Humane Heroes
- 1. Prison Dog Programs
- 2. Eye on the Witness
- 3. Wyatt to the Rescue
- 4. Edward Gorey
- 5. Fashion Forward (Heather Chase)
- 6. New England Wildlife Center
- 7. Animal Sanctuaries
- 8. Ojai Raptor Center
- 9. Search and Rescue Dogs
- 10. The Catman of Millbrook Farm
Edward Gorey
Genevieve C. Rajewski
Edward Gorey. For many, the macabre writer and illustrator's name conjures pictures of flappers with kohl-rimmed eyes and hapless children meeting an untimely demise. He wrote more than 100 books, including The Doubtful Guest and The Gashlycrumb Tinies, and also illustrated books by writers such as T.S. Eliot and Samuel Beckett. He was known for his animated introduction to PBS's Mystery! television series, and for his designs on the 1977 Broadway set of Dracula, for which he won a Tony Award.
Now fans can see a side of the artist often absent from his scenes of suspicious characters, crumbling towers and sinister statuary. Gorey, who died in April 2000, left nearly his entire estate - valued in the millions - to aid animal-welfare organizations. A new museum devoted to the man honors his passion and concern for animals.
A Glimpse of Gorey's World
Situated in the 200-year-old home where Gorey lived for the last
14 years of his life, the Edward Gorey House museum gives us a
closer look at the artist and the man. The exhibition, "Gorey,
1925 to 2000," takes visitors on a journey from his childhood to
book covers he created while working at Doubleday/Anchor to a
copy of his first book, The Unstrung Harp (1953). "There
are a lot of things people haven't seen before," says Rebecca
Schroeder, the museum's director and curator. On loan from a
relative, she explains, are several early drawings of Mr.
Earbrass, the main character in The Unstrung Harp. Also on
display are Gorey's feline-centric diary entries, including one
dating back to March 20, 1938, in which the author gushes,
"Kittens OK! Kittens 11 days old. Tiger kitten has one eye open.
Awful cute." When present in his work, animals were always
Gorey's most sympathetic characters, and he evidenced his
affinity for them at an early age. "It would be wrong to say that
cats weren't his first love," says Ken Morton, Gorey's cousin,
once removed. "Ted [as Gorey was known by his family] said a few
times that he liked cats more than people. He considered them his
family."
With the exception of the time he spent at Harvard University and in the U.S. Army, Gorey lived with cats (all domestic shorthaired) from the age of seven. He usually kept at least five, many of them strays foisted on him by those who knew his weakness for homeless animals. According to Morton, who grew up spending summers on Cape Cod with Gorey, the artist was literally walked on all the time by the cats. He says about the elder family member, "[The cats] would sleep on his beard and drape over his shoulders while he was watching TV. They were pretty much in charge. About the only thing he did was keep them from going outside, and that was because he didn't want anything bad to happen to them." Gorey would give his cats official names, usually drawing on characters from his favorite novel, Lady Murasaki's Tale of Genji. "And then they'd get their everyday names," continues Morton. "For example, two kittens were named Kobi and Kashiwagi, but everybody - including Ted - called them Billy and Charlie."
For the Love of Bugs
Despite Gorey's love of cats, the museum does not feature any of
his cat illustrations. Surprisingly, Gorey left cats out of his
artwork for many years, and then drew mainly anthropomorphic
ones. In a 1978 interview with Cats Magazine, Gorey tried
to explain why. "Cats share with ballet dancers the quality of
graceful movement," he said. "As an artist, I find their
expressions endlessly and frustratingly fascinating. Every now
and then, I'll do a quick sketch of my cats, but I draw very
badly from life." However, the museum pays tribute to Gorey's
love of animals in more meaningful ways. "Edward mentioned
organizations in his will that he wanted his estate to continue
working with," says Schroe-der. "So we offered to give them
exposure at the house." Today, the museum includes educational
exhibits and games created by the Animal Rescue League of Boston,
Massachusetts, Bat Conservation International (which Gorey joined
in 1990 after seeing an advertisement in the New Yorker), the
Xerces Society (which protects invertebrates like bugs, slugs and
crabs) and Tufts University Veterinary School. In addition, a
portion of the museum's admissions will fund the Edward Gorey
Charitable Trust, the mission of which is to support animal
welfare.
| Visit the Edward Gorey House, 8 Strawberry Lane, Yarmouthport, Massachusetts, (508) 362-3909; www.edwardgoreyhouse.org. |
The variety of animals benefiting from the groups Gorey specified is no surprise to those who knew him best. "He was an equal opportunity animal lover," says Morton. "He was big on the unpopular animals. He was the sort of person who would escort insects outside rather than harm them, or even just leave them inside to wander around." Interestingly, the idea for the museum almost didn't come to fruition. When Gorey's home was put up for sale, the bidding war grew heated. The executive director of a private Boston philanthropic organization led the quest to buy the house for use as a museum. "Luckily, the executors liked our idea best," says Schroeder. "They really were glad that someone wanted to do something in the house for Edward."
In a 1992 interview with the Boston Phoenix, Gorey perhaps best voiced what lay behind his unique vision: "Few people seem to notice that a largish part of my stuff is not about human beings. I mean, I've done several books about inanimate objects. But as far as animals, I just don't think humanity is the ultimate end. We're so smug about ourselves, secure about how much we know. Well, I've lived with cats most of my life, so I'm very aware that there's another world going on. It's sometimes sitting in your lap, so obviously it's not completely different. But it sees everything differently, hears everything differently, and probably thinks differently." Fortunately, there's now a place to honor the man who shared those admirable traits.
Genevieve C. Rajewski is a freelance writer and editor living in Wakefield, Massachusetts. She can be reached at ticktockwordshop@attbi.com.
© 2002 ASPCA
ASPCA Animal Watch - Winter 2002
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