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In today's New York Times, there's an article about Philadelphia laying claim to the remains of Edgar Allan Poe. Apparently, there's a scholar named Edward Pettit in the City of Brotherly Love who claims that his city's rampant crime and violence in the 19th century influenced Poe more than Baltimore ever did. As a result, he suggests digging up Poe's body and moving it up I-95 to Philly.
The clear-headed curator of the Poe House, Jeff Jerome, and most Baltimoreans think otherwise.
Heck, we'll put our legacy of rampant crime and violence up against anybody's. And if Philadephia wants to add grave robbing to its sordid legacy, so be it.
But they should expect a fight.
With that in mind, Jerome and Pettit will square off, not in the ring, but at the Philadelphia Free Library to debate the issue on January 13th. I say we get a group together to cheer Jerome and harangue this scoundrel Pettit, who also claims we haven't properly honored Poe.
Pettit is obviously misinformed. In fact, we've even honored Poe in an extremely high profile, unorthodox way. I mean, how many NFL teams are named after a 19th century narrative poem?
