On this Day 7 October – Edgar Allan Poe – Mario Lanza

Edgar Allan Poe

On this day in 1849, editor, literary critic, writer, poet, Edgar Allan Poe died in Baltimore, Maryland at the age of 40.  Born Edgar Poe on 19 January 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts.  Perhaps best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre.  Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is generally considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre.  He is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction.  He was the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and career.

His father abandoned the family in 1810, and when his mother died the following year, Poe was taken in by John and Frances Allan of Richmond, Virginia. They never formally adopted him, but he was with them well into young adulthood. He attended the University of Virginia but left after a year due to lack of money. He quarreled with John Allan over the funds for his education, and his gambling debts. In 1827, having enlisted in the United States Army under an assumed name, he published his first collection Tamerlane and Other Poems, credited only to “a Bostonian”. Poe and Allan reached a temporary rapprochement after the death of Allan’s wife in 1829. Poe later failed as an officer cadet at West Point, declared a firm wish to be a poet and writer, and parted ways with Allan.

Poe switched his focus to prose and spent the next several years working for literary journals and periodicals, becoming known for his own style of literary criticism. His work forced him to move among several cities, including Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City. In 1836, he married his 13-year-old cousin, Virginia Clemm, but she died of tuberculosis in 1847. In January 1845, Poe published his poem “The Raven” to instant success. He planned for years to produce his own journal The Penn (later renamed The Stylus), but before it could be produced, he died under mysterious circumstances. The cause of his death remains unknown, and has been variously attributed to many causes including disease, alcoholism, substance abuse, and suicide.

Poe and his works influenced literature around the world, as well as specialized fields such as cosmology and cryptography. He and his work appear throughout popular culture in literature, music, films, and television. A number of his homes are dedicated museums. The Mystery Writers of America present an annual award known as the Edgar Award for distinguished work in the mystery genre.

One of my favorite writers.  Every year on his birthday, I read some of his poetry and short stories.  I have a work in process poem modeled after The Raven.

The Final Footprint – Poe is buried in Westminster Burial Ground in Baltimore.  There is an upright engraved granite monument marking his original grave.  The inscription reads in part; “Quoth the Raven, Nevermore”.  His current burial space is marked by a large upright marble monument.  Poe and his works influenced literature in the United States and around the world, as well as in specialized fields, such as cosmology and cryptography.  Poe and his work appear throughout popular culture in literature, music, films, and television.  A number of his homes are dedicated museums today.  The Mystery Writers of America present an annual award known as the Edgar Award for distinguished work in the mystery genre.  Every year on the anniversary of his birth from about 1949 until 2009, “The Poe Toaster” would appear at his grave and drink a cognac toast and leave three roses.

#RIP #OTD in 1959 tenor (“Be My Love”, “Because You’re Mine”, “The Loveliest Night of the Year” ), actor (The Great Caruso) Mario Lanza died of an apparent pulmonary embolism in Rome aged 38. Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California

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