From CARL L JOHNSON
Program Content: This is a modest salute noting the 201st anniversary of the birth date of Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 -- October 7, 1849) who resided in Providence, Rhode Island for periods during 1847 and 1848, while courting the eccentric poetess of Providence, Sarah Helen Whitman.
Date: Sunday, January 17, 2010
Time: 2 p.m.
Banner Text: "Hearken, you hearty horror fans: Don your overcoat, pull on your mittens, step into your galoshes, wrap your scarf around your neck, and venture out to celebrate the legacy of America's preeminent horror and suspense writer of the 19th century: Edgar Allan Poe!"
Suggested Contribution: $10.00 per person.
Location: Roger Williams Memorial Park, Providence, RI, situated between Canal and North Main Streets. Parking is available at this site.
Notes about the performance: Recorded music will be played during the performance. There will be select readings from two short stories by Mr. Poe, and a dramatic recitation of Mr. Poe's signature poem, The Raven.
Procedure {Some additions and revisions are probable}:
1) Program will commence at 2 p.m. with Carl giving a talk of approximately 3 minutes, about Edgar Allan Poe's time spent in Providence, 1847-1848.
2) Immediately following the opening talk, we will offer a toast to the unique literary legacy of Edgar Allen Poe, substituting sparkling apple cider for cognac! Carl: "While the air is chill, the land's grown still, on the ground lies a pall of snow...Let's share a toast to the wayward ghost of Edgar Allan Poe!"
3) Recitations of the two versions of, The Raven: Edgar Allan Poe's, and the other, Sarah Helen Whitman's, will be performed.
4) One of our presenters can read a selection or the whole of E.A. Poe's, The Telltale Heart or Masque of the Red Death.
{The at-site program should last approximately 30 minutes.}
5) Weather permitting, we may conclude with a stroll to the Sarah Helen Whitman House, where Edgar Allan Poe fist saw Sarah Helen Whitman in 1847. If we include this, about a 10 minutes walk from the performance site, we will pass by Saint John's Episcopal Churchyard, which most probably was H.P. Lovecraft's inspiration for his poem: In a Sequester'd Providence Cemetery, Where Once Poe Walk'd. The group can pause outside the Cemetery for one minute, while one of our presenters recites that piece.
This is not an RIFC Production