Poe and Mrs. Whitman Come to Life in Providence - A Flashback to 1987

Illustrations by Richard Sardinha

 

This note was mailed to various friends in January, 1987:

January 1987 began in dreary Providence with the at-long-last publication of my novel, Piper. Zebra Books issued it at the very end of December, with a splendid cover that has induced booksellers to give it very prominent display. I have seen it everywhere — Walden Books, B. Dalton, Barnes and Noble, drugstores, supermarkets, discount stores, you name it. The few disinterested readers I've heard from seemed to like it.

Even better news is that the publisher loves the book and wants to make a deal to do two more-the second of which would be a hardcover with major national publicity and advertising. So, things are hopping on the fiction front, even if the royalties won't start coming until July.

The most exciting event in January was the publication of the new Poet's Press edition, Last Flowers: The Romance Poems of Edgar Allan Poe and Sarah Helen Whitman. The publishing party was no less than a dramatic recreation of the thwarted romance of Poe and the Rhode Island poetess, in a play by Norman George called Poe and Mrs. Whitman: A Memoir. The one-hour, one act play was performed twice on January 24 to a total of 260 attendees in the very room in the Providence Athenaeum library where Poe and Helen met and courted. The library reading room was transformed into a little theatre with a very atmospheric set. Excellent lighting, costumes and makeup made the time-travel to Poe's era most convincing. Helen recounted her romance with Poe in an 1860 visit to the library, and Poe appeared as a ghost, reading "The Raven," "Annabel Lee," and selections from his lectures and criticisms.

The performance by actor Norman George, who tours nationally with his one man show, Poe...Alone, was electrifying. The actress who performed Helen, who shall remain nameless, did not, alas, do justice to Norman's fine script. Large sections of the script were omitted in shocking memory lapses by the starlet. In the second performance, the audience sat stunned as she introduced herself twice, froze, and then said, "Excuse me, I'll be back in a moment." The actress was gone, Poe was hidden behind a curtain, and the audience stared at an empty stage. Moments passed. We waited for the sound of a gunshot, the thud of a body hitting the floor, the slam of a distant door as the distracted actress fled to the street. But no, she came back and acquitted herself, performing most of the script. A close call, and a harrowing moment for your intrepid publisher. (One can only imagine how the actor/playwright felt behind the curtain!) If we do the show again, it may be with Muppets, with Kermit the Frog as Poe, Miss Piggy as Helen, and Gonzo as The Raven.

Most viewers of the play did not perceive these production problems to the extent that we did, of course. There was generous applause, and strong interest in Poe and Helen was generated. Sales of the book were brisk.

And now to the book-the biggest and finest Poet's Press edition ever.

More than 100 pages in 8-1/2 x 11 inches, the volume is printed on acid­-free paper and premieres my new type design, "Lenore,' in a generous eighteen-point size. The book opens with a 9,000-word essay by, as Miss Piggy would say, mo. The text is a garland of poems by Poe and Helen Whitman, recreating their romance and the decades after his death when she was his most ardent defender. (If Helen had not written a little book, Edgar Poe and His Critics, in 1860, you might not be reading Poe today, except perhaps in French.)

The book contains suitably Gothick illustrations in the form of a dozen drawings by Rhode Island fantasy illustrator Richard Sardinha. If you haven't ordered a copy of this very special book, I urge you to do so. It is the ne plus ultra of the 119 books done by The Poet's Press. I wish all of my friends could have been present for the atmospheric and festive premiere!

The Providence Athenaeum has mounted a month-long exhibition of their Poe and Helen materials, including Poe first editions and autographs-some really fine and precious materials. Included in the exhibit are the drawings for Last Flowers and a montage of working materials from the design of the Lenore type face. The show will run until February 21st and marks the first time a Poet's Press book has been used in a library or museum exhibition. Quite an honor and quite a thrill to see one's work under glass.

The local newspapers ran a number of excellent stories about the play and the book, and there was a radio interview with Mr. Poe and another one to come with the humble publisher. I'll also promote the book at readings in New York (Feb 1 at Chez Emilie Glen) and in May at North Adams State College (MA).