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Edward (St. John) Gorey Biography (1925-2000)

Full name, Edward St. John Gorey; born in 1925, in Chicago, IL; son of EdwardLeo (in journalism) and Helen (Garvey) Gorey. Avocational interests:Cats, opera, concerts, country cooking, ballet, book collecting. Career: Writer, costume designer, and illustrator. Anchor Books, Doubleday and Company, New York City, art department employee, 1953-60; Looking Glass Library,Random House, New York City, editor and art director, 1959-62; Bobbs-Merril,New York City, editor and art director, 1963. Fantod Press, New York City, founder. Doomed Enterprises, owner. Art has been exhibited in numerous gallery, museum, and university shows, including the California College of Arts andCrafts, Oakland, CA, 1965; Gotham Book Mart Gallery, New York City, 1970-; University of Texas, Austin, TX, 1971; San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco, CA, 1971; Pennsylvania State University, College Park, PA, 1973; Yale University, New Haven, CT, and Cartoon Art Museum, San Francisco, CA, 1996. Also worked at a bookstore. Also used the pseudonyms Aedwyrd Gore and Om. Military service: U.S. Army, 1943-46, served as a company clerk at the Dugway Proving Ground. Awards, Honors: New York Times citations as one of the best illustrated children's books of the year, 1966, for The Monster Den; or, Look What Happened at My House-and to It(by John Ciardi), and 1969, for The Dong with a Luminous Nose(by Edward Lear); New York Times citation as one of the best illustrated children's books of the year, inclusion in the Fifty Books Exhibit and Children's Book Show of the American Institute of Graphic Arts, and the American Library Association's notable book citation, all 1971, and best picture book citation, Bologna Children's Book Fair, 1977, all for The Shrinking of Treehorn(by Florence ParryHeide); Children's Book Showcase selection, 1972, for Lions and Lobstersand Foxes and Frogs: Fables from Aesop, The Shrinking of Treehorn,and Sam and Emma; Children's Book Showcase selection, 1973, and Art Books for Children citation, Brooklyn Museum, 1974, both for Red Riding Hood: Retold in Verse for Boys and Girls to Read Themselves; Antoinette Perry Award, best costume designer, and Antoinette Perry Award nomination, best scenic designer, both 1978, for Dracula; Parents Choice Award for illustration, 1982, for The Dwindling Party. Addresses: Contact: P.O. Box 146, Yarmouth Port, MA 02675-0146.

