Deathday: Poe's Foster Mother Frances Valentine Allan 1829

Edgar Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 19, 1809, the second child of actress Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe and actor David Poe, Jr. He had an elder brother, William Henry Leonard Poe, and a younger sister, Rosalie Poe. His father abandoned their family in 1810, and his mother died a year later from consumption. Poe was then taken into the home of John Allan and his wife Frances Valentine Allan. John Allan was a successful Scottish merchant in Richmond, Virginia, who dealt in a variety of goods including tobacco, cloth, wheat, tombstones, and slaves. The Allans served as a foster family and gave him the name "Edgar Allan Poe," though they never formally adopted him.

The Allan family had Poe baptized in the Episcopal Church in 1812. John Allan alternately spoiled and aggressively disciplined his foster son. The family sailed to Britain in 1815. Poe attended the grammar school in Irvine, Scotland (where John Allan was born) for a short period in 1815, before rejoining the family in London in 1816. There he studied at a boarding school in Chelsea until summer 1817. He was subsequently entered at the Reverend John Bransby’s Manor House School at Stoke Newington, then a suburb four miles (6 km) north of London.

John Allan

Poe moved back with the Allans to Richmond, Virginia in 1820. In 1824 Poe served as the lieutenant of the Richmond youth honor guard as Richmond celebrated the visit of the Marquis de Lafayette. In March 1825, John Allan's uncle and business benefactor William Galt, said to be one of the wealthiest men in Richmond, died and left Allan several acres of real estate. The inheritance was estimated at $750,000. By summer 1825, Allan celebrated his expansive wealth by purchasing a two-story brick home named Moldavia. Poe may have become engaged to Sarah Elmira Royster before he registered at the one-year-old University of Virginia in February 1826 to study languages. The university, in its infancy, was established on the ideals of its founder, Thomas Jefferson. It had strict rules against gambling, horses, guns, tobacco and alcohol, but these rules were generally ignored. Jefferson had enacted a system of student self-government, allowing students to choose their own studies, make their own arrangements for boarding, and report all wrongdoing to the faculty. The unique system was still in chaos, and there was a high dropout rate. During his time there, Poe lost touch with Royster and also became estranged from his foster father over gambling debts. Poe claimed that Allan had not given him sufficient money to register for classes, purchase texts, and procure and furnish a dormitory. Allan did send additional money and clothes, but Poe's debts increased. Poe gave up on the university after a year, and, not feeling welcome in Richmond, especially when he learned that his sweetheart Royster had married Alexander Shelton, he traveled to Boston in April 1827, sustaining himself with odd jobs as a clerk and newspaper writer. At some point he started using the pseudonym Henri Le Rennet.

Poe was first stationed at Boston's Fort Independence while in the army. Unable to support himself, on May 27, 1827, Poe enlisted in the United States Army as a private. Using the name "Edgar A. Perry," he claimed he was 22 years old even though he was 18. He first served at Fort Independence in Boston Harbor for five dollars a month. That same year, he released his first book, a 40-page collection of poetry, Tamerlane and Other Poems, attributed with the byline "by a Bostonian." Only 50 copies were printed, and the book received virtually no attention. Poe's regiment was posted to Fort Moultrie in Charleston, South Carolina and traveled by ship on the brig Waltham on November 8, 1827. Poe was promoted to "artificer," an enlisted tradesman who prepared shells for artillery, and had his monthly pay doubled. After serving for two years and attaining the rank of Sergeant Major for Artillery (the highest rank a noncommissioned officer can achieve), Poe sought to end his five-year enlistment early. He revealed his real name and his circumstances to his commanding officer, Lieutenant Howard. Howard would only allow Poe to be discharged if he reconciled with John Allan and wrote a letter to Allan, who was unsympathetic. Several months passed and pleas to Allan were ignored; Allan may not have written to Poe even to make him aware of his foster mother's illness. Frances Allan died on February 28, 1829, and Poe visited the day after her burial. Perhaps softened by his wife's death, John Allan agreed to support Poe's attempt to be discharged in order to receive an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point.

"The Business Man" Published 1840

"The Business Man" is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe about a fictitious businessman boasting of his accomplishments. It was published in February 1840 in Burton's Gentleman's Magazine. The story questions the concept of a self-made man.

Plot summary

The narrator of the story is Peter Proffit, a "methodical" businessman by his own admission. He says a nurse swung him around when he was a young boy, and he bumped himself on the head against a bedpost. That single event determined his fate: the resulting bump was in the area dedicated to system and regularity, according to phrenology.

Proffit goes on to say that he despises geniuses and that they are all asses — "the greater the genius the greater the ass." Geniuses can not, he says, be turned into men of business.

At the age of fourteen, his father forced him to work as a merchant, which Proffit could not stand. He says that though most boys run away from home at the age of twelve, he chose to wait until the age of sixteen. What finally convinced him was his mother's suggestion that he work as a grocer. Instead, he becomes a "Walking-Advertisement" for a tailor. Feeling swindled by his employer over a penny, however, he moves on to start his own business.

