Dead writers' bodies--or at least their graves--argues one
study, were the way that Westerners first "visited" literary places. Long before tourists lined up to see Shakespeare's birthplace, they were lining up to make rubbings of his grave stone. Early literary tourists wrote elegies (like Wilde's) upon poet's gravestones and true fans sought out
Shelley's and
Keats' final resting places.
Westminster Abbey was a literary tourist mecca long before anyone thought of developing historic sites at the childhood and adult homes of the poets.
I spent time at Twain's grave while I was fellow at the
Center for Mark Twain Studies. But I have not made literary grave visits a habit (despite the fact that the highlights for me of two recent trips have been cemeteries--Salem, Ma. and Mystic, Co. have wonderful storied graveyards). Literary graves are less appealing. Maybe it's not just me, I think Americans have gotten out of the habit of remembering writers at their graves (with the great exception of the
Poe Toaster).
This week, on Wednesday, April 21, many will remember Mark Twain, now dead exactly 100 years.
The Hartford Couran
t ran the
very same obituary it did 100 years ago, the
New York Times ran a piece on
Mark Twain's Library and marginalia, even our local paper the
Philadelphia Inquirer did a piece on
Twain's time in Philadelphia as a typesetter.
Elmira, New York will stage
a reenactment of his funeral and its procession from Park Church to Woodlawn Cemetery. Residents and visitors are invited to look on and carry umbrellas, as the original funeral was on a sober and rainy April day. Many will gather at Woodlawn and think about Mark Twain/Sam Clemens and his legacy and participate in the most ancient kind of literary tourism.
The recent commemoration frenzy surrounding Mark Twain, didn't end with the centennial of his death and the publication of a new and expanded (and best-seller) version of his autobiography. This week the U.S. Postal Service released a new forever stamp that celebrates Mark Twain. Now we can all attach his visage to any scrap of paper we send. I like that the the stamp simply reads:
Dead writers' bodies--or at least their graves--argues one study, were the way that Westerners first "visited" literary places. Long before tourists lined up to see Shakespeare's birthplace, they were lining up to make rubbings of his grave stone. Early literary tourists wrote elegies (like Wilde's) upon poet's gravestones and true fans sought out Shelley's and Keats' final resting places. Westminster Abbey was a literary tourist mecca long before anyone thought of developing historic sites at the childhood and adult homes of the poets.
t ran the very same obituary it did 100 years ago, the New York Times ran a piece on Mark Twain's Library and marginalia, even our local paper the Philadelphia Inquirer did a piece on Twain's time in Philadelphia as a typesetter.
