Some of you may be aware of the contentious battle over the legacy of Edgar Allan Poe, the great writer, poet, critic, and general weirdo. More specifically, who gets to claim Poe. Much like Oxford, Mississippi can claim Faulkner, Monterrey can claim Steinbeck, and Albany can claim William Kennedy (or vice versa), several cities are engaged in a tug-of-war over Poe, including Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, Richmond, and the Hub of the Universe. The battle has become all the more pitched because this January marks Poe's 200th birthday. Here's some background on the latest volleys.
You can judge for yourself. The reason I'm bring this to your attention is because Poe was born right here in Boston, but the plaque in the theater district commemorating the legend isn't even near the place of his birth. Fortunately, two years ago Joshua Glenn at the Globe's Ideas blog did the legwork and figured out that Poe was born in a building on the same city block as my old apartment on Warrenton Street! Look at the map! Isn't that cool?
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1 comment:
Timmy, thanks for noticing that Brainiac was way ahead of the curve on the Poe/Boston thing...
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