I've been a long-time admirer of Edward Gorey. I can't believe in all this time I've never seen those book covers he illustrated! My family owns a bookshop in Cape Cod and every once in a while he used to visit it. When he signed copies of his books, he'd strike out the printed version of his name and write his signature under it. I always found that amusing.

Gorey is a good example of how cruel people's opinions can be towards loners. As far as I know, Edward Gorey was eccentric and kept to himself, and I guess this somehow means that he was gay; and, worse yet, that avoiding a straight answer is akin to a crime. Why anyone had this demented interest in figuring out whether he was gay, I haven't a clue. People have this weird tendency to overcategorize everyone and everything, trying to figure out whether something is a part of the in-group. Being a bit of a loner myself and by no means a womanizer, I can relate to Gorey in that some people have wondered if I am gay, which I'm not.

One of my favorite works of his is The Wuggly Ump, which I've always suspected was his taking a jab at Dr. Seuss.

https://www.amazon.com/Wuggly-Ump-Edward-Gorey/dp/0764941925

(If you want to get to know some of his work, it's better that you just get any of the "Amphigorey" books rather than any of the individual ones.)