The Halloween Countdown, Day 7
(Hey, Dee? If you're reading... thanks for the inspiration!)
Today, as you may know, marks the 160th anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe's mysterious death, which, as any true Halloween fan will attest, is normally an occasion for great mourning (I touched on this with last year's post).
Not so this year! According to the Associated Press ol' Edgar is finally getting a proper burial in Baltimore:
"Poe's cousin, Neilson Poe, never announced his death publicly. Fewer than 10 people attended the hasty funeral for one of the 19th century's greatest writers. And the injustices piled on. Poe's tombstone was destroyed before it could be installed, when a train derailed and crashed into a stonecutter's yard. Rufus Griswold, a Poe enemy, published a libelous obituary that damaged Poe's reputation for decades.
But on Sunday, Poe's funeral will get an elaborate do-over, with two services expected to draw about 350 people each — the most a former church next to his grave can hold. Actors portraying Poe's contemporaries and other long-dead writers and artists will pay their respects, reading eulogies adapted from their writings about Poe."
I wonder if the Poe Toaster will be in attendance?
Occasional fake date Sarah J. and I pay tribute at the Poe Birthday Bash in Richmond, VA, January 19, 2009
2 comments:
I had no idea Poe had a toaster. In fact I didn't even know they had sliced bread back then!
You...! Oh...! Why, I oughta...! Humph.
What, you're channeling Forry now?
There's a special place in the Inferno reserved for punsters.
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