Nationality

American

Gender

Male

Occupation

writer, costume designer, illustrator

Birth Details

1925

Chicago, Illinois, United States

Death Details

April 15, 2000

Hyannis, Massachusettes

Famous Works

• CREDITS
• Television Work
• Series
• Illustrator of title sequence, Mystery!, PBS, 1980
• Stage Work
• Set designer, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, 1977
• Set designer and costume designer, Dracula, Martin Beck Theatre, New York City, 1977-79
• Set designer, Amphigorey: The Musical, American Musical Theatre Festival, Philadelphia, PA, 1992
• Set designer, Amphigorey: A Musicale, Perry Street Theatre, New York City, 1994
• Major Tours
• Set designer, Dracula, U.S. cities, 1978-79
• WRITINGS
• Writings for the Stagelays, Unless Otherwise Noted
• Story, Gorey's Stories, WPA Theatre, New York City, 1977
• Gorey Stories, Booth Theatre, New York City, 1978
• More Gorey Stories, Barnstable, MA, 1981
• Tinned Lettuce; or, The New Musical, Tisch School of the Arts Undergraduate Theatre, New York University, New York City, 1985
• Lost Shoelaces, Woods Holes, MA, 1985
• Story, The Vinegar Works, London, England, 1989
• Useful Urns, Provincetown, MA, 1990
• Stuffed Elephants, Woods Holes, MA, 1990
• Flapping Ankles, Provincetown, MA, 1991
• Crazed Teacups, 1992
• Amphigorey: The Musical, American Musical Theatre Festival, Philadelphia, PA, 1992
• Blithering Christmas, 1992
• Chinese Gossip, 1994
• Amphigorey: A Musicale, Perry Street Theatre, 1994
• Inverted Commas, 1995
• Stumbling Christmas, 1995
• Screenplays
• The Black Doll: A Silent Film, Gotham Book Mart, 1973
• Works Written and Illustrated by Gorey
• The Unstrung Harp; or, Mr. Earbass Writes a Novel, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1953
• The Listing Attic, Little, Brown, 1954
• The Doubtful Guest, Doubleday (New York City), 1957
• The Object-Lesson, Doubleday, 1958
• The Haunted Looking Glass: Ghost Stories, Looking Glass Library (New York City), 1959
• The Bug Book, Epstein & Carroll, 1960
• The Fatal Lozenge, Obolensky (New York City), 1960
• The Hapless Child, Obolensky, 1961
• (As Ogdred Weary) The Curious Sofa, Obolensky, 1961
• (As Ogdred Weary) The Beastly Baby, Fantod Press (New York City),1962
• The Willowdale Handcar; or, the Return of the Black Doll, Bobbs-Merrill (New York City), 1962
• The Gashlycrumb Tinies, Simon & Schuster (New York City), 1962
• The Vinegar Works, Simon & Schuster, 1963
• The Wuggly Ump, Lippincott (Philadelphia, PA), 1963
• 15 Two: or, The Nursery Frieze, Fantod Press, 1964
• The Sinking Spell, Obolensky, 1964
• The Remembered Visit: A Story Taken from Life, Simon & Schuster, 1965
• The Inanimate Tragedy, Fantod Press, 1966
• The Gilded Bat, Simon & Schuster, 1966
• (As Eduard Blutig) The Evil Garden, Fantod Press, 1966
• (As Mrs. Regera Dowdy) The Pious Infant, Fantod Press, 1966
• The Utter Zoo Alphabet, Dutton (New York City), 1967
• (With Victoria Chess) Fletcher and Zenobia, Meredith Press (New York City), 1967
• The Other Statute, Simon & Schuster, 1968
• The Blue Aspic, Meredith Press, 1968
• The Epileptic Bicycle, Dodd, Mead, 1968
• The Secrets, Simon & Schuster, 1968
• The Deranged Cousins; or, Whatever, Fantod Press, 1969
• The Iron Tonic; or, a Winter Afternoon in Lonely Valley, Albondocani Press (New York City), 1969
• (As Raddory Gewe) The Eleventh Episode, Fantod Press, 1969
• (With Peter F. Neumeyer) Donald and the., Young Scott Books (New York City), 1969
• (With Peter F. Neumeyer) Donald Has a Difficulty, Fantod Press, 1970
• (With Peter F. Neumeyer) Why We Have Day and Night, Young Scott Books, 1970
• The Osbick Bird, Fantod Press, 1970
• The Chinese Obelisks: Fourth Alphabet, Fantod Press, 1970
• The Sopping Thursday, Gotham Book Mart (New York City), 1970
• (With Victoria Chess) Fletcher and Zenobia Save the Circus, Dodd,Mead, 1971
