Edgar Allan Poe's Richmond bash -- and homecoming?
As part of a birthday bash at The Poe Museum in Richmond, a distant relative will finally weigh in on the debate over which city can righfully claim the great author. Here in Baltimore, we know the answer. He lived here, wrote here, died here and is buried here. Case (and casket) closed.
But as Chris Kaltenbach writes today in the Baltimore Sun, the debate surrounding competing claims from Richmond, Philadelphia, Boston and other cities "may go on forevermore." Here's an excerpt from his story about the Richmond event on Saturday, Jan. 16:
Poe’s actual descendants — perhaps the only group whose claim to Poe’s legacy is indisputable — will announce which city they side with. ... Then again, given that the Poe descendant who will be making the announcement is president of Richmond’s Poe Museum — well, maybe next weekend’s decision won’t be as unbiased as it might seem.
“Most of all, I’m concerned with the legacy,” says Harry Lee Poe, a professor of faith and culture at Union University in Jackson, Tenn., and president of the Poe Foundation, which owns and operates the Richmond museum.
Of course, during last year’s bicentennial celebration of Poe’s birth, that legacy question was at the center of a spirited, if good-natured, war of words between Poe partisans from Boston (where Poe was born), Philadelphia (where he did much of his writing) and Baltimore (where he died and is buried). Debates were held in Boston and Philadelphia, and while nothing was resolved, all the buzz surrounding Poe made him part of the national pop culture consciousness to a degree no other 19th-century writer can match.
Harry Lee Poe, whose great-grandfather, William, was Edgar Allan Poe’s cousin, applauds all the work that’s been done on behalf of his distant relation. But now, he says, it’s time for the family to weigh in. And while tacitly acknowledging that Richmond may have something of an advantage over the competition — “We have to think about Richmond, where he spent half his life. He always said that he was a Virginian, he identified himself that way” — Harry Lee Poe stresses that there are some dark horse candidates as well.
“Poe lived in Charleston almost as long as he lived in Baltimore,” he says, “and certainly much longer than he lived in Boston.” He also set three stories in the South Carolina capital, including “The Gold Bug.”
Poe’s 24-Hour Birthday Bash at the Richmond museum begins with a champagne toast at midnight Friday (doors open at 11:45 p.m.) and runs until midnight Saturday. For information call 804-648-5523 or 888-213-2763, or go to the museum's website.
Comments
"The Poe Museum's opinion has always been that Poe belongs to the world, not to one museum or another. Poe is really a worldwide author. I hate to think of him as being one city's author, as someone who doesn't have relevance beyond one city."
I really think this quote (from Mr. Kaltenbach's story) is the best line I've heard in the entire Poe Debate. It deserves to be the last word on the matter.
Posted by: Undine | January 10, 2010 7:45 AM
Last word? No way. I've heard that kind of kumbaya sentiment before. Debate and discussion are healthy and should be encouraged. "We all have Poe" is the kind of statement that seeks to shut down the argument. Richmond is just being their usual arrogant selves.
Imagine my surprise when I heard that the debate I've been having in front of public audiences, in the public press, on the very public internet, will be officially settled by a member of the Poe family. Now, I've met Harry Lee Poe and he's done loads to honor Poe throughout the world. He even told me he was delighted with the very public Poe War I've been having for the past two years. But what strikes me about this Richmond event is the sheer arrogance that they've demonstrated all along. Not to mention the nerve they have to even use the moniker, Great Poe Debate, when they've steadfastedly refused to participate in any actual debates.
So how will Harry Lee Poe officially settle the Great Poe Debate? Well, he won't. Because you can't settle a debate by talking to yourself. You need to engage others in spirited discussion for that. Richmond isn't interested in talking about the Literary Legacy of Poe with the world. They're just interested in talking to themselves. Whoop-de-doo. How about some public engagement, Richmond? Don't just serve your own sense of importance. Serve the Poe Legacy.
Posted by: Philly Poe Guy | January 11, 2010 9:28 AM
Yes, the statement that Poe belongs to the world does indeed shut down the "argument," but it clearly does not shut down the "debate." It is perfectly reasonable to discuss why each of the cities has a claim to Poe, but, in my view, it crosses the line of being productive when it becomes an argument about which city has "the" claim to Poe. The Philly Poe Guy makes charges of arrogance against the Poe Museum, even while no one other than himself has displayed a greater degree of arrogance in this entire matter. It seems to me that a clever public relations gimmick has gone horribly wrong. The tongue in cheek humor in which it was, presumably, conceived seems to have given way, at least in some quarters, to an assumption that one city or another actually has some unique claim that trumps everyone else.
Posted by: Outis | January 15, 2010 8:44 AM