Proffit's new business is the "Eye-Sore" business. When he sees a large home or palace being built, he buys a nearby or adjoining property and builds a "mud-hovel" or "pig-sty" so ugly that he is paid 500% the value of the lot to tear it down. One owner, however, offers less than 500%. In retaliation, Proffit lamp-blacks the house overnight. For this, he is put in jail and is ostracized by others in the Eye-Sore business.

Proffit then enters the Assault-and-Battery business. He makes money by starting fights with people on the streets and then sues them for attacking him. He then becomes involved with Mud-Dabbling, forcing people to pay him not to splash them with mud. He also has a dog rub up against people's shoes to make them dirty, then offers his services as a shoeshiner. Though he gave the dog a third of the profits, the routine split when the dog began to demand half.

Proffit then becomes an organ grinder, though he makes money by people paying him to stop rather than to play. He boasts of his own abilities in business and lists his eight "speculations" for success. He then tries forging letters and delivering them to rich people, asking them to pay postage themselves. He says, however, that he had moral issues with this line of work after hearing people say unkind things about the fake people who had written to them.

A law is later passed to keep down the population of cats, with citizens paid for any cat tails they turn in. Proffit begins to raise cats so that he can collect the reward for their tails. It was his most profitable venture. After all his business ventures, he considers himself "a made man" and is considering running for office -- or, more accurately, purchasing a seat in county government.

"The Businessman"

Salvadore Dali

Analysis

The story is a satire[1] and is often interpreted as a reflection of Poe's strained relationship with his foster father John Allan, himself a successful businessman.[2] The story also satirizes businesspeople in general, suggesting that their success is not due to their method of punctuality and self-discipline but because of ruthless business practices, violence, egotism, and pure chance.[3] Poe also calls to question the concept of a "self-made man," expressing skepticism that such a concept is possible.[4] Like "The Man That Was Used Up," another of Poe's satires, this man is essentially hollow and worthless.[5]

In "The Business Man," Poe also makes fun of the dubious nature of phrenology, then a popular pseudoscience.[3]

In the story, the narrator asserts: "In biography, truth is every thing, and in autobiography it is especially so." This is ironic considering Poe's own tendency to alter his life story; he often omitted details of his military career, and invented stories about his nonexistent travels to Greece, Turkey, and Russia.[6]

Proffit's dog is named Pompey, a name Poe also uses for two African slave characters in "A Predicament" and in "The Man That Was Used Up."[7]

Publication history

The story was originally titled "Peter Pendulum"[8] and published in Burton's Gentleman's Magazine in February 1840.[9] It was first published as "The Business Man" in the August 2, 1845 issue of the Broadway Journal.[10]

References

1.^ Meyers, Jeffrey (1992). Edgar Allan Poe: His Life and Legacy (Paperback ed. ed.). New York: Cooper Square Press. pp. 69. ISBN 0815410387.
2.^ Sova, Dawn B. (2001). Edgar Allan Poe: A to Z. New York: Checkmark Books. pp. 40. ISBN 081604161X.
3.^ Schnackertz, Hermann Josef. "Of Bumps and Brains: E. A. Poe and Phrenology", Lost Worlds and Mad Elephants: Literature, Science and Technology. Galda and Wilch, 1999. p. 67. ISBN 3931397165
4.^ Person, Leland S. "Poe and Nineteenth Century Gender Constructions" as collected in A Historical Guide to Edgar Allan Poe, J. Gerald Kennedy, Ed. Oxford University Press, 2001. p. 158–159. ISBN 0195121503
5.^ Person, Leland S. "Poe and Nineteenth Century Gender Constructions" as collected in A Historical Guide to Edgar Allan Poe, J. Gerald Kennedy, Ed. Oxford University Press, 2001. p. 159. ISBN 0195121503
6.^ Meyers, Jeffrey (1992). Edgar Allan Poe: His Life and Legacy (Paperback ed. ed.). New York: Cooper Square Press. pp. 38. ISBN 0815410387.
7.^ Goddu, Teresa A. "Poe, sensationalism, and slavery", The Cambridge Companion to Edgar Allan Poe, Kevin J. Hayes (editor). New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002. p. 101. ISBN 0521797276
8.^ Sova, Dawn B. (2001). Edgar Allan Poe: A to Z. New York: Checkmark Books. pp. 279. ISBN 081604161X.
9.^ Quinn, Arthur Hobson (1998). Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography (Paperback ed. ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 294. ISBN 0801857309.
10.^ Sova, Dawn B. (2001). Edgar Allan Poe: A to Z. New York: Checkmark Books. pp. 40. ISBN 081604161X.

10 Most Eccentric Millionaires

Here is the list of Most Eccentric Millionaires in the world.The millionaire who was accused of defecating on the sidewalk in front of cafes

For years they wondered who was behind the unique calling card .To unmask the shopping strip's midnight-to-dawn caller, a North Ryde restaurateur who had borne the brunt of the deposits took the matter into his own hands. Someone was leaving behind human faeces on his pavement.

The restaurateur installed a surveillance camera and the footage led police to charge 71-year-old millionaire property owner Salvatore ''Sam'' Cerreto with willful and obscene exposure and offensive behaviour. Mr Cerreto, from Marsfield, is alleged to have personally dropped off the package. He was allegedly captured on camera walking to the tenant's restaurant with a ream of toilet paper, pulling his pants down, squatting and defecating. Mr Cerreto's property portfolio includes a building that is home to 13 street-front businesses.

