I feel like most of us know Edgar Allen Poe as an amazing American author and poet but drab and dreary alcoholic . After reading a biography on Poe's life and death I was stunned to find that in his younger days he was full of enthusiasm and joy, even when being fostered after his biological parents passed of TB when he was 3, his soon to be adopted parents would claim Poe would toast the lady's of the house and stand on the dining room table and recite poetry. I also found Edgar was quite the athlete in his early teens known to classmates as the swiftest runner, best boxer and most daring swimmer. Poe at 15 years of age set a record for the longest swimming distance in the James river when he swam 6 miles against the strong tide, making him something of a local ledged in Richman Virginia, he completed this feat on the whim of a wager. Around the same time Edgar was setting records he was also fearless in defending himself, a fellow classmate of his accused him of being 'a rascal and a liar" Poe quickly decided this boy could use a thrashing, the fight was described as Poe covering up and allowing the other boy to tire himself out before Edgar unleashed a swift and decisive 'rope a dope' style victory to the scuffle. By the time Poe was 19 years of age he had already ascended to the rank of sergeant major, the highest NCO rank in the military. Quite the stark contrast to the Edgar Allan Poe I feel most of us know.
If anyone is interested in reading the book it's titled: 'A mystery of mysteries: the death and life of Edgar Allan Poe' by: Mark Dawidziak
We used this biography in a two part podcast series on Poe, if anyone is interested you can find it on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
by TheDarkivesPodcast