Icon

Last week, on the flight to my father’s funeral in Las Vegas, I meditated on how I would craft his Eulogy, and decided on the Hermit Crab essay, which is "a bit like an actual hermit crab in that it's an essay that takes on the existing form (as if a shell) of another type of writing"(Miller and Paola Chapter 9 127-130). I used the structure of a journal and a letter he never wrote. Using family accounts, I compiled the journal written from my father’s perspective, documenting my own meaningful moments and those relayed to me by the family. I began the eulogy with a quote by Oscar Wilde, which was perfect for a man who lived to break the rules.  “Life is too important to take seriously.” I spent most of my time in Vegas, writing journal entries in the present tense beginning with one of the stories he used to tell.

“Three journals were found among Joseph’s belongings. If that were true, this is how they might read……………

Journal Entry Number One: 1948

We are the first house on our street to own a television. All our neighbors came to our house today to watch it. Mom made rosettes and coffee while everyone gathered around in our parlor to watch it.

I flew home to Philadelphia last night, relieved that I had pulled it off. The Eulogy was well received. Everyone seemed to feel a deep connection with my father through the stories I shared, so I switched gears, settled into my narrow, cramped seat on the plane, paid for in-flight internet, and watched a PBS documentary about the life of Edgar Allan Poe: American Masters: Edgar Allan Poe: Buried Alive. I assumed it would be the truth of his life, but after the movie, I found myself scrolling through articles online and realized I had no way of knowing what was true and what wasn’t.

   The internet was riddled with inconsistencies.  While the PBS documentary told a story of a young Poe whose father left him, his brother, and sister, when he was just two years old, other sources said his father died (Hoehne Edgar Allan Poe: Buried alive ~ Edgar Allan Poe Documentary).  You Tube and Tic Tok content creators offer things like “Five Myths You Didn’t Know about Edgar Allen Poe”, where they say that Poe married his thirteen-year-old cousin, Virginia to help her family with the bills. This is different from the PBS documentary that states that Poe was destitute, without a place to live and nowhere to go, so he moves in with his only true relatives. When Poe discovers that someone offered to fund his thirteen-year-old cousin Virginia’s schooling, he panics, worrying that he will never see her again, and will have nowhere to go. He immediately pushes to get married, practically begging her, until she does. 

Then there’s Rufus Griswold, who wrote Poe’s obituary, painting him as an unhinged, insane, and abusive man. While Griswold was motivated by revenge, his portrayal had the opposite effect, and added to Poe’s mystery, intrigue, and appeal. The way he is depicted across time, space, cartoon, and movie, shaped the man we call Poe, creating a hero from the far-away past in modern times.

It can even be argued that Poe wasn’t obsessed with death at all, and that he was simply surrounded by it because of the times he lived in. Mortality in 19th-century America was high, and tragedy was a daily presence. Yet pop culture often exaggerates this. From Scooby-Doo to The Simpsons, Poe has been portrayed as everything from a dark emo-type gothic figure to a humorous caricature. All of these portrayals get mixed into the many versions of his life.

In reflecting back to my father’s eulogy, I realize that the interpretation of one life, whether it’s Poe’s or my father’s, can drastically differ. In crafting his eulogy, I could have emphasized the darker sides of his personality, but I chose instead to highlight his charm, humor, and warmth. With or without crafting the story of my father’s life the way I did, he was an icon to his grandchildren. Just as Poe’s story can be influenced by the many iterations of him in pop culture, depicting him as a villain or a hero, my father’s story lives in the "would be" journals, in the eulogy, and in the memories shared by those who loved him.

Hoehne, Kait. “Edgar Allan Poe: Buried Alive ~ Edgar Allan Poe Documentary.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 26 July 2022, www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/edgar-allan-poe-buried-alive-documentary/8923/.

Miller, Brenda, and Suzanne Paola. “Chapter 9.” Tell It Slant. Creating Refining, and Publishing Creative Nonfiction, 3rd ed., McGraw Hill, pp. 127–130.