For the second straight year, the mysterious visitor failed to show up at the Baltimore grave of Edgar Allan Poe.
Since 1949, the "Poe Toaster" had marked the great author's Jan. 19 birthday by leaving roses and cognac at the grave outside Westminster Hall. But that tradition ended last year, amid speculation that the toaster had died.
Jeff Jerome, curator of the Poe House, dutifully opened the burial grounds gates last night, and several would-be toasters showed up, but none fit the profile of the real one, the Baltimore Sun reported. Jerome said he would open the gates one more year, and if the toaster didn't show up, he would let the tradition die. "If it is over, let it die a noble death."
Well said, Jeff. the worst thing that could happen, in this era of reality-TV stunts, would be for the tradition to become a made-for-prime-time spectacle.
AP photo