Rory Lucey’s unique philosophy and style of expression on display in new book and beyond
A series of fortuitous circumstances brought me to Rory Lucey’s art room in the basement of Haddonfield Friends School during the second week of December.
I had enlisted the help of his wife, Emily Brennan, for a piece written several weeks ago on “A Christmas Story” having its run at Haddonfield Plays & Players, which triggered a memory that I had previously received notice back in October that Lucey was about to debut a new book he had illustrated about the life of a cat from a classic horror movie.
That led me to look up Lucey’s personal website, where I found delightful, quirky things like a drawing of ducks with sneakers, or Gordon Lightfoot’s foray into falconry. They were pieces that seemed to incorporate a whole world within one scene or several panels.
Likewise, a series of fortuitous circumstances led Lucey — an English-born, Irish-blooded, American-raised illustrator who’s done his fair amount of city-hopping — to gain recognition for his unique perspective and style of drawing through that book, titled “Jonesy: Nine Lives on the Nostromo.”
“It might be a stretch to say ‘written’ because there’s like four words in the entire book. It’s a wordless graphic novel, it walks you through the film ‘Alien,’ but from the perspective of the cat Jonesy who is on board,” Lucey said.
He credits an unlikely source for being able to market his artistry: “The Best Show,” an internet radio show/podcast hosted independently by Tom Scharpling since 2014, which previously aired on New Jersey-based radio station WFMU. One frequent caller to the program was dubbed “Philly Boy Roy,” an exaggerated stereotype of a Philadelphia native.
“I would not be published were it not for that. I did this illustration that was kind of take on a Richard Scarry book, but I included the ‘Philly Boy Roy’ character and Jon Wurster, the drummer and comedian who portrays him, he retweeted that and then somebody from a publishing company contacted me and asked if I had anything that could be submitted. (That person) worked in the pop culture division of their booksellers and that’s when the idea came about to pitch ‘Jonesy.’ I owe Jon Wurster and Tom Scharpling a debt of gratitude,” Lucey explained.
Lucey is the third of four children born to a doctor, who brought the family to the United States when Lucey was young, eventually settling in Madison and working at the University of Wisconsin. He attended Washington University in St. Louis as an undergraduate, and followed a path, post-degree, that’s not only limited to artists. But thanks to having an extended family that branched out beyond the Midwest, he found himself in the Delaware Valley with the chance to start anew.
“After university, I moved back to Wisconsin, and I did a year at home focusing on art, and in the process I was reading one of my favorite authors, Geoffrey Brown, who was an award-winning comic artist and he also had a daytime job, and I thought I needed to find another job,” Lucey said.
“I went back to school at Rhode Island School of Design and got a degree in teaching, and then, as I was coming out of there, in 2009, I wasn’t sure if I was going to get a job immediately. Both of my sisters were in the Philadelphia area and I came down here, and if it didn’t work out, I’d have some place to stay. As luck would have it, I got the job I still have here at Haddonfield Friends.”
Ten years on, Lucey eagerly acknowledged how much teaching gratifies him, and how he particularly feels at home in the community of Haddonfield Friends. He’s taught long enough that one of his classes this year includes the same kids he had when they were in Pre-K, and he has now seen them through the breadth of their school experience from age 5 to 14.
Another facet of his talent that gets a lot of attention, is when his family and friends come to call on special occasions. Given their area of expertise, at times doctors can become weary of being badgered for free medical advice, but Lucey feels the exact opposite when he’s asked by those close to him for original material.
“That’s the thing I enjoy most. I’ve always worked well on assignment in that way, how far I can push the parameters of whatever it is I’m working on, and the idea of what I want it to be versus the idea of what my family might want,” Lucey said.
“My younger sister got married two years ago in Madison, Wisconsin, and she wanted me to do a map of the town, and I included animals that were interacting in the space, details like a duck eating a donut, things that are purely for my own amusement. And still, she was like ‘this is great.’ The longer you do it, the more they know what they’re gonna get and that’s fun to try and work on those kinds of things.”
With the experience promoting his first creation in pocket, Lucey expects he will have more material released in the near future, but couldn’t get into specifics. He is working on picture books, graphic novels and other projects he hopes to make an announcement about soon.
“Jonesy: Nine Lives on the Nostromo” is available at Amazon.com as well as Barnes and Noble, and locally at Inkwood Books. For more information about Lucey and his artistic stylings, visit www.rorylucey.com, or browse further on his Instagram account at www.instagram.com/rorylucey/.
