 00:07:12,240 Speaker 1: a couple of years after that, working in bookstores and 117 00:07:12,280 --> 00:07:16,640 Speaker 1: helping to start the Poets Theater. The Poets Theaters founders 118 00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:20,200 Speaker 1: and original members were all students or recent graduates from Harvard, 119 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:24,480 Speaker 1: including Alison Lurie, John Ashbury, and Donald Hall. They would 120 00:07:24,520 --> 00:07:28,800 Speaker 1: stage their own and revival works of poetic drama. Even 121 00:07:28,800 --> 00:07:31,680 Speaker 1: though he had been writing poems and since high school 122 00:07:31,720 --> 00:07:34,280 Speaker 1: and plays since his time in the Army, a lot 123 00:07:34,320 --> 00:07:37,000 Speaker 1: of Gorey's work with the Poets Theater was more as 124 00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:39,680 Speaker 1: an artist and a designer for both the stage and 125 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:43,880 Speaker 1: the productions. Programs and promotional materials. You can still see 126 00:07:44,200 --> 00:07:47,680 Speaker 1: like scans of old programs that he drew in these years. 127 00:07:47,680 --> 00:07:52,200 Speaker 1: Immediately after he graduated, Gory stayed in Massachusetts for a 128 00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:55,720 Speaker 1: couple of years, mainly working part time in bookstores, before 129 00:07:55,720 --> 00:07:57,560 Speaker 1: he made the move to New York City. And that 130 00:07:57,720 --> 00:08:00,480 Speaker 1: marked a huge shift in his life and career. And 131 00:08:00,520 --> 00:08:02,920 Speaker 1: we're going to talk about that more after we paused 132 00:08:02,960 --> 00:08:12,679 Speaker 1: for a sponsor break. While Edward Gorey liked his work 133 00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:15,960 Speaker 1: with The Poets Theater he wasn't able to support himself 134 00:08:16,040 --> 00:08:20,520 Speaker 1: working part time at Cambridge Bookstores. In late nineteen two, 135 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:23,400 Speaker 1: he designed a couple of book covers as a freelancer 136 00:08:23,440 --> 00:08:26,960 Speaker 1: for Barbara's Zimmerman and Jason Epstein, who he knew from Harvard. 137 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:31,000 Speaker 1: Epstein soon offered him a job at the art department 138 00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:34,560 Speaker 1: at Double Day Anchor in New York City. He started 139 00:08:34,559 --> 00:08:37,600 Speaker 1: out doing paste up and corrections of other people's work, 140 00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:41,720 Speaker 1: and eventually started designing book covers. He was good at it, 141 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:43,960 Speaker 1: and he was efficient, which left him time to work 142 00:08:43,960 --> 00:08:46,760 Speaker 1: on his own projects and to do additional work as 143 00:08:46,760 --> 00:08:50,640 Speaker 1: a commercial illustrator. In his own work, he was primarily 144 00:08:50,720 --> 00:08:53,040 Speaker 1: drawing in black and white because he knew from his 145 00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:54,800 Speaker 1: day job that it would be hard to find a 146 00:08:54,800 --> 00:08:58,800 Speaker 1: publisher for full color illustrated books at the time. But 147 00:08:58,840 --> 00:09:01,200 Speaker 1: the covers that he was drawn while at Anchor usually 148 00:09:01,200 --> 00:09:04,840 Speaker 1: were in color, often with subtle muted tones. There are 149 00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:08,680 Speaker 1: people who have written the whole papers about Edward Gorey's 150 00:09:08,760 --> 00:09:11,320 Speaker 1: use of color on the book covers he was drawing 151 00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:16,080 Speaker 1: for publishers, especially since his own his own books are 152 00:09:16,120 --> 00:09:20,240 Speaker 1: so often in black and white. Gory's first book, which 153 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:23,400 Speaker 1: was the Unstrung Harp or Mr Earbrass writes. A novel 154 00:09:23,640 --> 00:09:27,120 Speaker 1: came out in nineteen fifty three. This is about a 155 00:09:27,160 --> 00:09:29,880 Speaker 1: frustrated man trying to write a novel. It's the closest 156 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:33,560 Speaker 1: to an autobiographical work, probably of of all of his work. 157 00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:38,320 Speaker 1: The Listing Addict followed in nineteen fifty four. Neither of 158 00:09:38,360 --> 00:09:41,680 Speaker 1: these books sold particularly well, though, and later on Gorey 159 00:09:41,720 --> 00:09:44,320 Speaker 1: bought up copies that he found on remainder tables to 160 00:09:44,360 --> 00:09:47,920 Speaker 1: give them his front to friends as presence. Soon after 161 00:09:48,040 --> 00:09:50,960 Speaker 1: moving to New York, Gorey found one of his truly 162 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:53,959 Speaker 1: great loves, and that was the New York City Ballet, 163 00:09:54,520 --> 00:09:58,720 Speaker 1: under the helm of its founder, George Balanchine. Gory had 164 00:09:58,760 --> 00:10:00,680 Speaker 1: been to the ballet before, he had gone as a 165 00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:04,360 Speaker 1: child in Chicago, but after attending a few performances in 166 00:10:04,400 --> 00:10:08,960 Speaker 1: the ninety three season, he started attending more and more 167 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:13,640 Speaker 1: of Balanchine's productions, until starting in n he was attending 168 00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:20,320 Speaker 1: literally every performance. This took dedication, apart from the obvious 169 00:10:20,360 --> 00:10:22,640 Speaker 1: that that is a lot of ballet to his hand. 170 00:10:22,880 --> 00:10:27,280 Speaker 1: At Christmas time, it meant attending nearly forty performances of 171 00:10:27,360 --> 00:10:31,480 Speaker 1: The Nutcracker. I read an interview with him, where the 172 00:10:31,520 --> 00:10:34,559 Speaker 1: interviewer was like, please explain this to me. How are 173 00:10:34,600 --> 00:10:38,080 Speaker 1: you able to sit through thirty nine performances of The Nutcracker. 