For four years food outlets complained to police of similar discoveries. The affected tenants - who were relieved at the arrest - include operators of restaurants, cafes, delis, a hairdressing salon and a pathology centre. Police said officers had received complaints from cafe owners and restaurateurs in the commercial centre about someone defecating intermittently on their doorsteps, or on the pavement outside their premises. The deposits included excrement wrapped in paper, which was left on door handles or in flower beds near outdoor seating.

(Link)

 
The millionaire who opened a Nobel Prize sperm bank to create a master race In 1980, millionaire optometrist Robert Clark Graham opened a sperm bank stocked with "donations" from the world's smartest men. The Repository for Germinal Choice, located in an underground bunker in San Diego, aimed to collect sperms from Nobel Laureates, which earned it the nickname "Nobel Prize Sperm Bank". But the scarcity of donors and the low viability of their sperm (because of age) forced Graham to develop a looser set of criteria. These criteria were numerous and exacting: for example, sperm recipients were required to be married, and male donors were required to have extremely high IQs, though the bank later softened this policy so it could recruit athletes for donors as well as scholars.

By 1983, Graham's sperm bank was reputed to have 19 repeat genius donors, including William Bradford Shockley (1956 Nobel Prize in Physics and proponent of eugenics) and two anonymous Nobel Prize winners in science.

When the Repository for Germinal Choice closed after Graham's death 1999, there were 229 babies none of which was fathered by Nobel Prize winners. So far, none of these kids had grown up to win the Nobel Prize either.

(Link 1 | Link 2 | Via)

 
The first Second Life (virtual) millionaire Millionaires usually make their money in banking, playing the stock market or in big business. Ailin Graef has changed all that. The former Chinese language teacher has just joined the millionaire's club – but is the first person to do so thanks to profits from a virtual world. Ms Graef has built up a massive property empire in Second Life, an online 3D world where users live and socialise as they would in reality.

Her online equivalent (known as an avatar), Anshe Chung, buys large blocks of lands, improves them by adding housing and then sells them to other users for a handsome profit.

Since joining the game in 2004 she has amassed a fortune of almost 300 million Linden dollars (the game's currency). Uniquely, these dollars can be exchanged into real US dollars at online currency exchanges. With the rate at around L$275 to US$1, she has become a millionaire. Although she lives near Frankfurt in Germany, Ms Graef has set up an office in Wuhan, China, employing ten programmers to help 'develop' the online land she later sells to other users.

(Link | Via)

 

The millionaire who decided to give away his entire fortune because he was unhappy

Karl Rabeder grew up poor and thought that life would be wonderful if he had money. But when he got rich, Karl discovered that he was unhappy, so he decided to give away every penny of his £3 million fortune: "My idea is to have nothing left. Absolutely nothing," he said. "Money is counterproductive – it prevents happiness to come."

On the block, or already sold, is his luxury villa with a lake in the Alps, his 42-acre estate in France, his six gliders, and the interior furnishings and accessories business that got him rich in the first place. Instead, he will move out of his luxury Alpine retreat into a small wooden hut in the mountains or a simple bedsit in Innsbruck. His entire proceeds are going to charities he set up in Central and Latin America, but he will not even take a salary from these.

(Link | Via)

 
The millionaire dog who was a trust fund of over $300 millions Sure, there will always be people who have more money than you, but did you realize that some pets do, too? Meet Gunther IV, the German Shepherd, world's richest dog. This dog actually received his inheritance from his father, Gunther III, a German Shepherd who received an inheritance from Karlotta Liebenstein, a German countess. Gunther IV has bought a Miami villa from Madonna and won a rare white truffle in an auction. He's worth about $372 million right now, thanks to his growing trust fund.

(Link | Via)

 
The British millionaire who changed his mansion for mud after being adopted by tribe in Kenya Most people return from Kenya with photos of giraffes and lions, and tales of their time on safari. But one millionaire has come back with the title of elder of a Masai tribe. Graham Pendrill is the first white person to gain such an honour from the group after solving a potentially violent inter-tribal dispute while on a month-long trip to the East African country last year.

During the official ceremony, Mr Pendrill had to drink bull's urine and had a cow sacrificed in his honour. Since returning, he has worn his Masai clothes while going about his business in his home town of Almondsbury, near Bristol, UK. The 57-year-old bachelor, who was given the tribal name Siparo meaning 'brave one', often wanders down his local High Street wearing nothing but a robe and sandals. 'People can call me eccentric - it doesn't bother me,' he said. 'When I got home my ordinary clothes just felt odd. 'I've had some sideways looks and a difficult moment in a Bristol pub, but most people are polite,' he added. Mr Pendrill, an antiques dealer, has given his suits to Oxfam and plans to sell his £1.2million mansion so he can move to Kenya to live in a mud hut with the Masai later this year. 'I've developed a huge respect and affection for the people there. It's a real honour to be an elder,' he said.

