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Great Lives Lecture- Edgar Allan Poe
March 28 @ 7:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Edgar Allan Poe
The Russell and Barbara Stone ‘79 Mait Lecture
Mystery and horror. Poe, who remains one of the most iconic of American writers, died under haunting circumstances that reflect the two literary genres he took to new heights. Over the years, there has been a staggering amount of speculation about the cause of death, from rabies and syphilis to suicide, alcoholism, and even murder. But many of these theories are formed on the basis of the caricature we have come to associate with Poe: the gloomy-eyed grandfather of Goth, hunched over a writing desk with a raven perched on one shoulder, drunkenly scribbling his chilling masterpieces. By debunking the myths of how he lived, we come closer to understanding the real Poe—and uncovering the truth behind his mysterious death, as a new theory emerges that could prove the cause of Poe’s death was haunting him all his life.
In a compelling dual-timeline narrative alternating between Poe’s increasingly desperate last months and his brief but impactful life, Mark Dawidziak sheds new light on the enigmatic master of macabre.
Speaker: Mark Dawidziak
Born in New York, Dawidziak spent 43 years as a television, film and theater critic at such newspapers as the Akron Beacon Journal and the Cleveland Plain Dealer. In 2015, he was inducted into the Press Club of Cleveland Journalism Hall of Fame.
He also is the author of the 1994 horror novel Grave Secrets, as well as such non-fiction books as The Barter Theatre Story: Love Made Visible, The Bedside, Bathtub and Armchair Companion to Dracula and The Shawshank Redemption Revealed: How One Story Keeps Hope Alive, a 2019 deep-dive look at the beloved film based on a novella by Stephen King. He also is the editor of three volumes of works by celebrated Twilight Zone contributor Richard Matheson, who mentioned Dawidziak in the dedications to two of his books. His work on the spooky side of the street also includes short stories, novellas, and comic book scripts.