174 00:10:38,760 --> 00:10:44,640 Speaker 1: Here's why I'm laughing so hard. I feel like, should 175 00:10:44,720 --> 00:10:47,080 Speaker 1: one day someone attempted to write a biography of me, 176 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:49,640 Speaker 1: they would be like, and she saw Star Wars thirty 177 00:10:49,640 --> 00:10:54,559 Speaker 1: seven times in a theater, So I understand a little bit. 178 00:10:54,559 --> 00:10:56,760 Speaker 1: How you could go see The Nutcracker forty times in 179 00:10:56,760 --> 00:10:59,120 Speaker 1: a row. Well, it was forty times in a row 180 00:10:59,280 --> 00:11:02,160 Speaker 1: for like years and years in a row. Like he 181 00:11:02,200 --> 00:11:05,280 Speaker 1: did it every season, and then he saved all of 182 00:11:05,320 --> 00:11:08,079 Speaker 1: his ticket stubs from all of these trips to the ballet. 183 00:11:08,840 --> 00:11:11,640 Speaker 1: He loved ballet so much that in seventy he wrote 184 00:11:11,679 --> 00:11:14,440 Speaker 1: The Lavender Leotard, or Going a Lot to the New 185 00:11:14,520 --> 00:11:17,400 Speaker 1: York City Ballet. Then this initially came out in play 186 00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:21,560 Speaker 1: bill as part of the celebration for the ballet's fiftieth anniversary. 187 00:11:22,120 --> 00:11:26,920 Speaker 1: When The Lavender Leotard came out as its own standalone book, 188 00:11:27,559 --> 00:11:31,640 Speaker 1: Edward Gory hand painted covers for its first run. Addition, 189 00:11:31,720 --> 00:11:33,960 Speaker 1: because the printer had not been able to match the 190 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:37,200 Speaker 1: exact right shade of lavender, this is how dedicated he 191 00:11:37,320 --> 00:11:39,439 Speaker 1: was to the New York City Ballet. I love him 192 00:11:39,480 --> 00:11:43,400 Speaker 1: so much. Gory wrote one other book explicitly about ballet 193 00:11:43,520 --> 00:11:46,400 Speaker 1: during his career, The Gilded Bat, which came out in 194 00:11:46,520 --> 00:11:50,040 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty six, but the influence of ballet is clear 195 00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:52,840 Speaker 1: in his other works as well. The people he draws 196 00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:57,800 Speaker 1: often have turned out toes elongated, extended poses, and even 197 00:11:57,840 --> 00:12:00,480 Speaker 1: when something terrible is happening to them, a sort of 198 00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:04,760 Speaker 1: graceful presence on the page. On nights when Gory wasn't 199 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:06,760 Speaker 1: going to the New York City Ballet, he was often 200 00:12:06,800 --> 00:12:09,360 Speaker 1: at the opera or the movies, and he became a 201 00:12:09,480 --> 00:12:13,600 Speaker 1: very recognizable presence around New York City. He typically wore 202 00:12:13,720 --> 00:12:17,720 Speaker 1: a full length fur coat over jeans, the shirt and 203 00:12:17,840 --> 00:12:21,200 Speaker 1: converse sneakers, and he wore a lot of very heavy jewelry, 204 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:24,040 Speaker 1: especially rings, a lot of which was made out of 205 00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:27,400 Speaker 1: iron or brass. He was a very recognizable person. So 206 00:12:27,480 --> 00:12:30,400 Speaker 1: if you want to throw together a fun Halloween costume, 207 00:12:30,440 --> 00:12:33,520 Speaker 1: go as Edward Gorey. It's a pretty easy one to 208 00:12:33,520 --> 00:12:36,000 Speaker 1: put together, and it's kind of nerdy and cool. He 209 00:12:36,080 --> 00:12:39,679 Speaker 1: also started accumulating the books that would eventually grow into 210 00:12:39,720 --> 00:12:43,080 Speaker 1: his own personal library. During this time. He loved to read, 211 00:12:43,280 --> 00:12:45,160 Speaker 1: and he tended to come back home with a book 212 00:12:45,200 --> 00:12:49,760 Speaker 1: anytime he left the house. A particular favorite was Agatha Christie, 213 00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:53,120 Speaker 1: who he had been reading and rereading since childhood. He 214 00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:57,120 Speaker 1: also loved Jane Austen, describing her as his idol. Another 215 00:12:57,200 --> 00:12:59,920 Speaker 1: favorite was Anthony Trollop, although he did not read his 216 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:02,880 Speaker 1: at Trollop's work very much as he got older. He 217 00:13:02,960 --> 00:13:06,760 Speaker 1: also loved poetry, particularly the work of W. H. Auden. 218 00:13:07,840 --> 00:13:10,839 Speaker 1: He did not love everything he read, though, and he 219 00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:17,840 Speaker 1: was very candid about authors and actors and anyone else 220 00:13:17,880 --> 00:13:20,320 Speaker 1: that he did not particularly like. So he made no 221 00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:23,679 Speaker 1: secret of the fact that he despised nearly everything by 222 00:13:23,720 --> 00:13:26,160 Speaker 1: Henry James, in spite of the fact that he had 223 00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:29,040 Speaker 1: drawn the cover art for some of Henry James's books. 224 00:13:29,280 --> 00:13:32,080 Speaker 1: There's a little sign in the Edward Gory House today 225 00:13:32,120 --> 00:13:35,440 Speaker 1: that says, please know Henry James and the Edward Gory House. 226 00:13:38,480 --> 00:13:41,920 Speaker 1: I love it so much. Gory's New York City apartment 227 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:44,520 Speaker 1: also became home to a number of cats, many of 228 00:13:44,520 --> 00:13:48,600 Speaker 1: them named after characters in Murasaki Shikibu's eleventh century Japanese 229 00:13:48,640 --> 00:13:52,680 Speaker 1: novel The Tale of Genji, another lifelong favorite work of literature. 