“A is for Amy who fell down the stairs," "B is for Basil, assaulted by bears," (from The gashlycrumb tinies, by Edward Gorey)
I love the art of Edward Gorey, and it seems that the man behind the art was just as impressive as his ink-sketch drawings were.
Here are some fun facts I’ve gleaned about Gorey.
1. He was not British. This came as a total shock to me. “Because of the settings and style of Gorey's work, many people have assumed he was British; in fact, he only left the U.S. once, for a visit to the Scottish Hebrides.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Gorey)
2. He loved cats! " (he) lived in Cape Code, Massachusetts, where he was surrounded by the cats that he so loved." (http://voices.yahoo.com/edward-gorey-biography-late-gothic-writer-615010.html)
3. He loved TV, especially Batman. “He was an unabashed television junkie, watching everything from soap operas to dramas, with an especially big love of Batman: The Animated Series.” (http://www.squidoo.com/edward-gorey)
4. He enjoyed publishing under pseudonyms which were all anagrams: “Ogdred Weary was one of them as was Mrs. Regera Dowdy, Dogear Wryde, Wardore Edgy, E. G. Deadworry and D. Awdrey-Gore.”(http://voices.yahoo.com/edward-gorey-biography-late-gothic-writer-615010.html)
5. He liked the ballet... a lot “One thing that Edward Gorey was decidedly fond of was ballet. He spent 30 years attending very nearly every performance by the New York City Ballet, and called the Russian choreographer Balanchine a god.” (http://voices.yahoo.com/edward-gorey-biography-late-gothic-writer-615010.html) this quote is gold!
6. He studied French at Harvard! "By the age of 20, Edward Gorey was studying as a French Literature major at Harvard where he was befriended by future poet Frank O'Hara. A fellow student at Harvard remembers Gorey as "the oddest person I've ever seen. He was very tall, with his hair plastered down across the front like bangs, like a Roman emperor." (http://voices.yahoo.com/edward-gorey-biography-late-gothic-writer-615010.html)
