Stefanie Rocknak’s sculpture, “Poe Returning to Boston”
I made two expeditions to Boston this summer, to explore things related to Edgar Allan Poe in Boston. The first was with members of the Mystery Book Club on June 24, 2015. After taking the Salem ferry to Long Wharf, eating at Jacob Wirth’s (near the fictional Spenser’s first office), we then walked two blocks to view Stefanie Rocknak’s sculpture, “Poe Returning to Boston,” unveiled on October 5th, 2014, by the Edgar A. Poe Foundation of Boston. (It is located at the corner of Boylston and Charles Streets.)
If it had not been for August Dupin in Poe’s short story The Murders in the Rue Morgue, would we ever have read about Boston investigators Spenser, Carlotta Carlyle, and John Francis Cuddy? If not for Poe, would their authors – Robert B. Parker, Linda Barnes, and Jeremiah Healy – have written detective fiction?
Following our stop at the sculpture, Mike O’Connor pointed out only a few of the many locations in Boston associated with Poe, as some of the club members walked back to Long Wharf. You can download a complete walking tour of Poe’s Boston here and visit sites which the club members did not have time for on that day: THE RAVEN’S TRAIL: A MAP OF POE’S BOSTON.
Another great resource on Edgar Allan Poe in Boston comes from materials developed by the Boston Public Library for an exhibit and debate in 2009. Included is a podcast of the debate and slide shows of boston locations and early manuscripts (primary sources) that reveal the ongoing disagreement between Poe and his contemporaries regarding the purpose of literature. Poe said it was for pleasure and enjoyment, not for preaching moral values through boring metaphors. These resources are available on a Boston College web page.
A Facebook page was established on behalf of the “Poe Returning to Boston” sculpture.
Dick Goutal (this blogger) in front of plaque for Edgar Allan Poe Way
On August 26, Mike and I returned to Boston for a closer look at the sculpture. First, we took time to re-read the plaque about ten steps from the sculpture at the entrance to Edgar Allan Poe Way, at one time a through street, now just a short alley.
Then we took more time to enjoy the different features of the sculpture that includes a raven and a “tell-tale” heart. Especially fun are the “papers” that blew out of Poe’s suitcase and across the small plaza. Each is a plaque embedded in the plaza brick-work with a different quote from Poe. Example:
The Bostonians are very well in their way. Their hotels are bad. Their pumpkin pies are delicious. Their poetry is not so good. Their Common is no common thing–and the duck-pond might answer–if its answer could be heard for the frogs.
Too bad it had to cut Poe’s next line (from his remarks in November, 1945): “But with all these good qualities the Bostonians have no soul. … The Bostonians are well-bred–as very dull persons very generally are.” Poe had no patience for the writers and critics of Boston.
And this quote on another in-ground “paper” – that so perfectly captures Poe’s feelings and outlook.
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.
After that, Mike and I went over to the Northeastern University campus where the administration has taken to hiring artists to paint murals on the side of its buildings and structures. One of these artists, Jef Aérosol, has created several stenciled murals in various locations. We were particularly interested to find where Edgar Allan Poe shares a pot of tea with blues singer and guitarist John Lee Hooker.
We found the mural on the back of Kariotis Hall, at approximately 65 Greenleaf Street, if you need to Google-Map it.
In all, another fun day. Since Mike lived in Boston/Cambridge for so many years, even attending Northeastern, he is a wealth of information on – it seems– almost every building and street. Add to that, Mike’s knowledge of classic mystery writers like Poe and Doyle, you have a great host for Boston mystery touring!
Mike at the Aérosol painting of Poe and Hooker on the Northeastern campus.
The Mystery Book Club’s invaluable resource, Michael O’Connor Holmes.
These photos are all provided courtesy of Mike O’Connor.
Text and captions can be blamed on Dick Goutal, this blogger.
