born Feb. 22, 1925, Chicago, Ill., U.S.
died April 15, 2000, Hyannis, Mass.
U.S. writer, illustrator, and designer.
He studied at Harvard University and worked as an illustrator before publishing his first children's book, The Doubtful Guest , in 1957. In this and later books such as The Hapless Child (1961) and The Gashlycrumb Tinies (1962), his arch nonsense verse and mock-Victorian prose accompany pen-and-ink drawings of beady-eyed, blank-faced individuals in Edwardian costume whose dignified demeanour is undercut by silly, often macabre events. His work has been anthologized in Amphigorey (1972), Amphigorey Too (1975), and Amphigorey Also (1983).