230 00:13:53,800 --> 00:13:56,360 Speaker 1: Throughout this time in New York City, Gory was writing 231 00:13:56,360 --> 00:14:00,000 Speaker 1: and illustrating his own books. Even though most people remember 232 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:02,440 Speaker 1: were him for his art, he really thought of himself 233 00:14:02,480 --> 00:14:05,880 Speaker 1: as a writer first. With every line, he would think, 234 00:14:05,960 --> 00:14:08,520 Speaker 1: can this make a drawing? But he didn't actually start 235 00:14:08,559 --> 00:14:11,520 Speaker 1: illustrating until he was satisfied with the words, and he 236 00:14:11,600 --> 00:14:14,760 Speaker 1: revised as he went. He would get one sentence exactly 237 00:14:14,880 --> 00:14:17,960 Speaker 1: right before he moved on to the next one. In 238 00:14:18,120 --> 00:14:22,680 Speaker 1: ninety seven, Double Day published Gorries The Doubtful Guest, which 239 00:14:22,720 --> 00:14:25,040 Speaker 1: carries a lot of the hallmarks of his later work. 240 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:28,320 Speaker 1: A peculiar guest who looks a little like a penguin 241 00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:31,360 Speaker 1: shows up at a mansion inhabited by a family that 242 00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:35,840 Speaker 1: looks somewhere between Victorian and Edwardian. Whatever it is, the 243 00:14:35,920 --> 00:14:38,880 Speaker 1: guest is ill mannered and weird, and it has been 244 00:14:38,880 --> 00:14:41,520 Speaker 1: bothering the family for seventeen years. At the end of 245 00:14:41,520 --> 00:14:45,520 Speaker 1: the book, The Very Strange The object Lesson came out 246 00:14:45,560 --> 00:14:48,280 Speaker 1: a year later. I tried to figure out how to 247 00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:51,360 Speaker 1: sum up the object Lesson in a sentence. It's not 248 00:14:51,400 --> 00:14:58,560 Speaker 1: really possible. Involved like some tongs and prosthetic leg it's 249 00:14:59,600 --> 00:15:02,400 Speaker 1: there's a so's it's very surreal. It's one of the 250 00:15:02,440 --> 00:15:05,400 Speaker 1: things that people point to when they talk about surrealist 251 00:15:05,480 --> 00:15:09,880 Speaker 1: influences on Edward Gorey. So in nineteen fifty nine, The 252 00:15:09,960 --> 00:15:13,000 Speaker 1: Doubtful Guest caught the eye of Edmund Wilson. He wrote 253 00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:15,680 Speaker 1: about it in an article called the Albums of Edward 254 00:15:15,720 --> 00:15:18,440 Speaker 1: Gorey in the December issue of The New Yorker. This 255 00:15:18,720 --> 00:15:22,240 Speaker 1: brought Edward Gory a lot more attention than he had before, 256 00:15:22,360 --> 00:15:24,240 Speaker 1: and it was the first time a lot of people 257 00:15:24,280 --> 00:15:26,840 Speaker 1: had ever heard of him, although at this point he 258 00:15:26,880 --> 00:15:29,960 Speaker 1: was creating so many book covers for Double Day Anchor 259 00:15:30,040 --> 00:15:33,880 Speaker 1: that they had almost certainly seen something he had drawn before. 260 00:15:35,120 --> 00:15:38,600 Speaker 1: Ninety nine was also when Gory left Double Day Anchor 261 00:15:38,680 --> 00:15:42,200 Speaker 1: to serve as art director at Looking Glass Library, which 262 00:15:42,240 --> 00:15:46,160 Speaker 1: set out to repackage classic works for children. In addition 263 00:15:46,200 --> 00:15:48,800 Speaker 1: to being the art director, he helped select some of 264 00:15:48,840 --> 00:15:51,680 Speaker 1: the twenty eight books that were ultimately published, and he 265 00:15:51,760 --> 00:15:54,920 Speaker 1: did illustrations for a few of them. The most famous 266 00:15:54,960 --> 00:15:57,400 Speaker 1: was his illustrated War of the Worlds, which came out 267 00:15:57,440 --> 00:16:00,920 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty. He also illustrated a of ghost stories 268 00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:03,720 Speaker 1: called The Haunted looking Glass, and he also chose the 269 00:16:03,760 --> 00:16:07,960 Speaker 1: stories themselves for that one. Looking Glass Library folded in 270 00:16:08,040 --> 00:16:10,800 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty two, and Gory started doing some work for 271 00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:15,440 Speaker 1: other publishers as well as working freelance, including designing advertisements. 272 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:19,520 Speaker 1: He also started granting permission for his existing illustrations to 273 00:16:19,600 --> 00:16:23,040 Speaker 1: be used in other work. One example from later in 274 00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:26,280 Speaker 1: his career is an end of life planning booklet called 275 00:16:26,440 --> 00:16:29,720 Speaker 1: Before I Go You Should Know My Funeral and Final Plans, 276 00:16:30,080 --> 00:16:34,360 Speaker 1: which was distributed by Funeral Consumers Alliance. It sort of 277 00:16:34,360 --> 00:16:40,080 Speaker 1: seems perfect for Edward Gorey to have. Also in nineteen 278 00:16:40,120 --> 00:16:43,760 Speaker 1: sixty two, the much beloved The Gashly Crumb Chinese debuted 279 00:16:43,800 --> 00:16:46,480 Speaker 1: as part of a three volume work called The Vinegar 280 00:16:46,520 --> 00:16:50,520 Speaker 1: Works Three Volumes of Moral Instruction, which also included The 281 00:16:50,560 --> 00:16:54,880 Speaker 1: Insect God and The West Wing. The Gashly Crumb Chinese 282 00:16:54,960 --> 00:16:59,280 Speaker 1: has never been out of print. That same year, nineteen 283 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:02,080 Speaker 1: sixty two was a big year Edward Gory and Francis 284 00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:05,960 Speaker 1: Steloff launched the fantod Press. Stelloff was founder of the 285 00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:09,399 Speaker 1: Gotham Bookmark, which was a bookstore in Literary Haven that 286 00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:12,000 Speaker 1: had become the primary distribution point for a lot of 287 00:17:12,040 --> 00:17:15,680 Speaker 1: Corey's work. Gotham Bookmark is where Gory sat to hand 288 00:17:15,680 --> 00:17:18,520 Speaker 1: paint all those copies of the Lavender Leotard, and when 289 00:17:18,520 --> 00:17:21,560 Speaker 1: it opened an art gallery in n seven, he was 290 00:17:21,600 --> 00:17:26,120 Speaker 1: one of its first exhibitors. Gory and Steeloff launched Fantad 291 00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:29,840 Speaker 1: Press together because Gorey had trouble finding a publisher for 292 00:17:29,880 --> 00:17:32,160 Speaker 1: a lot of what he had written, and he wanted 293 00:17:32,160 --> 00:17:35,480 Speaker 1: a way to publish it himself. The press's first book 294 00:17:35,600 --> 00:17:38,720 Speaker 1: was The Beastly Baby, which was the first work Gory 295 00:17:38,760 --> 00:17:41,199 Speaker 1: had ever tried to publish. It