(Link)

 
The millionaire who decided to buy his own town Fast cars and flash jewellery are the usual perks of the millionaire. But Scott Alexander has just splashed out on the ultimate status symbol – his own town. The 31-year-old lifestyle and property tycoon is turning a Bulgarian coastal town into a holiday hotspot for British tourists – and naming it after himself. 'The name is really hard to pronounce. I've decided to call it Alexander, which I suppose is quite cheeky.' Mr Alexander – who is single and lives in a penthouse apartment in Manchester – bought the town from a Bulgarian entrepreneur for £3 million. The identity of the place is being kept a secret until the deal is completed.

Mr Alexander's company, Ultimate Lifestyle Group Incorporated, has a staff of 60, offers personal training and arranges cosmetic surgery, property and cars for celebrities. Past clients include Tom Cruise, who Mr Alexander helped train for his role in Mission Impossible III. He was featured in Britain's TV Show ‘Biggest Spenders' and often quoted as being "the most vain man in Britain".

(Link)

The nurse who became a millionaire but decided not to quit her job A nurse who won £1 million live on TV said she would not give up her £25,000 job. The money will change my lifestyle but it won't change me. Coronary care nurse Karen Shand, 40, will carry on working at the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, Fife, despite winning the jackpot on ITV1's The Vault. Ms Shand won the cash after ringing the show 'on the spur of the moment' and answering six questions correctly. It was the largest amount ever won on live TV at that time.

(Link)

 

The homeless billionaire Meet Nicholas Berggruen, a homeless billionaire. You read that right. Nicholas is worth billions but doesn't even own a home (he stays in hotels) because he's lost all interest in acquiring things. After making his billions, Mr. Berggruen, 46, lost interest in acquiring things: They didn't satisfy him, and in fact had become something of a burden. So he started paring down his material life, selling off his condo in New York, his mansion in Florida and his only car. He hatched plans to leave his fortune to charity and his art collection to a new museum in Berlin.

For him, wealth is about lasting impact, not stuff. Forbes magazine estimated Berggruen's net worth at $2.2 billion as of 2010.

(Link 1 | Link 2 | Via)

The millionaire whose daughter works at McDonald's to learn the value of money

The Thai prime minister sent his daughter to work at McDonald's. The billionaire even turned up to buy burgers from his 17-year-old daughter Paethongtan, the youngest of his three children, on her first day as a part-time employee after taking her university entrance examinations.

Her first task was to learn how to operate the cash register, but she will also learn to flip burgers. 'In developed countries, children usually work while they study to gain experience and to appreciate the value of money and how to spend it,' Thaksin said.' Mr. Thaksin Shinawatra himself worked at KFC fastfood outlet while studying in the US.

Dej Bulsuk, president of McThai who operates the McDonald's fastfood outlets in Thailand, said: "The prime minister came to me to personally ask if I could give his daughter a part-time job during the school holidays, the Premier asked me specifically to treat his daughter just like any other employee" Thaksin even said to me: "And let her sweep the floor like the others."

(Link)

 

More on the New York Times Olympic Village story and other stories

Square Feet: Vancouver’s Olympic Village on sale at 30% price cuts

It’s not often that I pick up a copy of the New York Times at the Dallas Fort Worth airport and find myself being quoted. But that’s what happened today, en-route to Orlando for a few days of sightseeing in Central Florida. On a page titled “Square Feet”, the story was about Vancouver’s new effort to sell the Olympic Village condos at prices cut by 30%. The story was written by Linda Baker, an acclaimed Portland, Oregon journalist who I met in Vancouver and who has previously written at least two stories about Vancouver real estate.

This story (which is set out in the previous post) was accompanied by two photos; one from an upper floor suite showing roof terraces and a view of the city; and another of potential customers lined up outside the sales office.

The story features Senator Larry Campbell who lives in a 600 square foot suite he bought in 2007 for $580,000. (I hope it has a good view.) The senator is pleased to be living in a ‘legacy’ project and claims not to be bothered by the development’s financial troubles.

While I was familiar with much of the information contained in the story, there were a few surprises. It appears someone told the journalist that it was the City’s NPA administration that encouraged the developer to build very high end units back in 2006. I have always believed this was a decision made by the developer and Bob Rennie, his marketing advisor. I still believe this.

It is interesting to note that an email from the Mayor says he disagreed with the decisions to guarantee the financing and “prioritize” high-end housing. He doesn’t say whether he would have preferred that the construction on the athletes’ housing stop once the lender claimed that Millennium was in default of its loan due to cost over-runs.

The story includes a quote from Peter Wall who states that cities around the world have encountered difficulties transforming athletes’ villages into permanent housing. I found this surprising since he was one of the final bidders on the site.

The story also quotes Thom Armstrong of the Coop Housing Federation who, not surprisingly, is very complimentary towards the city for filling the gap left by federal and provincial cutbacks. However, I was surprised to read that only 30 residents have moved into the 252 city-owned social housing and rental housing units. If this true, I hope there is an immediate investigation into what continues to go wrong with these buildings. After all, it is now 11 months since the athletes moved out of these units.

