I doubt that Brian Williams will have this story on tonight's NBC Nightly News! Thank God for General Tom's Blog!! Today would have been the 201st birthday for Edgar Allan Poe. Each year, on this day, between midnight and dawn, a mysterious person delivers half a bottle of cognac and three roses to the author's grave site. This has happened regularly since 1949. This tradition has gathered a modest following among locals in Baltimore. This year it didn't happen! This mysterious tribute seems to be fitting, at least to me, when you think of Poe being able to "make this stuff up" so well! The man is truly the immortal master of horror!
Thinking a little too far into this, I see that the Poe Toasting Tradition began on the birthday following the 100th anniversary of his death. It seems to have ended with the 200th anniversary of his birth. Coincidence? Probably not.
It's kind of sad, in a way, that this tradition should end. Maybe the Baltimore tourism office should see to it that somebody revives the tradition, next year. I know that the Baltimore tourism office (if there is such a thing) is probably overworked....but aren't we all?