was one of the 296 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:43,600 Speaker 1: many books that came out under a pseudonym that was 297 00:17:43,640 --> 00:17:47,359 Speaker 1: an anagram or near anagram of Gorey's own name, in 298 00:17:47,359 --> 00:17:53,359 Speaker 1: this case Agdred Weary. The Beastly Baby features a big, sticky, shrieking, 299 00:17:53,440 --> 00:17:56,639 Speaker 1: gurgling baby that does horrible things like burn the upholstery 300 00:17:56,640 --> 00:18:00,000 Speaker 1: with acid. According to Gory, it made people so angry 301 00:18:00,200 --> 00:18:02,440 Speaker 1: that mothers tore it up and mailed the pieces back 302 00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:05,320 Speaker 1: to him. I have always contended that seeing this book 303 00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:06,960 Speaker 1: as a kid is one of the reasons I never 304 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:12,480 Speaker 1: wanted children. In the late nineteen sixties, Gory started spending 305 00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:17,720 Speaker 1: more time on Cape Cod Massachusetts, transporting his cats with 306 00:18:17,840 --> 00:18:20,240 Speaker 1: him back and forth between their in New York City. 307 00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:24,160 Speaker 1: He was always in New York during ballet season, but 308 00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:27,239 Speaker 1: eventually he would move out to the Cape permanently. We 309 00:18:27,240 --> 00:18:31,600 Speaker 1: were going to talk about that after another quick sponsor break. 310 00:18:36,200 --> 00:18:39,000 Speaker 1: Edward Gorey had relatives who lived on Cape Cod, so 311 00:18:39,119 --> 00:18:42,119 Speaker 1: he had visited there from time to time over the years. 312 00:18:42,680 --> 00:18:44,960 Speaker 1: As he started to spend more time there in the 313 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:48,360 Speaker 1: sixties and seventies, he got involved in local theaters all 314 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:53,400 Speaker 1: along the Cape, designing promotional materials and costumes, staging work 315 00:18:53,440 --> 00:18:56,639 Speaker 1: of his own, some of it quite experimental. He continued 316 00:18:56,720 --> 00:18:58,480 Speaker 1: to do some of the same work in New York 317 00:18:58,520 --> 00:19:02,879 Speaker 1: City as well. In nineteen seventy three, Gorey designed the 318 00:19:02,880 --> 00:19:05,159 Speaker 1: set for a production of Dracula that was to be 319 00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:08,600 Speaker 1: staged on Nantucket, off the coast of Cape Cod. When 320 00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:11,159 Speaker 1: he was drawing for books, Gorey usually worked at about 321 00:19:11,200 --> 00:19:14,879 Speaker 1: the same size as the finished printed product. For this set, 322 00:19:15,280 --> 00:19:18,199 Speaker 1: which looks like a black and white cross hatched illustration 323 00:19:18,240 --> 00:19:21,280 Speaker 1: from one of his books, he drew larger images that 324 00:19:21,320 --> 00:19:25,359 Speaker 1: were then blown up for the stage. This same staging 325 00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:29,600 Speaker 1: opened on Broadway on October twenty nine, seventy seven, where 326 00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:33,560 Speaker 1: it ran until January. Of night. It was nominated for 327 00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:36,560 Speaker 1: three Tony Awards, one for the sets and the costumes, 328 00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:39,800 Speaker 1: which which Gorey had also designed, and he was also 329 00:19:40,440 --> 00:19:43,960 Speaker 1: It was also nominated for Best Revival. Gory won the 330 00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:47,160 Speaker 1: Tony for his costume work and the production also won 331 00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:50,480 Speaker 1: the Tony for Best Revival. But always really bothered him 332 00:19:50,520 --> 00:19:53,639 Speaker 1: that the sets had not one as well. They are 333 00:19:53,760 --> 00:19:57,480 Speaker 1: quite striking. It's one of those things that happens, where 334 00:19:57,480 --> 00:20:00,600 Speaker 1: are you shrug where it doesn't make sense. We see 335 00:20:00,600 --> 00:20:04,159 Speaker 1: it all the time. Apparently it rankled him, but I 336 00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:07,920 Speaker 1: can understand that. A musical adaptation of Gory's own work, 337 00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:11,800 Speaker 1: Gory Stories, appeared on Broadway in nineteen seventy eight after 338 00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:15,439 Speaker 1: getting its start at the University of Kentucky, and Gory 339 00:20:15,560 --> 00:20:18,879 Speaker 1: adored this production, which had a brief run off Broadway 340 00:20:19,200 --> 00:20:23,720 Speaker 1: in January and February, along with sixteen previews. It officially 341 00:20:23,720 --> 00:20:27,720 Speaker 1: opened on Broadway on October and it closed the very 342 00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:30,840 Speaker 1: same night. The New York Times and Daily News had 343 00:20:30,840 --> 00:20:33,119 Speaker 1: been on strike for months and it just had not 344 00:20:33,160 --> 00:20:37,320 Speaker 1: gotten much publicity. There's there are, of course, other stagings 345 00:20:37,359 --> 00:20:39,760 Speaker 1: of Gory's work or place he was related with, But 346 00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:44,520 Speaker 1: Dracula on Broadway and Gory Stories are the two Broadway productions. 347 00:20:45,560 --> 00:20:48,720 Speaker 1: Gory spent more and more time on Cape Cod In 348 00:20:48,720 --> 00:20:52,360 Speaker 1: the late nineteen seventies and early nineteen eighties. He started 349 00:20:52,359 --> 00:20:54,760 Speaker 1: easing up on his patronage of the New York City 350 00:20:54,760 --> 00:20:58,360 Speaker 1: Ballet as George Balanchine started passing some of his leadership 351 00:20:58,400 --> 00:21:03,400 Speaker 1: onto his successors. When Balantine died in three Gory decided 352 00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:06,160 Speaker 1: it was time to think about leaving New York entirely. 