What did I have to say? While the City Manager stated that the city’s target is to bring the project in on balance, I am quoted as saying it will be a financial failure, with losses in the “hundreds of millions”. However I do conclude by stating what I have always believed: “One day, all these problems will be distant memories, and people who choose to live there will be glad they did.”

On the bottom half of the same page is a fascinating story about new housing developments in Boston. It appears that another company called Millennium-this time Millennium Partners-Boston is seeking approvals to build out projects that were approved as condominiums, as rental. Yes, that’s right. They prefer to build rental rather than condominiums. And they are not alone. Municipal authorities expect construction to start this year on 21 buildings containing 1,855 units, nearly all rentals. In fact, rental housing is described as one of the few hotspots in a sputtering economy!

The article goes on to say that with rents up to $4 per square foot, and construction costs (I assume development costs) down to $500 a foot, high quality apartments renting for $5,000 a month provide a reasonable mid-single digit yield.

Elsewhere on the same page was a photo of an older brick apartment building with an $8.5 million price tag. While it was an attractive building, I thought this seemed like a lot of money for a suite. But then I realized the price was for 76 suites-13 one bedrooms, 30 two bedrooms, 24 three bedrooms, and 9 four bedrooms. It sold for nine times the rent roll.

Elsewhere in the business section, it was noted that real estate prices slid in just about every part of the country in December, pushing a housing market that once seemed to be rebounding nearly back to its lowest level since the crash began. Analysts are split on whether the market can drop any further.

I suspect I am going to see some spectacular deals in Orlando, especially when compared with the price of housing at the Olympic Village...I mean, the Village on False Creek....even at 30% off the earlier prices.

The New York Times take on our Olympic Village

Square Feet

In Vancouver, a New Effort to Sell Olympic Condos

By LINDA BAKER

Published: February 22, 2011

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia — On a typical weekend Larry W. Campbell flies into this city from Ottawa, where he is a Liberal Party senator representing British Columbia, then spends the night at his 600-square-foot condominium at the Olympic Village.

Enlarge This Image

Farah Nosh for The New York Times

Prices of the former Olympic Village condos have been cut by 30 percent.

Enlarge This Image

Farah Nosh for The New York Times

Prospective buyers lined up last week.

Mr. Campbell, who was the mayor of Vancouver in 2002 when the city won the bid for the 2010 Winter Olympics, said he liked the community’s environmentally friendly features, including radiant ceiling heat and toilets flushed with recycled water, as well as the ample public spaces and proximity to the Canada Line rapid transit station. He paid 580,000 Canadian dollars for the unit in 2007.

His enthusiasm for the development is not widely shared, however. A year after the winter games, fewer than half of the 737 condos have been sold — almost all as preconstruction sales in 2007 — and the city’s taxpayers now owe about 750 million Canadian dollars for a project that was never intended to be a public sector development. (On Tuesday, one Canadian dollar was worth $1.01 American dollars.)

Last week the city began a fresh effort to sell off the remaining condos, rebranding the cluster of 16 midrise buildings that once housed elite athletes as the Village on False Creek — a reference to the inlet bordering the development — and slashing prices by an average of 30 percent. “It is a lightning rod, politically and journalistically,” said Bob Rennie, the principal of Rennie Marketing Systems, which is handling the Village on False Creek marketing and sales campaign.

Mr. Campbell, who left office in 2005 to serve in Ottawa, says the development’s financial troubles, which are chronicled almost daily in the news media, do not bother him. “I am part of a new neighborhood in what was industrial wasteland,” he said. “It’s a legacy.”

But as initiatives to revitalize the development move forward, the debate over what the city did wrong and what it might have done differently shows no signs of abating.

Much of the controversy dates back to 2006, when the city awarded the Olympic Village contract to Millennium Development of Vancouver, largely because the company offered the highest bid at 193 million Canadian dollars. Because the city retained title to the land, the developer was unable to secure financing from Canadian banks, and sought out an American hedge fund, which demanded a loan guarantee from the city. Largely because of the high cost of the land, Millennium, with encouragement from the city, priced most of the condos over 1 million Canadian dollars, well into the “luxury” range, a strategy that backfired in the recession.

Two years later, when cost overruns and the financial crisis put Millennium in default to Fortress Investment Group, its American financier, the City Council lent the developer 100 million Canadian dollars. That created a scandal that helped oust the city government, which was led by the Nonpartisan Association party, or N.P.A., and Mayor Sam Sullivan. In 2009 the city took over the entire loan of 750 million Canadian dollars, leading Mayor Gregor Robertson of the rival Vision Vancouver party to announce that “taxpayers were on the hook” for the whole project.

Mr. Robertson said in an e-mail that he disagreed with the decisions to guarantee the financing and “prioritize” high-end housing. “The biggest lesson is that the city should not be gambling taxpayers’ dollars on luxury real estate,” he wrote. “That was a key decision made by the last council and it’s what opened the city up to enormous financial risk.”

Suzanne Anton, an N.P.A. councilwoman, said the project’s financing problems actually dated back to 2002, when planners decided the village design should shift away from the high-rise towers that dominated the Vancouver skyline — which would have been cheaper to build and sell or rent. Ms. Anton also said Mr. Robertson should have been the “chief huckster” for the village. “Instead, he’s spent two years making negative remarks about the previous council,” she said.

