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Mike Conley's Tales of the Weird: Is Poe still taking notes?

By Mike Conley | The McDowell News

Published: January 21, 2009

Monday marked the 202nd birthday of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. It also marked the 200th birthday of another great Virginian, mystery author and poet Edgar Allan Poe.
This column has previously looked at the legend of the Poe toaster. He is the mysterious figure, who during the early morning hours of each Jan. 19,th arrives at Baltimore's historic Westminster Hall Cemetery. The stranger in black stops at Poe's grave and leaves as a tribute a half-empty bottle of cognac and three roses. The visitor's three roses are believed to honor Poe, his mother-in-law and his wife, all of whom are buried in the graveyard. The significance of the cognac is not clear.
To this day, the identity of the visitor, who is called the Poe Toaster, remains unknown.
Although he was born in Boston and died in Baltimore, it seems that Edgar Allan Poe's ghost also spends some time in his adopted hometown of Richmond, Va. It was in Richmond that Poe became an assistant editor of the Southern Literary Messenger and published many of his works. A statue of Poe stands on the grounds of the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond.
The Edgar Allan Poe Museum was established in 1921 in the city's historic Shockoe district. At the museum, visitors can look at Poe's boyhood bed and his family's furniture. The desk and chair he used when he worked for the Messenger are on display there. The museum even has his trunk and personal items that he owned when he died under unexplained circumstances in October 1849.
And both the museum's staff and tourists alike believe that Edgar Allan Poe is still around keeping a watch on his possessions.
One time, a guide had just finished giving a tour of the museum when several visitors quietly asked her if anyone ever reported seeing ghosts at the place. The somewhat reluctant tour guide told them that there had been rumors of a dark shadowy figure lurking around the front garden. The tourists then showed her photos they had taken just a few minutes earlier. The pictures showed a strange shadowy figure standing only a few feet away from the guide as she gave her tour.
Other spirits, in addition to Poe's, are said to haunt the place.
Like many historic homes, the museum is a popular place for spring and summer weddings. Folks are attracted to its beauty and romantic atmosphere. However, several couples have come back to the place asking the museum's staff about the unknown mysterious children that they have seen in their wedding photos. They don't know the identity of these children, who were not seen when the photos were taken, according to a Web site.
The identities of the ghostly children seen at the Edgar Allan Poe museum are unknown. Some suspect that they are the children of a German immigrant family who originally built the house.
***
I could not let this week go by without paying tribute to the late great Patrick McGoohan, who died last week at the age of 80. The legendary actor and director is best known for his classic science fiction show "The Prisoner," which first appeared on American TV in 1968.
I first got to know of Patrick McGoohan when, as a child, I saw the Disney movie "The Three Lives of Thomasina." A few years later, I noticed his work as an actor in the movies "Silver Streak" and "Escape from Alcatraz."
But when I was in high school, I realized just how creative and ingenious he was as an actor, a writer and a director. I first watched reruns of "The Prisoner" when I was a high school student in 1985 and it made a deep impression on me that lasts to this day. I became a fan of this classic TV show, which McGoohan created.
"The Prisoner" was about a British secret agent who suddenly resigns from Her Majesty's secret service. As he is about to leave on a vacation, he is mysteriously kidnapped and taken to a weird place called the Village. It is a seaside resort where others like him are taken and the valuable information that they possess can either be protected or extracted. It is really a prison and everyone there is called by a number. Everyone in the Village is constantly watched and their behavior is strictly controlled. Our hero, portrayed by McGoohan, is called No. 6. In each episode, No. 6 would try to escape from the Village or otherwise rebel against the powerful people who run the place. They want to know why he resigned and they will get their information, by hook or by crook.
The whole concept of the Village and No. 6's struggle to be a free man was unlike any other movie or TV show I had ever seen. This allegorical show made you think and it gave no easy answers. It dealt with issues about personal freedom, the role of the individual, human nature and how science can be perverted by the powerful. In the show, McGoohan tried to tell us that we are all prisoners of one sort or another. He encouraged us to think for ourselves and not blindly follow those who are in power.
Perhaps we can never really escape from the Village but, through his show, Patrick McGoohan showed us the way.

Contact Mike Conley at 652-3313, ext. 3422 or e-mail nconley@mcdowellnews.com.