Fantod Press

Gorey left Cambridge for New York City. He juggled several jobs, but did not find any that suited him.

"I wanted to have my own bookstore until I worked in one," he told The Boston Globe in 1998. "Then I thought I'd be a librarian until I met some crazy ones. I hoped to get into publishing, but at 28, my parents were still helping me out. Which wasn't good at all."

Gorey eventually settled down to write and draw. Unsuccessful attempts to find a publisher led the artist to print under his own name: Fantod Press. (The Random House Dictionary defines a fantod as a state of extreme nervous or restlessness. In several of Gorey's works, fantods appear as small, winged creatures stuffed in bell jars.)

Throughout his career, Gorey has also published under several different names: D. Awdrey-Gore, E.G. Deadworry, Ogdred Weary--all anagrams of his own original name.

Count Dracula

Once in New York, Gorey adopted a new lifestyle, one of aesthetic pleasure.

He attended opera performances and symphony concerts, visited museums, and most persistently, became an avid ballet fanatic. Gorey later recalls choreographer George Balanchine as one of the most important influences in his life. At one point, Gorey attended not only each of Balanchine's ballets, but every performance of every show.

After Balanchine's death in 1983, Gorey would withdraw from the city to a provincial house on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Gorey continued to draw and write throughout his years in New York. In 1977, he designed the set and costumes for the Broadway musical Dracula; in 1978, he won the Tony award for Costume design, but declined to accept the award. Gorey refused to go to Hollywood, and did not even attend the opening night.

But Michael Romanos, an admirer of Gorey's work, recalls the mastery of Gorey's scenery.

"When the curtain opened, before any people had come on stage, the set got a standing ovation," Romanos recounts.

And Romanos, who was living in Boston at the time, knew of Gorey's move to Cape Cod. He attempted to search out the artist; he began with the telephone book.

"I knew where he lived, and I was prepared to search for him under all his different [anagramed] names," says Romanos. "But I opened the phonebook, and there he was under his real name."

Despite Romanos' unexpected calling, Gorey was very receptive to his fan's aspiration to meet in person. The two talked about art, about photography versus drawing--Romanos even took a few photographs of his adored artist (pictured above).

In the following years, Romanos visited Gorey twice more.

"My overwhelming impression of him was that he was a very gracious and pleasant person," recalls Romanos. "He was a little put off by all the attention that he received, but he was very open to me, a young artist just starting out."