Edward Gorey - Personal Life

Personal Life

Although Gorey's books were popular with children, he did not associate with children much and had no particular fondness for them. Gorey never married, professed to have little interest in romance, and never discussed any specific romantic relationships in interviews. In the book The Strange Case of Edward Gorey, published after Gorey's death, his friend Alexander Theroux reported that when Gorey was pressed on the matter of his sexual orientation, he said that even he was not sure whether he was gay or straight. When asked what his sexual preferences were in an interview, he said,

I'm neither one thing nor the other particularly. I am fortunate in that I am apparently reasonably undersexed or something ... I've never said that I was gay and I've never said that I wasn't ... what I'm trying to say is that I am a person before I am anything else ...

Edward Gorey agreed in an interview that the "sexlessness" of his works was a product of his asexuality.

From 1996 to his death in April 2000, the normally reclusive artist was the subject of a cinema-style documentary directed by Christopher Seufert. (As of 2011, the film and accompanying book have not been released.) He was interviewed on Tribute To Edward Gorey, an hour long community Public-access television cable show produced by artist and friend Joyce Kenney. He contributed his videos and personal thoughts. Edward served as a judge at Yarmouth art shows and enjoyed activities at the local cable station, studying computer art and serving as cameraman on many Yarmouth shows. His Cape Cod house is called Elephant House and is the subject of a photography book titled Elephant House: Or, the Home of Edward Gorey, with photographs and text by Kevin McDermott. The house is now the Edward Gorey House Museum.

Gorey left the bulk of his estate to a charitable trust benefiting cats and dogs, as well as other species including bats and insects.