353 00:21:07,359 --> 00:21:10,720 Speaker 1: At first, he moved to Barnstable, Massachusetts, where he stayed 354 00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:14,240 Speaker 1: in a house belonging to relatives. Then he moved into 355 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:17,400 Speaker 1: a two hundred year old sea captain's home in Yarmouthport 356 00:21:17,760 --> 00:21:20,720 Speaker 1: that he bought with his Dracula royalties, and he nicknamed 357 00:21:20,760 --> 00:21:25,080 Speaker 1: it the Elephant House. The Elephant House became home to Gory, 358 00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:28,399 Speaker 1: his cats, and his collections for the rest of his life. 359 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:31,679 Speaker 1: In terms of cats, he typically had five or six. 360 00:21:31,920 --> 00:21:34,400 Speaker 1: He thought six cats were a lot harder to keep 361 00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:38,200 Speaker 1: up with than five, and seven was far too many. 362 00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:42,480 Speaker 1: This is exactly my numbers. Six is where I'm maxed out. 363 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:46,440 Speaker 1: Five is kind of perfect. He had a whole thing 364 00:21:46,480 --> 00:21:49,880 Speaker 1: about when when there are six cats, they somehow formed 365 00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:54,480 Speaker 1: this phalanx of cat and then five is like not 366 00:21:54,480 --> 00:21:57,640 Speaker 1: not having so much of a supernatural level of combined 367 00:21:57,720 --> 00:22:01,440 Speaker 1: cat intelligence. But seven is right out in my experience, 368 00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:05,879 Speaker 1: this is all entirely accurate. Uh. And for collections, moving 369 00:22:05,920 --> 00:22:09,320 Speaker 1: from a tiny New York apartment to an entire house 370 00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:12,560 Speaker 1: meant that he could spend his weekends poking around yard 371 00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:16,680 Speaker 1: sales and looking for treasures, and he collected all kinds 372 00:22:16,720 --> 00:22:19,840 Speaker 1: of things. There were, of course, books, of which he 373 00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:23,199 Speaker 1: had approximately twenty five thousand by the end of his life, 374 00:22:23,560 --> 00:22:32,919 Speaker 1: but also cheese graters, salt and pepper shakers, knickknacks, interesting rocks, toys, games, art, 375 00:22:33,080 --> 00:22:37,280 Speaker 1: including some terrifically bad art, on and on. He was 376 00:22:37,359 --> 00:22:40,920 Speaker 1: often inspired by the Japanese concept of wabi sabi, which 377 00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:44,280 Speaker 1: ties to beauty found in the simple, the impermanent, and 378 00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:48,679 Speaker 1: the mundane. His time on Cape cod really contributed to 379 00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:51,879 Speaker 1: the perception that Edward Gorey was a recluse in New 380 00:22:51,920 --> 00:22:54,919 Speaker 1: York City. He had gone out almost every night, especially 381 00:22:54,920 --> 00:22:58,800 Speaker 1: when the ballet was performing, always wearing this very recognizable 382 00:22:58,800 --> 00:23:01,600 Speaker 1: fur coat and jewelry. But after he moved into the 383 00:23:01,640 --> 00:23:05,240 Speaker 1: Elephant House, he stayed Whome a lot more. In addition 384 00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:08,359 Speaker 1: to working, he read a vast number of books, and 385 00:23:08,400 --> 00:23:11,520 Speaker 1: he also watched a whole lot of TV. He spoke 386 00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:14,479 Speaker 1: often for his love of things like Dr Who, Buffy 387 00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:18,800 Speaker 1: the Vampire Slayer, and daytime soap operas. Grey's work is 388 00:23:18,840 --> 00:23:22,680 Speaker 1: also on TV. In Night he worked with Derek Lamb 389 00:23:22,760 --> 00:23:26,600 Speaker 1: to animate the Introduction to Mystery from Boston Public Television, 390 00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:29,880 Speaker 1: which for some people was their first introduction to Edward 391 00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:34,240 Speaker 1: Gory's work. Often, while he was watching all this television, 392 00:23:34,640 --> 00:23:38,560 Speaker 1: he'd make little bean bag creatures filled with rice, recognizable 393 00:23:38,600 --> 00:23:42,480 Speaker 1: animals like bats, frogs, and elephants, as well as characters 394 00:23:42,480 --> 00:23:45,919 Speaker 1: like fig Bash, a long armed creature from the Raging Tide, 395 00:23:46,080 --> 00:23:49,159 Speaker 1: or the Black Dolls Embroglio, who would later also have 396 00:23:49,359 --> 00:23:53,639 Speaker 1: his own alphabet book. Some of this perception that Edward 397 00:23:53,640 --> 00:23:57,720 Speaker 1: Gorey was reclusive came from interviews as well. He could 398 00:23:57,760 --> 00:24:01,639 Speaker 1: be quite charming and gregarious and interviews, but really only 399 00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:05,080 Speaker 1: if the interviewer was asking him interesting questions. If you 400 00:24:05,119 --> 00:24:08,639 Speaker 1: sat down with Edward Gorey with a list of boring, predictable, 401 00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:11,440 Speaker 1: obvious questions, you might get a bunch of one word 402 00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:16,480 Speaker 1: or evasive answers in response, especially if other interviewers before 403 00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:20,119 Speaker 1: you had already asked those same boring, predictable, obvious things. 404 00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:22,959 Speaker 1: So if you walked into an interview with Edward Gorey 405 00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:25,520 Speaker 1: and you asked him why do you like to draw 406 00:24:25,680 --> 00:24:29,200 Speaker 1: such maccab pictures? When he had been asked that question 407 00:24:29,480 --> 00:24:32,919 Speaker 1: and also hated being called maccab in the first place, 408 00:24:33,240 --> 00:24:35,720 Speaker 1: you might get the impression he didn't like talking to people. 