Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849)

I have quite fond memories of my family gathered in the living room listening awe struck to my father as he read various poems and short stories out loud to us. His magical voice would turn the written word into something that even my young mind could comprehend, I may not have fully understood what the narrator of "The Raven" was talking about, but I understood that he was slowly slipping into madness.

My father would read a Robert Burns (my namesake) piece, or Kipling's "Gunga Din", and when he finished I would always beg him to read "The Tell Tale Heart," my first favorite short story.

Years later, my good friend Phill and I tried our hand at some spoken word performances, we took my father's video camera and headed off to the coolest cemetery we could find. I picked my favorite Poe poem "Annabel Lee" to perform, thank God that footage no longer exists. I must have tripped up on the word "sepulchre" about a thousand times.

Later in life as an adult, while visiting a friend in Richmond, VA. I took a walk by myself for a pack of smokes, and stumbled upon the house Poe lived in during his stay in Richmond, it was quite a nice surprise.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this weeks portrait! As always, you can order this, or any of my limited edition signed prints for $25.00 buy visiting the store or by simply clicking the button below.

For more Poe, be sure to visit the work of Edgar Allan Poe online here.

And check out this animated short film from 1953. Based on Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell tale Heart." Narrated by James Mason, this UPA Production was the first cartoon to be X-rated (adults only) in Great Britain under the British Board of Film Censors classification system, although watching it today its hard to imagine.