On April 15, 2000 Edward Gorey passed away. We were on our annual visit to New York City at the time and as usual, made several visits to The Gotham Book Mart to pour over the treasures they had to offer.
As it does this year, in 2000 April 15th fell on a Saturday. As usual, when we arrived in Manhattan on Wednesday April 12th, we checked into our hotel and went to The Gotham Book Mart for our initial deep browse. On Thursday evening we attended the New York Antiquarian Book Fair and went back to GBM on Friday to finalize our selections.
During our Friday visit, there was an odd shift in the atmosphere at GBM. Unbeknownst to us, Edward Gorey had suffered a heart attack on Wednesday and his condition was dire. Gina Guy, our Gotham guide to all things Gorey at that time was on edge and kept urging me to pick up whatever I showed an interest in, which was not her usual sales approach. It was only on our return to Minneapolis on Sunday April 16th that we would learn of Mr. Gorey's heart attack and passing.
Images: (top) The Iron Tonic 1969, (upper middle) Cemetery stage set design for Don Giovanni 1980, (lower middle) Unpublished, dated 1984 on reverse, (bottom) The Osbick Bird 1970