Baltimore Officially Declares Poe War
The crabcake-stuffed cranks at the Baltimore Sun unleashed a scathing response to last week’s City Paper article by writer Edward Pettit, which offered a lengthy argument as to why the long-rotted corpse of Edgar Allan Poe should be returned to Philadelphia. Pettit claimed that Baltimore’s housing the author’s body was the equivalent of a “literary grave robbing,” and was hopeful that old, dead Poe would be returned to our city in time for his 2009 bicentennial birthday.
The Sun piece offered some inspired quotes from Jeff Jerome, curator of the Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum, located in a Baltimore hovel called “Charm City”: “Keep your greasy, onioned, sub-stained hands off Poe!” After a few more feyishly aghast quotes, Jerome then said he’s going to take Pettit out to lunch and “punch him the eye.”
The Sun then summoned Baltimore Ravens PR lackey, Patrick Gleason, to lob his own flaccid opinion: “I’d like to know where, exactly, are their eagles?” Gleason said. “I’ve seen pigeons but never eagles in the city.”
(Gleason obviously doesn’t know that this is a sore spot, especially since Philadelphia’s skies were once filled with thousands of buoyant eagles — until Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis and his thug entourage came to town in 2004 and stabbed them all to death.)
The CP editorial staff is bemused by the Sun swipe. EIC Duane Swierczynski tells the Daily Examiner via e-mail: “We stand by our story. I’m deeply saddened that Mr. Jerome went for a low blow with his ‘greasy, onioned, sub-stained’ comment. Not once did we make an Old Bay crack. Not. Once.”
“Anyway, if Poe were alive today, he’d be … well, he’d be kicking and screaming inside of his coffin, begging for release. But beyond that, he’d be hitching a ride up to Philly in a tell-tale heartbeat.”
Managing editor Brian Hickey was also upset by the article, but not that surprised. His response via e-mail: “I’d expect nothing less from the syphilis capital of the universe.”
Neither do we.
We’re Taking Poe Back [City Paper]
We have the body, and we’re keeping him [Baltimore Sun]
Poe’s Ours [CP]
October 15th, 2007 at 10:40 pm
thought i’d stop by and rant!!!
i’m born and raised in bawlmer, moved to philthadelphia in 90.
both cities have a valid claim.
but, possession is 9/10’s of the law… at LEAST 9/10’s…
also, balwlmer had it’s football team stolen from it by a drunken scum-sucking creep(and i’m be very nice); no way is that gonna happen to the decayed corpse of EAP.
he STAYS in balwmer.
just because philly’s idea of culture is a gold Lame’ statue of a lame actor pretending to be a lame boxer, doesn’t mean it can imperiously dictate the location of the crumbling corpse of an actual talent.
. . . . . . . . . . . .
“The nose of a mob is its imagination. By this, at any time, it can be quietly led. “
October 16th, 2007 at 6:33 am
You may argue the validity of the claim to Mr. Poe, but you go to far, sir, to imply that Philadelphia’s culture is limited to the Rocky statue.
Especially when you are trying to defend the city of Baltimore. I mean, c’mon… Baltimore. Baltimore? Are you kidding??
I drive past more culture in ten minutes on Kelley Drive than the city of crabs will ever know.
October 16th, 2007 at 11:02 am
Poe spent a lot of time in Philadelphia. He also spent a lot of time in Richmond, Virginia, and the Bronx. He spent a good deal of time in Boston, while in the army. Poe was all over the place. But the one place he returned to consistently was Baltimore, where he spent most of the last eighteen years of his life.
Poe is buried in a small churchyard, beneath a substantial monument. The monument was dedicated in 1875 - in attendance were his cousin, a few other family members and Walt Whitman. Letters from Tennyson, Longfellow and William Cullen Bryant were read. Buried beside Poe are his wife, Virginia, and his mother-in-law, Maria Clemm.
No matter where Poe is (re)buried, the fact is that Walt Whitman will never again be in attendance to pay respect to him. That is, unless you’d like to dig up Whitman too, and see to it that he’s present for a dedication.
And what about Virginia and her mother? Will we reinter them too? We’re now talking about moving and reburying the remains of three people. We could of course just leave them where they are, where they’ll be utterly forgotten as the forces that drove Poe to create his darkest and most heartbreaking work. But doing so would be dangerous. Taking only Poe’s remains and leaving those of his family would reveal this exercise for what it really is - an absurd and obscene attempt to profit from the bones of the dead.
Leave Poe where he is.
October 16th, 2007 at 11:44 am
Philly and Baltimore have had their share of other cities pointing their finger and laughing we need to stick together. As a person who has lived in both cities and find them both to be the best in the United States (New York…Richmond…don’t make me laugh). People from Philly and Baltimore go check out each other’s Poe house, get some seriously good food, and spend some time checking into the history that makes both cities great.
October 16th, 2007 at 11:55 am
I’ll be debating this whole Poe brouhaha on TV tomorrow morning (Wed Oct 17) on Comcast’s Your Morning show on CN8 at 7:30 AM. I’ll be taking on someone from Baltimore. Perhaps I’ll even get punched in the eye. Tune in.
October 16th, 2007 at 12:25 pm
I agree with Ron (comment #4), Philly and Baltimore need to stick together. We can both lay claim to Poe and share in his genius without insulting one another, let’s save that for New York and DC.
October 20th, 2007 at 1:30 pm
I agree with Mark (comment #3), his return to Baltimore consistently suggests that he enjoyed that city the most. He also returned to Baltimore just days before he died on its streets….he obviously wished to be buried in Baltimore….why disappoint him?
Besides, the poor man was buried and reburied so many times, why not just leave him where he’s at to rest in peace? You all claim to love the man and his work, that is the best thing you could do for him. Just leave him there.
Baltimore is where he died, there he shall be buried!!
October 24th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
C’mon Philadelphia! Give it a rest. Poe isn’t going anywhere. Celebrate your cheese steak subs and the cracked bell.
Collective guilt is what’s happening here. Philadelphia hasn’t done ANYTHING to promote Poe since 1849. Oh wait, George Lippard said something nice after Poe’s death. That’s it. Where were the people of Philadelphia when his house was closed?? It took the National Park Service to open it. Baltimore on the other hand has been promoting Poe since 1875!
You know what? Philadelphia doesn’t deserve a Poe House. I think I’m going to start a campaign to move the Philadelphia Poe House to Baltimore.
For some reason I don’t think the City of Philadelphia will miss it.
October 29th, 2007 at 5:31 pm
Mr. Petrit’s proposal is an outrage. Poe made the most important decisions of his life in Baltimore which changed the course of literary history forever. As noted, Poe once stated “Baltimore was his home.”Poe once stated “Baltimore was his home.”Poe once stated “Baltimore was his home.” In 25 years of biographical study, I can find to place that Poe called himself a Philadelphian. Poe had family in Baltimore (several branches and several generations), Poe died in Baltimore, and Poe was buried at Westminster, where he remains today. Let him rest in peace, a peace he never found in life. We stand ready to fight for Poe!
April 7th, 2008 at 6:20 am
Who cares. Just let the poet rest in peace.
I doubt he’d be “he’d be kicking and screaming inside of his coffin, begging for release.” as the article quotes.
Just my opinion.
Nadlan