The first time Edgar Allan Poe died, no one really noticed. In 1849, at age 40, the macabre poet prince was discovered drunk, delirious, and penniless outside a Baltimore watering hole. Four days later, he died of unknown causes—the best guesses include alcoholism, cholera, rabies, tuberculosis, heart disease, or suicide. And let’s just say that his funeral was not a success. His death was never announced publicly, fewer than 10 people attended, Poe’s tombstone was destroyed by a derailed train, and Rufus Griswold, a long-time frenemy, published a slanderous obituary that damaged Poe’s reputation forever. But it’s never too late to get a second chance at death.
