The Standing Room (an entertaining blog based in San Francisco), put up a terrific photo of writer/illustrator Edward Gorey that brought back some pleasant thoughts of the 1970s, when I was acquiring autographed copies of his work thanks to a small, sophisticated bookstore in Dallas. Gorey signed each one in the same way, by drawing a straight line through his printed name (i.e., Edward Gorey), and neatly re-printing it by hand, directly above.
Sometime in the mid-1980s I had the great pleasure of finding myself sitting next to him at City Center, for a performance by Paul Taylor Dance Company (whose season opens tonight). After mulling over allowing celebrities their privacy, I threw caution to the wind, turned to him and blurted out, "Mr. Gorey, I really enjoy your work!" He didn't speak, but gave me a polite, mysterious nod in return.
Somewhere someplace I have a couple of those Gorey signatures, just as you described, almost definitely acquired at intermission at the NYCB a long time ago.
Posted by: maggie | March 20, 2007 at 03:38 PM