January marks Poe's 200th birthday

 Ã¨The island is a very singular one,ÃÆ wrote Edgar Allan Poe. èIt consists of little else than the sea sand, and is about three miles long. Near the western extremity, where Fort Moultrie stands, may be found the bristly palmetto. The whole islandÃñis covered with dense undergrowth of the sweet myrtle; the shrub here often attains the height of fifteen or twenty feet, and forms an almost impenetrable coppice, burdening the air with its fragrance.ÃÆ

Under the alias Edgar A. Perry, Poe had enlisted in the United States Army in May of 1827, and by November of that year, he had been posted to Fort Moultrie on Sullivanís Island in the mouth of Charleston harbor. At the age of twenty-two, Poe, who had been forced to drop out of college, was seeking a means of livelihood, and since he enjoyed participating in èmilitary drillÃÆ during his student days, he thought that heíd try the life of a soldier.

According to his biographers, Poeís military experiment went well at first; he rose rapidly through the ranks from a private to sergeant-major of his regiment. During his free time, he often visited Charleston, strolling the streets of the city where his late mother had once appeared on stage. Yet, Poe, ever ambitious, ever restless, was unwilling to commit even to the five-year term of his enlistment, and he managed to collect the sum of $75 to pay for a substitute to serve out his term.

Poeís relatively brief time in South Carolina (1827-29), however, was to serve a purpose later in his life; Sullivanís Island was eventually used as the setting of his stories èThe Gold BugÃÆ and èThe Balloon Hoax.ÃÆ Thus, as at least five cities up and down the East Coast prepare significant celebrations of the 200th anniversary of the birth of one of our countryís greatest writers, our own state can lay some claim to having nurtured his genius.

Baltimore, where Poe died in 1849, plans a number of observances this month at Westminster Hall, a deconsecrated downtown church in the middle of the burying grounds that form the writerís final resting place; a special feature of the celebration is the unveiling of a cake in the shape of the monument that marks his present grave, a confection crafted by Duff Goldman, the star of the reality television program èAce of CakesÃÆ on the Food Network. Westminster Hall is also the site of the annual visit of the mysterious ètoaster,ÃÆ who leaves three red roses and a half-bottle of cognac near the original grave of Poe, whose remains were disinterred in 1875 and moved to the present, more prominent spot on the grounds near the corner of Fayette and Greene Streets.

Richmond, where Poe was raised by his foster parents, John and Frances Allan, will host the debut of a new postage stamp commemorating the author; there will also be a series of talks at St. Johnís Church, where Poeís birth mother, Elizabeth Arnold Poe, was buried, some accounts assert, in the dead of night because most parishioners felt that her career as an actress did not entitle her to the full solemnities.

Philadelphia, where Poe wrote perhaps his best story, èThe Fall of the House of Usher, will open new exhibits at the Poe National Historic Site in that city. New York, where Poe wrote his most famous poem, èThe Raven,ÃÆ will celebrate his life and work with a reading at the Poe Cottage in the Bronx; in this small house, Poeís wife Virginia died of tuberculosis at the age of 24 in 1847 (first cousins, they had married when she was only thirteen). Boston College in the city of Poeís birth pays homage to the inventor of the detective story with a series of lectures and film screenings.

To this list of five urban areas where Edgar Allan Poe spent a part of his productive but troubled life, one could add Charleston and its environs. Sullivanís Island, in particular, has commemorated its linkage to Poe by naming its local library after him (it is housed in a renovated four-gun battery, a remnant of the coastal defenses constructed during the Spanish-American War), and one of the areaís most popular eateries is called Poeís Tavern.

Although there is no evidence that he ever set foot in Augusta, our neighboring city can also lay claim to a Poe connection. The author, who was often in financial straits, refers in a letter dated January of 1836 to the financial aid provided to his aunt Maria, who as the mother of Virginia would later become his mother-in-law as well, by their cousins William and Robert Poe of Augusta. The latter gentlemen had presumably pledged to donate money so that Maria Clemm could set up a boarding house in Richmond and live comfortably off the income generated by that enterprise. Although no such business was ever established, the scheme validates a local link to the great American writer.

It is known that Poe wrote more than once to his cousin William in Augusta; in a letter dated 1840, he claims that his Southern upbringing eventually will help establish his place in the ègrowing literatureÃÆ of that region of the country. Although he never lived to see his work find a permanent spot in the literary canon not only of the South but of our nation as a whole, Poeís optimistic prediction eventually bore fruit, and people all over the country this month have joined together to wish this now-iconic figure a èHappy Birthday, Edgar.ÃÆ

Dr. Mack is a Carolina Trustee Professor at USC-Aiken.