What's Gorey's Story?

Elizabeth Tamny writes in the Chicago Reader of the formative years of Edward Gorey:

But like a lot of reclusive figures, Gorey actually gave a lot of interviews. He never had an explanation for "O is for Olive run through with an awl," but he answered most questions in his own intelligent, diffident way and, over time, a set of facts took shape. He was born in Chicago, the son of a Catholic newspaperman. His parents divorced when he was 11, then remarried 16 years later. He was precocious, drawing and reading at a young age

When the inevitable question arose as to what lurking horrors could possibly explain his work, he was less forthcoming. He always politely acknowledged that it was reasonable to wonder, but bapped away intimations of early trauma. "I'm sure mine was happier than I imagine," he told one interviewer who asked about his childhood. "I look back and think 'Oh poetic me,' but it simply was not true. I was out playing Kick-the-Can along with everybody else."