 On September 6 , 1956 , Raymond was killed in an automobile accident in Westport , Connecticut . Driving fellow cartoonist Stan Drake 's 1956 Corvette at twice the 25 mph ( 40 km / h ) speed limit , he hit a tree and was killed . Roberts describes in his biography the circumstances as a result of the weather . Driving in the convertible with its top down , Raymond decided to reach his destination quicker rather than stop to put the top back up when rain started to fall . Drake was thrown clear of the crash , but Raymond , with his seat belt buckled , died instantly . Speculation surrounds the nature of his death , with some , Drake included , believing Raymond was suicidal . Raymond had been involved in four automobile accidents in the month prior to his death , which led Drake to say Raymond " had been trying to kill himself " . Author Arlen Schumer ascribes the motive for suicide as being related to Raymond 's personal life . Schumer alleges that Raymond had been having affairs , and that his wife was refusing to grant him a divorce . R. C. Harvey is dismissive of this motivation : " Committing suicide strikes me as an odd way for a man of Raymond 's sophistication to react to his disappointment in romance " . Harvey also notes that no mention of any alleged affairs is made in Tom Robert 's biography , " probably out of consideration to Raymond 's surviving family " . Drake has also been quoted as speculating that Raymond " hit the accelerator by mistake " instead of the brake . Raymond is buried in St. John 's Roman Catholic Cemetery in Darien , Connecticut . 
