Known for celebrating visual and musical artists, today Google honored the life and legacy of Edward Gorey, an American illustrator and author.
Born in 1925, Gorey published his first book, The Unstrung Harp, in 1953 and went on to illustrate about 90 books and write 70 books before his death in Apr. 2000. He would have been 88 years old on Feb. 22.
Gorey's work was celebrated for being dark, humorous, morbid and whimsical. It is also credited for influencing the Gothic community.
Gorey often depicted animals, which is replicated in today's Google doogle. He described his writing style as "literary nonsense," a type of literature that utilizes different elements that go against conventional language or logical reasoning. In 1992, he told the New Yorker, "If you're doing nonsense it has to be rather awful, because there'd be no point."
His most famous book, The Gashlycrumb Tinies, depicts the deaths of 26 children whose names represent each letter of the alphabet.
Despite the ghoulish and gloomy nature of his art work, Gorey enjoyed mainstream media and typical outings like going to the movies. He taped and studied commercials and watched soap operas and sitcoms. "He was fascinated with the stories of soap operas. I could never understand it," said Alexander Theroux, Gorey's long-time friend and author of The Strange Case of Edward Gorey.
Gorey's home in Cape Cod, Mass. was discovered to have had 45,000 books and has been turned into a museum showcasing his work. Gorey was an animal rights advocate, so the Edward Gorey House supports various animal welfare organizations.
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