Author interred at Woodland Cemetery

Saturday marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of acclaimed author and illustrator Edward Gorey, the most famous resident of Woodland Cemetery in Ironton.

The milestone saw celebrations worldwide and, in the author’s home state of Massachusetts, the Edward Gorey Charitable Trust hosted a party, where musician Patti Smith and her daughter, Jesse Paris Smith, performed for guests, which included former R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe. The artist was also the subject of several retrospectives, including one published on Saturday in the New York Times.

The ashes of Gorey were quietly buried in the plot of his mother in Ironton, shortly after his death in 2000. While Gorey never lived in Ironton, he chose Woodland as his resting place, as it contains the graves of generations of his maternal ancestors.

One fan of the artist who visited the cemetery on Saturday was Chris Oxley, of Charleston, West Virginia, who made the trip to to pay his respects.

“I’ve been an admirer of his work for years, but had only found out earlier this year that he was interred in Ironton. I had no clue,” Oxley said. “It’s only an hour from me, so I went to find it a couple of weeks ago, but couldn’t before nightfall. That night, I found out his centennial was this weekend, so I was determined to come back that day, armed with GPS coordinates.”

Oxley gave his thoughts on seeing the gravesite.

“It’s not been exploited at all, which is refreshing on one hand, but on the other, maybe it would be nice and beneficial for the area, if the town can get permission, to recognize how special this is in some way.”

Oxley suggest an event, themed around the author’s macabre and whimsical works.

“A day, a festival, art and costume contests, Gashleycrumb cookies, or what have you–an homage of sorts,” he said. “Gorey has been an icon in gothic subculture and aficionados of his style of pen-and-ink illustrations. Also, I work for public broadcasting and I know his illustrations have been used for the opening titles of the Mystery! series for decades.

The Gorey Charitable Trust is hosting a global tribute to the artist, calling for artistic homages to the author, which will be featured in a commemorative digital gallery and also the subject of a 2026 event. For more information on that project, visit www.edwardgorey.org/at100.