After the Olympics, the situation continued to deteriorate. When Millennium failed to sell more units, the city and the developer decided in November to hand over the troubled project to Ernst & Young, a receiver now jointly managing the project with city officials.

Cities around the world have encountered difficulties transforming athletes’ villages into permanent housing, said Peter Wall, a co-founder of Wall Financial, which is building a 550-unit condo development across the street from the Olympic Village. Nevertheless, Mr. Wall said, development was “so easy to do” in Vancouver, a fast-growing city of about 600,000 noted for its urban planning expertise and relatively stable real estate values. He added that his company’s development, the Wall Center False Creek, sold out in five months last fall, at prices that started at about 300,000 Canadian dollars for a 518-square-foot one-bedroom.

Mr. Wall, whose company submitted one of the original Olympic Village bids, said Millennium was undercapitalized and that the focus on cutting-edge environmental initiatives drove up costs.

But Brent Toderian, the city’s director of planning, said the development, intended as a green demonstration project, has “transformed city building in every aspect.” The Olympic Village site, a rare case in which the entire neighborhood has a LEED Platinum rating, features a net-zero building that produces as much as energy as it uses, sites for urban agriculture and a neighborhood energy utility that uses heat recovered from raw sewage to heat all the buildings in the development. And the area around the village is becoming a cultural and residential destination.

As the debate continues, there are signs of movement at the village, where 230 condos are back on the market at prices ranging from 249,000 Canadian dollars for a studio to 1.8 million Canadian dollars for a penthouse. (Sales had been suspended since November).

Mr. Rennie said he expected to have sold 56 units by the end of the month. “I am being paid to remove the words ‘ghost town,’ ” he said. He appears to be well on the way to doing that: On Tuesday, he said in a news release that 128 units were sold over the weekend, at an average price of 778,800 Canadian dollars.

About 30 residents have also moved into the project’s 252 subsidized rental units, which are located in three buildings managed by the Co-op Housing Federation of B.C.. Half of those units are set aside for middle-income workers like police officers; the other half are for low-income residents.

The city has come under fire for cost overruns in the nonmarket buildings as well as cuts to the number of units. However, Thom Armstrong, the federation’s executive director, said the city should be applauded for filling the gap left by federal and provincial housing cutbacks. “They’re doing everything they can and taking hits for it,” he said.

Will the city recover its money on the project? “Our target is absolutely to bring it in on balance,” said Penny Ballem, Vancouver’s city manager.

Others are not so certain. “Olympic Village is going to be a financial failure,” said Michael Geller, a local developer who predicted losses in the “hundreds of millions.”

Even so, Mr. Geller said, “One day, all of these problems will be distant memories, and people who choose to live there will be glad they did.”

Reflections on Christchurch

I was saddened to hear yesterday about the major earthquake in Christchurch. The news was all the more troubling since I have been there, and know what a wonderful city it is. Below is a reprint of a blog posting from four years ago when Sally and I were there during our around the world trip.

Christchurch, the Garden City

Once again, we were spoilt by a New Zealand hotel. This time, we were given a two storey, two bedroom penthouse suite on the top floor of the Grand Chancellor, Christchurch’s tallest hotel. We immediately set off to find some new friends, so we could have a party!

Christchurch, like Wellington, has a wonderful feel about it. With a population of just under 400,000, it is New Zealand’s second city, after Auckland. It’s a planned city, (Adelaide in Australia is based on the same plan sent over from England), with extensive parks and gardens. The city has a very English character, with punting along the river, and many gothic style buildings, including the Cathedral. Interestingly, the university was relocated from its historic downtown location, to the outskirts, and the former campus has now been converted into a cultural precinct. (Quite the opposite of what has been happening in Vancouver, where SFU is converting heritage downtown buildings into a university.)

Trams were used in Christchurch from the early 20th century until the 50’s. Today, restored trams transport tourists on a 2.5 km inner city loop to various landmarks around the downtown. (Perhaps this is what inspired Dave Rudberg to propose a similar system for Vancouver). The tram stops at one of the most interesting streets I have ever seen. It is symetrical. That is to say, the buildings along one side have been matched on the other, although some have changed over time.

I was also impressed with the Art Gallery, which is located at one of the stops, and cost only $40 million, just a few years ago. The main stop is Cathedral Square, which is surrounded by heritage buildings, and connected to a pedestrian mall which feels a lot like Granville Mall. (It seems like there are the same black dressed, dirty, pierced, and tattooed kids, who move around the world from mall to mall.)

One place which did feel very different was the Antarctic. Well, the Antarctica exhibit, located near the airport. Since it was twice voted New Zealand’s best tourist attraction, we decided we ought to go. And we’re glad we did. Although, after experiencing the -24 degree snowstorm, I now feel a cold coming on!