409 00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:43,400 Speaker 1: To add to all this solitude and Curmudgeonlinus Gory always 410 00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:46,600 Speaker 1: lived alone and he never had a serious romantic relationship. 411 00:24:47,320 --> 00:24:50,720 Speaker 1: Combined with an often campy way of speaking and presenting himself, 412 00:24:50,720 --> 00:24:54,360 Speaker 1: this led people naturally to wonder about his sexual orientation. 413 00:24:55,240 --> 00:24:59,480 Speaker 1: In interview with Boston magazine, Lisa's Salad asked him what 414 00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:02,600 Speaker 1: his sex all preferences were, and he answered, quote, well, 415 00:25:02,720 --> 00:25:06,359 Speaker 1: I'm neither one thing nor the other. Particularly later in 416 00:25:06,400 --> 00:25:09,680 Speaker 1: that same interview, she asked, is the sexlessness of your 417 00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:13,160 Speaker 1: books a product of your a sexuality? And he answered 418 00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:16,080 Speaker 1: I would say so, although every now and then someone 419 00:25:16,160 --> 00:25:20,160 Speaker 1: will say my books are seething with repressed sexuality. These 420 00:25:20,200 --> 00:25:23,560 Speaker 1: ideas came up in other interviews as well. For example, 421 00:25:23,640 --> 00:25:27,840 Speaker 1: in four he told Richard Dyer of Boston Globe Magazine quote, 422 00:25:28,240 --> 00:25:30,760 Speaker 1: sometimes I asked myself why I never ended up with 423 00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:32,600 Speaker 1: somebody for the rest of my life, and then I 424 00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:35,639 Speaker 1: realized that obviously I didn't want to, or I would have. 425 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:40,200 Speaker 1: So it's definitely true that Gorey led a solitary life, 426 00:25:40,240 --> 00:25:43,439 Speaker 1: particularly once he moved to Cape cod and he tended 427 00:25:43,480 --> 00:25:45,920 Speaker 1: not to answer the door, the phone, or the mail, 428 00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:49,240 Speaker 1: although that led to him feeling guilty about unopened piles 429 00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:52,239 Speaker 1: of fan mail, which he once called thank you for 430 00:25:52,320 --> 00:25:55,919 Speaker 1: Being you Crap. He didn't like to be flattered or 431 00:25:55,920 --> 00:25:58,840 Speaker 1: fussed over or bothered. He didn't want to talk about 432 00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:01,719 Speaker 1: interpretations of his work because he liked the idea of 433 00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:06,240 Speaker 1: people's imaginations having their own possibilities. I'm just putting it 434 00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:08,439 Speaker 1: out there. I will read thank you for being you 435 00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:12,920 Speaker 1: Crap any day of the week. At the same time, 436 00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:16,280 Speaker 1: though it is really not accurate to think of Edward 437 00:26:16,359 --> 00:26:19,600 Speaker 1: Gorey as a hermit or a recluse. He gave most 438 00:26:19,680 --> 00:26:21,879 Speaker 1: of those little being bag creatures that he made a 439 00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:25,080 Speaker 1: way to his friends, even as he developed a cult 440 00:26:25,160 --> 00:26:27,800 Speaker 1: fan following. He was listed in the phone Book, and 441 00:26:27,840 --> 00:26:30,600 Speaker 1: he was generous with his time when fans ran into 442 00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:33,600 Speaker 1: him out in public. If he literally knocked on the door, 443 00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:36,320 Speaker 1: he might not answer it, but if he did answer it, 444 00:26:36,359 --> 00:26:38,920 Speaker 1: expecting it to be someone he knew, he would talk 445 00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:42,320 Speaker 1: to you. He ate out almost every day, with Jack's 446 00:26:42,359 --> 00:26:46,320 Speaker 1: Outback Restaurant being a particular favorite. He did a lot 447 00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:49,840 Speaker 1: of work that required him to be social, particularly working 448 00:26:49,840 --> 00:26:53,760 Speaker 1: with community theaters all up and down Cape Cod, staging plays, 449 00:26:53,800 --> 00:26:58,280 Speaker 1: and working on sets and costumes. Edward Gorey wrote and 450 00:26:58,359 --> 00:27:02,000 Speaker 1: published books continually from nineteen fifty three all the way 451 00:27:02,040 --> 00:27:04,639 Speaker 1: to the end of his life. He created more than 452 00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:07,119 Speaker 1: one hundred books of his own, and also designed the 453 00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:10,359 Speaker 1: covers for hundreds of others, as well as handling the 454 00:27:10,400 --> 00:27:13,960 Speaker 1: design and typography for at least a hundred more. His 455 00:27:14,040 --> 00:27:17,720 Speaker 1: illustrations accompanied the writings of T. S. Elliott, John Updyke, 456 00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:22,080 Speaker 1: Lewis Carroll, Virginia Woolf, H. G. Wells, bram Stoker, and 457 00:27:22,160 --> 00:27:26,280 Speaker 1: Gilbert and Sullivan, among others. My introduction to T. S. 458 00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:29,439 Speaker 1: Eliot was actually an addition of Old Possum's Book of 459 00:27:29,480 --> 00:27:35,800 Speaker 1: Practical Cats illustrated by Edward Gorey, which Edward Gorey's Cats 460 00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:39,040 Speaker 1: are a lot friendlier and goofier than maybe anything else 461 00:27:39,080 --> 00:27:41,520 Speaker 1: that he drew, like, they often have these big doofy 462 00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:44,480 Speaker 1: smiles on their faces, and they look really loungely and cuddly, 463 00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:47,879 Speaker 1: And so I got this impression that T. S. Eliot 464 00:27:47,960 --> 00:27:54,359 Speaker 1: was like a little snug bug. Yeah. And then I 465 00:27:54,400 --> 00:27:57,040 Speaker 1: got The College and I had to read The Waste Land, 466 00:27:57,119 --> 00:27:59,959 Speaker 1: and I was like, what is the where are the kiddie? 