Who was Edward Gorey?
Born in Chicago to Edward and Helen Gorey, Edward Gorey had a relatively normal upbringing. His parents divorced when he was 11. He attended the Francis W. Parker School before a brief stint in the Army during 1944-46, then attended Harvard University to study French. His roommate was poet Frank O’Hara. He also studied art at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago in 1943, which set him on the path of being a professional illustrator. He also claimed to have inherited his artistic talents from his maternal great-grandmother Helen St. John Garvey. She was a popular greeting card artist in the 19th century. Moving to New York City, where he lived from 1953-60, he worked from the art department of the Doubleday Anchor. The titles he illustrated and created book covers for included Dracula, Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, and The War of the Worlds. It was around this time that his first independent book, The Unstrung Harp, was published. Gorey was 28 and a certified author. He con
