I Missed noting the birthday of Edgar Allan Poe yesterday (January 19th, 1809). I'm always late for birthdays....
Mr. Poe is one of my favorite authors. I regularly re-read his stories (Hop-Frog being one of my favorites, along with William Wilson). I also love to read about his life and times. The Kenneth Silverman biography, "Mournful and Never-Ending Remembrance" is about as good as it gets in literary biography. Very well written and yet highly detailed biography that covers the era he lived in as well as Poe's life. A superb portrait of a sad, but brilliant writer.
Interesting story of a mysterious figure (apparently called the "Poe Toaster") who appears at Poe's grave every Jan 19th to leave flowers and cognac. CNN has a good account. Apparently, this person has been leaving flowers since 1949! Amazing.
Happy Birthday, Mr. Poe..
4 comments → The Mysterious Visitor at Poe's Grave
I think you've inspired me to find a famous dead author to ply with flowers and cognac. Someone underappreciated, of course: Anne Bradstreet maybe? Hmmm.
Anne Bradstreet...yes! How about a nice glass of red wine?
Does anyone know if the "Poe toaster" visited the grave this year, 2008 ?
Yes, he has! Or, rather, his son (or relative) who has taken over for him since he died in 1998. Take a look at this article here:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jyo74mhvMgfw4JSX51A63Hp5WksQD8U915OO0
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