467 00:28:04,240 --> 00:28:08,280 Speaker 1: I still have that book. So, because Gory's original books 468 00:28:08,359 --> 00:28:12,159 Speaker 1: are illustrated and they often feature children as characters, and 469 00:28:12,200 --> 00:28:16,240 Speaker 1: because about twenty of these original books are alphabet books, 470 00:28:16,280 --> 00:28:19,520 Speaker 1: sometimes people think of him as a children's author, and 471 00:28:19,600 --> 00:28:23,680 Speaker 1: because terrible things often are happening to these children's these 472 00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:27,199 Speaker 1: children in the books. He's also often imagined to have 473 00:28:27,440 --> 00:28:31,240 Speaker 1: hated children. But really, in his adult life he didn't 474 00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:34,119 Speaker 1: know any children. He didn't have any anti antipathy for 475 00:28:34,160 --> 00:28:36,679 Speaker 1: them at all. At every time this came up in 476 00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:38,720 Speaker 1: an interview, he consistently would be like, no, I don't 477 00:28:38,760 --> 00:28:43,320 Speaker 1: actually know any kids. While many of his books were 478 00:28:43,320 --> 00:28:47,200 Speaker 1: suitable for most ages, others had a decidedly adult twist. 479 00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:52,120 Speaker 1: For example, he illustrated the recently deflowered Girl the Right 480 00:28:52,160 --> 00:28:55,800 Speaker 1: thing to Say on every dubious occasion. Published under the 481 00:28:55,840 --> 00:28:59,920 Speaker 1: pseudonym of Miss Hyacinth Phipps. It's a Faux Advice May 482 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:03,080 Speaker 1: anual written by mel Juffey for what ladies should say 483 00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:06,720 Speaker 1: after being deflowered in a variety of odd and sometimes 484 00:29:06,760 --> 00:29:11,680 Speaker 1: awful situations. Gorey also wrote an illustrated the Curious Sofa 485 00:29:11,840 --> 00:29:15,920 Speaker 1: of pornographic work by Adrid Weary, which contains no nudity 486 00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:19,760 Speaker 1: or explicit language, but also points the imagination in a 487 00:29:19,880 --> 00:29:24,240 Speaker 1: very particular direction. Today, many but not all, of Gorey's 488 00:29:24,280 --> 00:29:28,040 Speaker 1: books are available in collections with names like Ampaguory and 489 00:29:28,040 --> 00:29:31,120 Speaker 1: Ampagory two. The first of these came out in nineteen 490 00:29:31,120 --> 00:29:35,240 Speaker 1: seventy two. Although Gory himself preferred his books as they 491 00:29:35,240 --> 00:29:38,240 Speaker 1: were originally printed and bound, today a lot of them 492 00:29:38,240 --> 00:29:40,720 Speaker 1: are out of print. Outside of these collections, you can 493 00:29:40,800 --> 00:29:44,240 Speaker 1: definitely find a lot of standalone books too, but there 494 00:29:44,240 --> 00:29:46,440 Speaker 1: are things that are in those collections that it's it's 495 00:29:46,440 --> 00:29:49,520 Speaker 1: hard to find in any other way. Gorey died on 496 00:29:49,640 --> 00:29:52,760 Speaker 1: April fifteenth, two thousand, at the age of seventy five, 497 00:29:52,960 --> 00:29:55,200 Speaker 1: following a heart attack that he had had a few 498 00:29:55,240 --> 00:29:58,840 Speaker 1: days before. He was cremated, with part of his ashes 499 00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:01,760 Speaker 1: sent to be buried with his family. Part floated out 500 00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:03,840 Speaker 1: to sea on a raft made of branches from the 501 00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:07,160 Speaker 1: magnolia tree that grows outside of Elephant House, in a 502 00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:09,720 Speaker 1: small part saved to be scattered in the yard where 503 00:30:09,720 --> 00:30:11,920 Speaker 1: the cats were to be buried after the last of 504 00:30:11,920 --> 00:30:15,120 Speaker 1: their deaths. He left most of his estate to the 505 00:30:15,280 --> 00:30:20,040 Speaker 1: Edward Gory Charitable Trust, which funds animal welfare organizations. Edward 506 00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:24,600 Speaker 1: Gorey was actually really interested in animal welfare, particularly cats 507 00:30:24,640 --> 00:30:29,400 Speaker 1: and bats, and in general uh the welfare of animals. 508 00:30:29,440 --> 00:30:32,800 Speaker 1: He actually gave up wearing all those famous fur coats 509 00:30:32,800 --> 00:30:35,880 Speaker 1: as he became more interested in animal where welfare. Later 510 00:30:35,920 --> 00:30:40,000 Speaker 1: on in his life, when a family of raccoons invaded 511 00:30:40,040 --> 00:30:43,320 Speaker 1: the Elephant House, he let them keep living there, almost 512 00:30:43,360 --> 00:30:46,520 Speaker 1: as penance for having worn a raccoon coat for so long. 513 00:30:47,200 --> 00:30:49,480 Speaker 1: By the time he died, he had amassed a collection 514 00:30:49,520 --> 00:30:52,920 Speaker 1: of twenty one fur coats, which the found the Foundation 515 00:30:53,080 --> 00:30:55,520 Speaker 1: started off selling at a rate of one per year, 516 00:30:55,840 --> 00:30:59,320 Speaker 1: and then sold the rest at auction in as a fundraiser. 517 00:31:00,240 --> 00:31:03,320 Speaker 1: In two thousand two, the Highland Street Foundation purchased the 518 00:31:03,440 --> 00:31:05,840 Speaker 1: Edward Gory Home and today it is the Edward Gory 519 00:31:05,880 --> 00:31:11,680 Speaker 1: House Museum, which is open seasonally. Edward Gorey's influence continued 520 00:31:11,760 --> 00:31:14,080 Speaker 1: to grow in the last decades of his life and 521 00:31:14,120 --> 00:31:18,320 Speaker 1: after his death. In an article in The New York Times, 522 00:31:18,560 --> 00:31:22,240 Speaker 1: Daniel Handler, the author of a series of Unfortunate Events, 523 00:31:22,320 --> 00:31:25,360 Speaker 1: which is published under the name Lemony Snicket, said, quote, 524 00:31:25,760 --> 00:31:28,840 Speaker 1: when I was first writing a series of Unfortunate Event Events, 525 00:31:29,120 --> 00:31:32,160 Speaker 1: I was wandering around everywhere saying I am a complete 526 00:31:32,200 --> 00:31:35,360 Speaker 1: rip off of Edward Gory and everyone said, here's that. 527 00:31:36,040 --> 00:31:39,160 Speaker 1: Now everyone says, that's right, you