As for the storm, you walk into a room, where a flashing light lets you know how many minutes until the next snow storm. You put on a large parka, and rubber overshoes, (so as not to dirty the snow), and enter a special chamber and wait. Sure enough, the carefully placed warning flags start blowing, and the next thing you know, the wind is howling, and there are blasts of cold air. And I’m wearing shorts! After the snow storm, there are visits to a penguin colony, and various other interactive exhibits. Having gone through the centre, we now feel we know much more about Antartica, than we do about our own Arctic.

We finished off our visit with a ride up the Gondola, which reminded us of Grouse Mountain. From there we could see the Alps, and Akaroa, a French settlement, and our next destination. Speaking of Alps, I must confess that before coming here, I wasn’t aware that skiing is so popular in New Zealand. In fact, there are numerous resorts in the South Island, and the sport appeals to many New Zealanders, when they are not tramping, surfing, bungee jumping, or cycling around the country.

I heard this morning that many of the historic buildings have been destroyed...the Cathedral Spire has fallen down, and at least 65 people have been killed. Interestingly, when we were in Auckland we participated in an exhibit in the museum which was designed to educate people about the effects of an earthquake. It was very realistic, and something that I thought we should recreate in Vancouver. After all, a big quake is going to happen here too. It's just a matter of time. My thoughts are with all the lovely people we met there, and the rest of the people who are today digging out.

Lighthouse at the End of the World (1995) Stephen Marlowe

The Lighthouse at the End of the World by Stephen Marlowe (1995) concentrates on Poe's last week alive and has C. Auguste Dupin trying to solve his disappearance.

Deathday: Mystery Writer Stephen Marlowe 2008

Stephen Marlowe (born Milton Lesser, August 7, 1928 in Brooklyn, NY, died February 22, 2008, in Williamsburg, Virginia) was an American author of science fiction, mystery novels, and fictional autobiographies of Christopher Columbus, Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes, and Edgar Allan Poe. He is best known for his detective character Chester Drum, whom he created in the 1955 novel The Second Longest Night. Lesser also wrote under the pseudonyms Adam Chase, Andrew Frazer, C.H. Thames, Jason Ridgway and Ellery Queen.

He was awarded the French Prix Gutenberg du Livre in 1988, and in 1997 he was awarded the "Life Achievement Award" by the Private Eye Writers of America. He lived with his wife Ann in Williamsburg, Virginia.

His fictional Poe autobiography, "The Lighthouse at the End of the World" (1995), puts Poe in the center of a mystery story in the final days of his life.

"A Valentine" Published 1846

An ode to Frances Sargent Osgood. To translate the address, read the first letter of the first line in connection with the second letter of the second line, the third letter of the third line, and so on. The name will thus appear.

1.For her this rhyme is penned, whose luminous eyes,
2. Brightly expressive as the twins of Leda,
Shall find her own sweet name, that nestling lies
3. Upon the page, enwrapped from every reader.
Search narrowly the lines! — they hold a treasure
4. Divine — a talisman — an amulet
That must be worn at heart. Search well the measure-
5. The words — the syllables! Do not forget
The trivialest point, or you may lose your labor
6. And yet there is in this no Gordian knot
Which one might not undo without a sabre,
7. If one could merely comprehend the plot.
Enwritten upon the leaf where now are peering
8. Eyes scintillating soul, there lie perdus
Three eloquent words oft uttered in the hearing
9. Of poets, by poets — as the name is a poet's, too,
Its letters, although naturally lying
10. Like the knight Pinto-Mendez Ferdinando —
Still form a synonym for Truth — Cease trying!
11. You will not read the riddle, though you do the best you can do.

A Valentine (1846)

First published in the New York Evening Mirror's February 21, 1846 issue, "A Valentine" was written specifically for Frances Sargent Osgood, whose name is hidden within the lines of the poem. In its first publication, it had the title "To Her Whose Name Is Written Below." To find the name, take the first letter of the first line, then the second letter of the second line, then the third letter of the third line, and so on. Before its publication, it was presented at a private literary salon at the home of Anne Lynch Botta on February 14, 1846. Though Poe was not in attendance, it was a very public revelation of his affection for Osgood.

"Lenore" Published 1843

"Lenore" is a poem by the American author Edgar Allan Poe. It began as a different poem, "A Paean," and was not published as "Lenore" until 1843.

A Pæan

by Edgar Allan Poe

How shall the burial rite be read?
The solemn song be sung?
The requiem for the loveliest dead,
That ever died so young?

Her friends are gazing on her,
And on her gaudy bier,
And weep ! - oh! to dishonor
Dead beauty with a tear!

They loved her for her wealth -
And they hated her for her pride -
But she grew in feeble health,
And they love her - that she died.

They tell me (while they speak
Of her "costly broider'd pall")
That my voice is growing weak -
That I should not sing at all -

Or that my tone should be
Tun'd to such solemn song
So mournfully - so mournfully,
That the dead may feel no wrong.

But she is gone above,
With young Hope at her side,
And I am drunk with love
Of the dead, who is my bride. -

Of the dead - dead who lies
All perfum'd there,
With the death upon her eyes,
And the life upon her hair.

Thus on the coffin loud and long
I strike - the murmur sent
Through the grey chambers to my song,
Shall be the accompaniment.

Thou died'st in thy life's June -
But thou did'st not die too fair:
Thou did'st not die too soon,
Nor with too calm an air.

