Poe Fans Hope Mystery Birthday Visitor Shows

After two no-show years, this could be their final vigil
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 18, 2012 12:04 PM CST
Poe Fans Hope Mystery Birthday Visitor Shows
In this Jan. 19, 2008 file photo, Jeff Jerome, curator of the Poe House and Museum, poses next to items left at the original grave site of author Edgar Allan Poe by the "Poe Toaster."   (AP Photo/Rob Carr, File)

Beginning on Jan. 19, 1949, a mysterious visitor marked Edgar Allan Poe's birthday by laying three red roses and a bottle of cognac on the author's Baltimore grave. But fans of the gothic scribe worry that the tradition may be resting six feet under as well: The birthday visitor last struck in 2009, on the 200th anniversary of Poe's birth. Both 2010 and 2011 passed with no sign of the "Poe toaster," who typically arrived between midnight and dawn (though imposters did attend last year, including a man who arrived in a limo). The Poe House and Museum's curator says he'll wait one final time tonight before declaring the tradition dead, reports the AP. (More Edgar Allan Poe stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X