are a complete rip 528 00:31:39,200 --> 00:31:45,920 Speaker 1: off of Edward Gorey. Uh. That delights me. Daniel Handler 529 00:31:46,320 --> 00:31:48,720 Speaker 1: dragging himself cracks me up a little bit. The first 530 00:31:48,880 --> 00:31:51,160 Speaker 1: volume of that series of books came out the year 531 00:31:51,200 --> 00:31:55,040 Speaker 1: before Edward Gorey's death. Neil Gaiman had actually said that 532 00:31:55,080 --> 00:31:58,800 Speaker 1: he wanted Edward Gorey to illustrate his book Coraline, but 533 00:31:58,920 --> 00:32:02,440 Speaker 1: Gory died the that game and finished writing it. I 534 00:32:02,440 --> 00:32:06,520 Speaker 1: don't actually know if Tim Burton has ever specifically cited 535 00:32:06,720 --> 00:32:10,160 Speaker 1: Edward Gory as an influence, but a lot of people 536 00:32:10,280 --> 00:32:14,240 Speaker 1: writing about Tim Burton make that connection. Well. The style 537 00:32:14,360 --> 00:32:17,600 Speaker 1: is very similar of his drawings for sure. Um, so, 538 00:32:17,600 --> 00:32:19,680 Speaker 1: whether he said it or not, I think you can't 539 00:32:19,720 --> 00:32:23,440 Speaker 1: discount it like there's a very valid connection there. Uh. 540 00:32:23,480 --> 00:32:26,479 Speaker 1: And Tracy included this quote in her outline to end 541 00:32:26,520 --> 00:32:30,040 Speaker 1: with quote for some reason, my mission in life is 542 00:32:30,080 --> 00:32:33,480 Speaker 1: to make everybody as uneasy as possible. I think we 543 00:32:33,520 --> 00:32:36,560 Speaker 1: should all be as uneasy as possible, because that's what 544 00:32:36,640 --> 00:32:40,200 Speaker 1: the world is like. And that was Edward Gory is 545 00:32:40,280 --> 00:32:45,120 Speaker 1: quoted by Richard Dyer in Boston Globe Magazine in We'll 546 00:32:45,160 --> 00:32:47,280 Speaker 1: also put a link in our show notes just for 547 00:32:47,320 --> 00:32:52,520 Speaker 1: fun from the great sadly no longer actively in production. 548 00:32:52,880 --> 00:32:56,160 Speaker 1: Uh website the toast called how to Tell if You're 549 00:32:56,160 --> 00:33:01,760 Speaker 1: in an Edward Gory book, which is delightful. That is 550 00:33:01,880 --> 00:33:04,440 Speaker 1: Edward Gory. Do you have a little bit of listener 551 00:33:04,440 --> 00:33:06,960 Speaker 1: mail to go with this episode? I sure do have 552 00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:10,560 Speaker 1: some listener mail. This email is from Brandon. It is 553 00:33:10,600 --> 00:33:13,480 Speaker 1: about I Mean Pasha, and Brandon says, hello, Steph, you 554 00:33:13,560 --> 00:33:16,000 Speaker 1: miss in history class, then says some nice things about 555 00:33:16,040 --> 00:33:18,200 Speaker 1: the show before going on to say I know it 556 00:33:18,240 --> 00:33:20,760 Speaker 1: has been nearly a month since he first published the 557 00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:23,480 Speaker 1: podcast on I Mean Pasha, but I still wanted to 558 00:33:23,520 --> 00:33:26,760 Speaker 1: write to you about it. I currently am working for 559 00:33:26,800 --> 00:33:31,040 Speaker 1: an NGO in Gulu, Uganda. Gulu is in northern Uganda. 560 00:33:31,080 --> 00:33:34,040 Speaker 1: It is only about a hundred kilometers from the border 561 00:33:34,080 --> 00:33:37,720 Speaker 1: with South Sudan. He sent a photo. Near Gulu, there 562 00:33:37,800 --> 00:33:41,080 Speaker 1: is an old fort that was used by Samuel Baker 563 00:33:41,240 --> 00:33:45,560 Speaker 1: when he was warring against Arab slave slave traders. Samuel 564 00:33:45,560 --> 00:33:47,880 Speaker 1: Baker was an English explorer who worked in the area 565 00:33:47,880 --> 00:33:50,760 Speaker 1: in the eighteen sixties and early seventies. He was also, 566 00:33:50,880 --> 00:33:55,200 Speaker 1: interestingly enough, the person who founded Equatoria in modern day 567 00:33:55,360 --> 00:33:59,320 Speaker 1: South Studan. I thoroughly enjoyed investigating the names of the 568 00:33:59,360 --> 00:34:01,680 Speaker 1: places that A Mean Pasha visited when he was in 569 00:34:01,720 --> 00:34:04,520 Speaker 1: East Africa. Now I have new places I want to 570 00:34:04,600 --> 00:34:07,360 Speaker 1: visit while living here. From being honest, I've been trying 571 00:34:07,360 --> 00:34:09,319 Speaker 1: to find a connection to one of the podcasts so 572 00:34:09,320 --> 00:34:11,120 Speaker 1: that I could write you to your show. I love 573 00:34:11,160 --> 00:34:13,920 Speaker 1: listening to it while I'm driving back in the States. 574 00:34:14,200 --> 00:34:16,640 Speaker 1: We're lying under a fan on a hot day in Gulu. 575 00:34:16,760 --> 00:34:19,239 Speaker 1: Thank you so much for everything you do. Thank you 576 00:34:19,320 --> 00:34:22,880 Speaker 1: so much Brandon for writing this note. I love to 577 00:34:22,920 --> 00:34:25,279 Speaker 1: hear from listeners who are living in some of the 578 00:34:25,320 --> 00:34:27,840 Speaker 1: places that, from our point of view, are more remote 579 00:34:27,840 --> 00:34:32,520 Speaker 1: to us. Um that's always awesome, so thank you again 580 00:34:32,600 --> 00:34:35,000 Speaker 1: for writing that note. If you would like to write 581 00:34:35,040 --> 00:34:37,279 Speaker 1: to us about this or any other podcast or a 582 00:34:37,400 --> 00:34:40,120 Speaker 1: history podcast, at how stuff works dot com. We're also 583 00:34:40,160 --> 00:34:43,120 Speaker 1: on Facebook at Facebook dot com slash missed in History, 584 00:34:43,120 --> 00:34:45,440 Speaker 1: our Twitter and our Tumbler and our Pinterest and our 585 00:34:45,480 --> 00:34:48,680 Speaker 1: Instagram and all those things. Everything is under missed in history. 586 00:34:49,080 --> 00:34:51,600 Speaker 1: You can come to our website, which is missed in 587 00:34:51,680 --> 00:34:54,239 Speaker 1: history dot com, where we have show notes for all 588 00:34:54,239 --> 00:34:56,480 Speaker 1: the episodes that Holly and I have ever done together. 589 00:34:56,760 --> 00:35:00,080 Speaker 1: You'll actually see a picture of Edward Gorey on a 590 00:35:00,160 --> 00:35:03,120 Speaker 1: set for Dracula, which to get a sense of what 591 00:35:03,239 --> 00:35:06,080 Speaker 1: that looks like. So you can do all that and 592 00:35:06,160 --> 00:35:08,480 Speaker 1: a whole lot more at our website, which is missed 593 00:35:08,480 --> 00:35:16,080 Speaker 1: in History dot com for more on this and thousands 594 00:35:16,120 --> 00:35:26,840 Speaker 1: of other topics. Is it how stuff works dot com.