Following-up on my post from this morning, the Baltimore Sun reports that, "a longtime tribute to Edgar Allan Poe may have come to an end with the absence of the 'Poe Toaster,' who for more than half-a-century has marked the poet's birthday by laying roses and a bottle of cognac at his original grave site. This is the first time since January 19, 1949 that the person, whose identity is unknown, failed to arrive, said Jeff Jerome, curator of the Edgar Allan Poe House."At right, an archive image of the grave site
I I was sorry to read that, and I hope that all is well with the Toaster. All kinds of reasons for his/her absence have been offered ... including one suggestion from Baltimore's blogosphere that the Toaster was disgusted with the NFL's Ravens' performance against the Colts in the playoffs earlier this month.
Whatever.
I am glad of one thing, though - that, for now at least, we have been spared the media circus that grew around Rudolph Valentino's grave every August 23, with dueling contenders for the title of gen-yoo-wine "Lady In Black."
As for me, far from Baltimoreand its literary legacy, I shall crack open that half-bottle of cognac in the cabinet, and offer my own toast to Poe ... evermore.
2 comments:
Thansk, Jeff! I never knew about the Poe Toaster!
You left off the story of Marilyn Monroe's roses, though I think the public had pretty much figured it had to do with Dimaggio...
Miss Pattie, always a pleasure to have you visit, ma'am. Yup, the 'roses for Marilyn' are another good example.
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