So apparently, Boston has commissioned a statue of Edgar Allan Poe to be placed in, get this, Edgar Allan Poe Square. The statue will depict the author walking in the direction of his birthplace. Can you believe the nerve of these people?
Sure, Poe was born there and, yeah, his first book of poems was signed only “a Bostonian.” But Baltimore is where he was found wearing another man’s clothes stumbling around deliriously just before he died. And he’s buried here. Plus, we need this! Without Poe all we’ve got are Mr. Boh, the Utz girl and Old Bay (and some moderately tenuous claims on Tupac Shakur, Frank O’Hara, and David Byrne).
After viewing the statue design concept that accompanies the Sun article, I feel confident that Boston’s monument won’t hold a candle to Baltimore’s in terms of a certain physical attribute (ever seen our statue really close up?).
I only hope that this Boston thing won’t embolden Richmond and Philadelphia to try to steal Baltimore’s Poe crown. You’d think that naming your NFL team after a poem — A POEM! — would send a clearer message. Poe is ours!
I have spent my entire 60 years in Boston and have never heard or seen anybody claim Edgar Allen Poe as a homeboy. Baltimore – he is all yours.
Um… Baltimore doesn’t ‘own’ Poe. Just because you die in another town, doesn’t mean that town ‘owns’ you. If we should go by time spent in a city, then Richmond would win… hands down.