Poe in 1848. Courtesy of wikipedia.

I’m a literature geek, and as such, I’m nearly required to find references to literature and classic authors, that others might find obnoxious or boring, both interesting and fascinating.

So goes the tradition, and here is the story. Edgar Allen Poe died in 1849. One hundred years later, in 1949, on the anniversary of Edgar Allen Poe’s birth, a mysterious cloaked figure stopped by the author’s grave in the dead of night and toasted the author with a glass of cognac. Dubbed the “Poe Toaster” the mysterious figure, presumed to be a man, left three roses and a bottle of cognac at the site.

In the 60 years that followed, the mysterious man has shown up every year on Jan. 19 and followed the same tradition. Many have stood by and watched the figure: clad in black, wearing a hat, swathed in a scarf and carrying a cane. But no one has attempted to interfere and determine the person’s identity.

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