• The Disrespectful Summons, Fantod Press, 1971
• (As Edward Pig) The Untitled Book, Fantod Press, 1971
• The Awdrey-Gore Legacy, Dodd, Mead, 1972
• Leaves from a Mislaid Album, Gotham Book Mart, 1972
• Amphigorey, Putnam (New York City), 1972
• The Lavender Leotard; or, Going a Lot to the New York City Ballet,Gotham Book Mart, 1973
• A Limerick, Salt-Works Press, 1973
• Category: Fifty Drawings, Gotham Book Mart, 1973
• The Lost Lions, Fantod Press, 1973
• The Glorious Nosebleed: Fifth Alphabet, Dodd, Mead, 1974
• The Listing Attic [and] The Unstrung Harp; or, Mr. Earbass Writes a Novel (both titles published as one volume), Abelard-Schumann (London, England), 1975
• Amphigorey Too, Putnam, 1975
• L'Heure bleue, Fantod Press, 1975
• The Broken Spoke, Dodd, Mead, 1976
• Gorey x 3: Drawings by Edward Gorey, Addison-Wesley (Reading, MA),1976
• The Loathsome Couple, Dodd, Mead, 1977
• The Fantod Words (ten volumes), Diogenes (Zurich, Switzerland), 1978
• Gorey Endings: A Calendar for 1978, Workman (New York City), 1978
• The Green Beads, Albondocani Press, 1978
• (With Larry Evans) Gorey Games, Troubadour Printings (San Francisco, CA), 1979
• Dracula: A Toy Theatre, Scribner (New York City), 1979
• Gorey Posters, Abrams (New York City), 1979
• Dancing Cats and Neglected Murderesses, Workman, 1980
• Le Melange, Gotham Book Mart, 1981
• Melange Funeste, Gotham Book Mart, 1981
• The Dwindling Party, Random House (New York City), 1982
• The Water Flowers, St. Martin's Press (New York City), 1982
• (With I. B. Penick) Gorey Cats: Paper Dolls, Troubadour Press, 1982
• The Prune People, Albondocani Press, 1983
• (As E. D. Ward) A Mercurial Bear, Gotham Book Mart, 1983
• The Eclectic Abecedarium, Adama, 1983
• Amphigorey Also, St. Martin's Press, 1983
• The Tunnel Calamity, Putnam, 1984
• The Prune People II, Albondocani Press, 1985
• Les Echanges Malandreux, Metacom Press, 1985
• The Insect God, Beaufort Books, 1986
• The Improvable Landscape, Albondocani Press, 1986
• The Raging Tide; or, the Black Doll's Imbroglio, Beaufort Books, 1987
• The Dripping Faucet, Metacom Press, 1989
• The Fraught Settee, Fantod Press, 1990
• La balade troublante, Fantod Press, 1991
• The Grand Passion, Fantod Press, 1992
• The Doleful Domesticity, Fantod Press, 1992
• (As Dogear Wryde) The Betrayed Confidence: Seven Series of Dogear Wryde Postcards (also known as The Betrayed Confidence), Parnassus Imprints (Orlean, MA), 1992
• Figbash Acrobate, Fantod Press, 1994
• The Unknown Vegetable, Fantod Press, 1995
• The Deadly Blotter: Thoughtful Alphabet XVII, Fantod Press, 1997
• Also wrote and illustrated The Fantod Pack of Edward Gorey, Owl Press.
• Works Illustrated by Gorey
• Merrill Moore, Case Record from a Sonnetorium, Twayne (Boston, MA), 1951
• Rex Warner, Men and Gods, Farrar, Straus, and Giroux (New York City), 1959
• Paul Dehn, Quake, Quake, Quake: A Leaden Treasury of English Verse, Simon & Schuster, 1961
• John Ciardi, The Man Who Sang the Sillies, Lippincott, 1961
• John Ciardi, You Read to Me, I'll Read to You, Lippincott, 1962
• John Ciardi, You Know Who, Lippincott, 1964
• Walter De La Mare, Die Orgie-Eine Idylle, Diogenes, 1965
• Eric Potter, editor, Monster Festival, Vanguard Press, 1965
• Frank Jacobs, Alvin Steadfast on Vernacular Island, Dial (New YorkCity), 1965
• John Ciardi, The King Who Saved Himself from Being Saved, Lippincott, 1965
• Felicia Lamport, Cultural Slog, Gollancz (London, England), 1966
• John Ciardi, The Monster Den, or Look What Happened at My House- and to It, Lippincott, 1966
• Polly Redford, Christmas Bower, Dutton, 1966
• John Buchanan, Die Neununddreissig Stufen, Diogenes, 1967
• Ennis Rees, Brer Rabbit and His Tricks, Young Scott Books, 1967
• John Trahey, Son of a Martini Cookbook, Clovis Press (New York City), 1967
• Muriel Spark, The Very Fine Clock, Knopf (New York City), 1968