From more than fiends on earth,
Thy life and love are riven,
To join the untainted mirth
Of more than thrones in heaven -

Therefore, to thee this night
I will no requiem raise,
But waft thee on thy flight,
With a Pæan of old days.

First authorised edition, Pioneer, February 1843, 1:60-61

"Lenore"

by Edgar Allan Poe

Ah, broken is the golden bowl!
The spirit flown forever!
Let the bell toll!—A saintly soul
Glides down the Stygian river!
And let the burial rite be read—
The funeral song be sung—
A dirge for the most lovely dead
That ever died so young!
And, Guy De Vere,
Hast thou no tear?
Weep now or nevermore!
See, on yon drear
And rigid bier,
Low lies thy love Lenore!

"Yon heir, whose cheeks of pallid hue
With tears are streaming wet,
Sees only, through
Their crocodile dew,
A vacant coronet—
False friends! ye loved her for her wealth
And hated her for her pride,
And, when she fell in feeble health,
Ye blessed her—that she died.
How shall the ritual, then, be read?
The requiem how be sung
For her most wrong'd of all the dead
That ever died so young?"

Peccavimus!
But rave not thus!
And let the solemn song
Go up to God so mournfully that she may feel no wrong!
The sweet Lenore
Hath "gone before"
With young hope at her side,
And thou art wild
For the dear child
That should have been thy bride—
For her, the fair
And debonair,
That now so lowly lies—
The life still there
Upon her hair,
The death upon her eyes.

"Avaunt!—to-night
My heart is light—
No dirge will I upraise,
But waft the angel on her flight
With a Pæan of old days!
Let no bell toll!
Lest her sweet soul,
Amid its hallow'd mirth,
Should catch the note
As it doth float
Up from the damned earth—
To friends above, from fiends below, th' indignant ghost is riven—
From grief and moan
To a gold throne
Beside the King of Heaven?"

Interpretation

The poem discusses proper decorum in the wake of the death of a young woman, described as "the queenliest dead that ever died so young," The poem concludes: "No dirge shall I upraise,/ But waft the angel on her flight with a paean of old days!" Lenore's Fiance, Guy de Vere, finds it inappropriate to "mourn" the dead; rather, one should celebrate their ascension to a new world. Unlike most of Poe's poems relating to dying women, "Lenore" implies the possibility of meeting in paradise.[1]

The poem may have been Poe's way of dealing with the illness of his wife Virginia. The dead woman's name, however, may have been a reference to Poe's recently-dead brother, William Henry Leonard Poe.[2] Poetically, the name Lenore emphasizes the letter "L" sound, a frequent device in Poe's female characters including "Annabel Lee," "Eulalie," and "Ulalume."[3]

Major themes

Death of a beautiful woman (see also "Annabel Lee," "Eulalie," "The Raven," "Ulalume." In Poe's short stories, see also "Berenice," "Eleonora," "Morella").

Publication history

The poem was first published as part of an early collection in 1831 under the title "A Pæan." This early version was only 11 quatrains and the lines were spoken by a bereaved husband. The name "Lenore" was not included; it was not added until it was published as "Lenore" in February 1843 in The Pioneer, a periodical published by the poet and critic James Russell Lowell. Poe was paid $10 for this publication.[4] The poem had many revisions in Poe's lifetime. Its final form was published in the August 16, 1845, issue of the Broadway Journal while Poe was its editor.[5]

The original version of the poem is so dissimilar from "Lenore" that it is often considered an entirely different poem. Both are usually collected separately in anthologies.[6]

Lenore in other works

The ballad Lenore, written by German poet Gottfried August Bürger and published in 1773, has a protagonist who is punished for blasphemy by a demon with the appearance of her dead lover.

A character by the name of Lenore, thought to be a deceased wife, is central to Poe's poem "The Raven" (1845).

Roman Dirge made a comic book inspired by the poem, involving the comedic misadventures of Lenore, the Cute Little Dead Girl.

Lenore is a French model.[1]

Lenore is an overture of Beethoven. [2]

"My Lost Lenore" is a song by the gothic metal band Tristania, inspired by Poe's work and included in their 1998 album Widow's Weed.

References

1.^ Kennedy, J. Gerald. Poe, Death, and the Life of Writing. Yale University Press, 1987: 69. ISBN 0-300-03773-2
2.^ Silverman, Kenneth. Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance. Harper Perennial, 1991: 202–203. ISBN 0-06-092331-8
3.^ Kopley, Richard and Kevin J. Hayes "Two verse masterworks: 'The Raven' and 'Ulalume'," as collected in The Cambridge Companion to Edgar Allan Poe, edited by Kevin J. Hayes. Cambridge University Press, 2002: 200. ISBN 0-521-79727-6
4.^ Silverman, Kenneth. Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance. Harper Perennial, 1991: 201. ISBN 0-06-092331-8
5.^ Sova, Dawn B. Edgar Allan Poe: A to Z. Checkmark Books, 2001: 130. ISBN 0-8160-4161-X
6.^ Hoffman, Daniel. Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe. Louisiana State University Press, 1972: 68. ISBN 0-8071-2321-8