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Edgar Allan Poe, the eggman
When the Beatles compiled images of their heroes for the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, one of the most recognizable faces was that of Poe, in the center of the top row. The same year, 1967, the Beatles declared in their song "I Am the Walrus," "Man you should have seen them kicking Edgar Allan Poe." The British band's embrace of the romantic, melancholy Poe as one of their precursors foreshadowed the writer's impact on a wide range of popular musicians.
wikkepedia

Poe is credited with being the founder of the moden detective story, "The Murder in the Rue Morgue." Quite an influence, for example, on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 'Sherlock Holmes.'

While Poe's known popularly mainly for his tales of mystery/horror, Poe's poetry is acknowledged to be first rate and highly creative e.g. "The Bells," The Raven."

http://www.iacmusic.com/play2.aspx?songID=80388

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Steve April

12/3/2009 12:48:49 PM

Well, alittle more about edgar's influence.

First, it's worthwhile to note that poe's poetry strikes a different chord than most of his stories.

His poetry is romantic, ethereal, and heartfelt.

Many of his stories explore mystery/horror, he practically created the genre.

Even back in the 1840s, extreme stories sell.

A la Stephen King.

A way to make a few pennies, back then.

The real Poe is present in his poetry, moreso than his stories perhaps. Or his poetry is equally important anyway.

The Bells

"Hear the sledges with the bells--
Silver bells!
What a world of merriment their melody foretells!
How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,
in the icy air of night!
While the stars that oversprinkle
all the heavens seem to twinkle
with a crystalline delight;
keeping time, time, time
in a sort of Runic rhyme,
to the tintinabulation that so musically wells,
from the bells, bells, bells, bells,
bells, bells, bells--
from the jingling and the tinkling of the bells..."
--poe

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Steve April

12/3/2009 1:45:51 PM ---- Updated 12/3/2009 3:50:48 PM

a few more tidbits about poe...

The sensation Poe created with his cryptography stunt played a major role in popularizing cryptograms in newspapers and magazines.[119]

Poe had an influence on cryptography beyond increasing public interest in his lifetime. William Friedman, America's foremost cryptologist, was heavily influenced by Poe.[120] Friedman's initial interest in cryptography came from reading "The Gold-Bug" as a child — interest he later put to use in deciphering Japan's PURPLE code during World War II.[121]

poe's influences...a few thots...
1. The exclamatory title to the Beatles song "Help" may have sources in a Poe story "The Angel of the Odd." The narrator jumps off a cliff only to catch hold of the guide ropes of a balloon, steered by the Angel of the Odd.

"Who pe you" he asked, "und what der teuffel you pe do dare?"
To this piece of impudence, cruelty, and affectation, I could reply only by ejaculating the monosyllable "help..." Poe, "Angel of the Odd"

2. Poe's story "The Gold Bug" is a term used on wall st. to this day, to describe gold investors.

3. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle said, "Each [of Poe's detective stories] is a root from which a whole literature has developed.... Where was the detective story until Poe breathed the breath of life into it?"[101] The Mystery Writers of America have named their awards in the genre the "Edgars."[102]

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Steve April

12/3/2009 3:56:50 PM

on poe's death...

Cooping was a practice by which unwilling participants were forced to vote, often several times over, for a particular candidate in an election.

In 1852, historian J. T. Scharf wrote in Chronicles of Baltimore:

"The Reform Association was organized to secure quiet and fairness at the polls, which at this time were scenes of the most disgraceful violence and disorder. In addition to the ordinary acts of intimidation, honest gentlemen as well as unfortunate wretches were frequently seized and 'cooped' in vile dens, drugged, stupefied with whiskey, and then carried round and 'voted' in ward after ward, the police offering no opposition, and the judges receiving the votes."[1]

Edgar Allan Poe is thought by some to have been the victim of cooping before his mysterious death in early October 1849.[2] He was found lying in the streets on election day wearing someone else's clothing in Baltimore, Maryland.[3] Cooping is only one of many theories on Poe's death but is the one depicted in the film The Death of Poe.
--wikkepedia