• Jan Wahl, Cobweb Castle, Holt (New York City), 1968
• Ennis Rees, More of Brer Rabbit's Tricks, Young Scott Books, 1968
• Edward Lear, The Jumblies, Young Scott Books, 1968
• Rhoda Levin, He Was There from the Day We Moved In, Harlin Quist (New York City), 1968
• Edward Lear, The Dong with the Luminous Nose, Young Scott Books, 1969
• Felice Holman, At the Top of My Voice and Other Poems, Norton (NewYork City), 1969
• Doris Orgel, Merry, Rose, and Christmas-Tree June, Knopf, 1969
• John Ciardi, Someone Could Win a Polar Bear, Lippincott, 1970
• Edward Fenton, Penny Candy, Holt, 1970
• Florence Parry Heide, The Shrinking of Treehorn, Holiday House (New York City), 1971
• Ennis Rees, Lion and Lobsters and Foxes and Frogs: Fables from Aesop, Addison-Wesley, 1971
• Donald Nelsen, Sam and Emma, Parents Magazine Press (New York City), 1971
• Jacob David Townsend, Miss Clafooty and the Demon, Lothrop, 1971
• Beatrice Schenk de Regniers, Red Riding Hood: Retold in Verse for Boysand Girls to Read Themselves (also known as Red Riding Hood), Atheneum (New York City), 1972
• Grimm Brothers, retold by Edith Tarcov, Rumpelstiltskin, Four Winds Press (New York City), 1973
• Jack the Giant Killer, Scholastic, 1973
• Beatrice Schenk de Regniers, The Enchanted Forest, Atheneum, 1974
• Howard Moss, Instant Lives, Saturday Review Press (New York City),1974
• Jacob Grimm, Rotkaeppchen: Ein Maearchen der Brueder Grimm, Diognes-Verlang, 1974
• Edmund Wilson, The Rats of Rutland Grange, Gotham Book Mart, 1974
• Terence Winch, Nuns: Poems, Wyrd Press, 1976
• Florence Parry Heide, Treehorn's Treasure, Holiday House, 1981
• T. S. Eliot, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, Harcourt (New York City), 1982
• Felicia Lamport, Light Metres, Everest House (New York City), 1982
• Florence Parry Heide, The Adventures of Treehorn, Dell (New York City), 1983
• John Bellairs, The Curse of the Blue Figurine, Dial, 1983
• John Bellairs, The Mummy, the Will, and the Crypt, Dial, 1983
• John Bellairs, The Dark Secret of Weatherend, Dial, 1984
• Florence Parry Heide, Treehorn's Wish, Holiday House, 1984
• John Bellairs, The Revenge of the Wizard's Ghost, Dial, 1985
• Virginia Woolf, Freshwater: A Comedy, edited by Lucio P. Ruotolo,Harcourt, 1985
• John Bellaris, The Eyes of the Killer Robot, Dial, 1986
• (With Joe Servello) Donald Westlake, High Jinx, Macmillan (New York City), 1987
• Frontpieces Illustrated by Gorey
• John Bellairs, The Mansion in the Mist, Dial Books for Young Readers (New York City), 1992
• John Bellairs, The House with a Clock in its Walls, Puffin Books (New York City), 1993
• John Bellairs, The Ghost in the Mirror, Dial Books for Young Readers, 1993
• John Bellairs, The Vengeance of the Witch-finder, Dial Books for Young Readers, 1993
• Brad Strickland, The Bell, the Book and the Spellbinder, Dial Books for Young Readers, 1997
• Translator
• Alphonse Allais, Story for Sara: What Happened to a Little Girl, Albondocani Press, 1971
• Other Writings
• Author of stories, Gorey by Grimes (album), recorded by Tammy Grimes, Caedmon Records, 1980
• Author of stories on an album distributed by Watt 4, 1976; also designedjacket for the album. Contributor to periodicals, including Esquire, Evergreen, New Yorker, New York Times, and Sports Illustrated.

Further Reference

OTHER SOURCES

Books:

• Major Authors and Illustrators for Children and Young Adults, Gale(Detroit, MI), 1993.
• Ross, Clifford, and Karen Wilkin, The World of Edward Gorey, Abrams, 1996.
• Toledano, Henry, Goreyography: A Diverse Compendium of and Price Guideto the Works of Edward Gorey, Word Play Publishers (San Francisco, CA),1996.

Periodicals:

• Guardian, December 18, 1995, p. T9.
• New York Times, April 21, 1994, .
• People Weekly, December 23, 1996, p. 34.
• Smithsonian, June 23, 1997, pp. 150-152.
• Vanity Fair, November 23, 1995, pp. 176-177.*