19th January: Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe was born on this date in 1809. Some facts about him:

1. He used a false name and lied about his age to get into the army. He enlisted using the name Edgar A Perry, and told them he was 22 when he was in fact 18.
2. At 26, he married his cousin, Virginia. She was just 13 but the wedding certificate said she was 21. She died of tuberculosis at the age of 24.
3. The Raven in his famous poem was originally going to be a Parrot, but in the end, Poe decided that a raven better suited the tone of the poem. The Raven was his breakthrough work - after it was published he became instantly famous and children would follow him around flapping their wings and pretending to be ravens. He would turn around and say "Nevermore" to them. The newspaper that published it only paid him $9. The Baltimore Ravens American football team are named for the poem.
4. The photograph often published of Poe was taken just a few days after a suicide attempt, so he didn't always look so haggard. As a young man, he was good looking and athletic, excelling at swimming, rowing and long jump. He was a popular guest at parties and book clubs until one jealous would-be suitor revealed he was having an affair with a married woman, and suddenly he wasn't welcome any more.
5. Poe was a Cat lover, who often wrote with a cat sitting on his shoulder. A spooky fact about Poe and his cats is that a favourite cat, Catterina, was found dead on the day he died.
6. He mostly wrote short stories and poems, but he did write one novel, which proved eerily prophetic. The novel, Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, was about the crew of a capsized ship who drew straws to decide which one of them they would eat to stay alive. The unfortunate loser was named Richard Parker. Poe claimed the story was true, but nobody believed him and the book was not a success. However, some years later, a man called Richard Parker was eaten by his crew-mates after a shipwreck.
7. Poe's death was mysterious. He was found wandering the streets of Baltimore, delirious and rambling. He was taken to hospital where he died four days later. He never recovered enough to explain how he'd got into such a state - he was dressed in shabby clothes which were thought not to belong to him, as it was out of character for him not to look smart. Nor did he know where he had left his luggage (he was on his way to a job interview at the time). The fact that all his medical records and death certificate went inexplicably missing just adds to the mystery. Theories abound, of course: he was an alcoholic and died after a serious bender (disputed by his friends who said he only drank at bad times in his life) suicide (although he'd attempted suicide before, his life was going well at this point - he was to be married in ten days), a brain tumour, diabetes, epilepsy, syphilis, cholera, lead or mercury poisoning (disproved by analysis of his hair), murder or that he'd been drugged as part of an election-fixing scam known as "coopering" and forced to vote at several locations (there was an election on the day he was found).
8. His funeral was only attended by seven people and lasted just three minutes. The ceremony was performed by Reverend W. T. D. Clemm, a relative of Poe's first wife. He decided not to give a sermon because so few people had turned up.
9. Allegedly, Poe carried on writing poetry after his death. In the 1860s, a medium, Lizzie Doten, published some poetry she claimed had been dictated to her by Poe’s ghost.
10. On Poe's birthday, for 75 years, a mysterious person would visit the site of his original grave in the early hours of the morning. The person would be dressed in black with a wide brimmed hat; they would drink a glass of Cognac and raise a toast, and then vanish into the night leaving the bottle of cognac behind and three Roses in a distinctive arrangement. In 2010, the toaster didn't turn up, and has not appeared in any year since.

My novel, Death and Faxes is available: why not treat yourself?

Paperback - CreateSpace or Amazon RRP £8 but sometimes Amazon offer it for less!

Or get the E-book: Amazon Kindle Where you can use the "Look Inside" function and read the first few pages for free! And it's less than £2 to buy for your Kindle!

AND/OR:

Like my Writer Facebook Page

Read my thoughts on writing, short stories and book excerpts on My writing blog

Follow me on Twitter: @JulieHowlin