Edgar Allan Poe | Guy Portman's Blog

10 Bizarre Author Deaths

Sep 25 2015

Though death is admittedly a rather morbid subject matter it is one that fascinates many of us, including me.

I have only included male authors in this post, the reason being that the female authors that I am aware of, who died in a manner that some might describe as bizarre (notably Sylvia Plath & Virginia Woolf), I concluded were more tragic than bizarre, so I omitted them.

Here are 10 authors who met bizarre ends. They are presented in chronological order.

Aeschylus(525/524 BC – 456/455 BC)

Often described as the father of tragedy, Aeschylus, along with Sophocles and Euripides, are the only Greek tragedians, whose plays are still performed and read today. Aeschylus wrote an estimated 70 to 90 plays, only 7 of which have survived. The playwright purportedly met his end when an eagle looking for a hard object to break open the shell of the turtle it was carrying, mistook Aeschylus’s bald head for a rock. The eagle dropped the turtle, killing the great tragedian instantly.

Cause of Death: Turtle falling on head

Li Bai(701 AD – 762 AD)

Chinese poet Li Bai was one of the 2 most prominent poets in China during the mid-Tang dynasty. Approximately 1000 poems are attributed to him, some of which are still studied in Chinese schools. Legend has it that Li Bai met a bizarre end when travelling on a boat one night. In his inebriated state, he allegedly attempted to embrace the moon, which resulted in him falling into the Yangtze River and drowning. Though some doubt the authenticity of this tale, it has long since gone down in myth.

Cause of Death: Drowning

Pietro Aretino(April 20th 1492 – October 21st 1556)

Aretino was an Italian author, playwright, poet and unrepentant satirist, who is widely regarded as being the inventor of modern literate pornography. Ironically the humourist purportedly met his demise due to laughing himself to death. There has been much speculation over how Aretino died. One version is that Aretino was at a party, when a guest told him a joke, involving the writer’s own sisters and the brothel that they were employed at. So amused was Aretino that he was unable to stop laughing, and falling back in his chair, died of suffocation.

Cause of Death: Died from laughing

Julien Offray de la Mettrie(November 23rd 1709 – November 11th 1751)

French philosopher and physician, de la Mettrie, is best known for his work L’homme machine (Machine Man). On November 11th 1751 the rampant hedonist was invited to a banquet, hosted by the French ambassador to Prussia. Either as an attempt to show off his powers of gluttony, or his strong constitution, de la Mettrie devoured an enormous quantity of pâté de fait aux truffes (pâte made from truffles). The resulting gastric illness culminated in a slow and painful death for the controversial writer.

Cause of Death: Overeating

Edgar Allan Poe(January 19th 1809 – October 7th 1849)

Poe’s tales of mystery and the macabre are still widely read to this day. On October 3rd 1849 Mr. Joseph Walker found Poe wandering the streets of Baltimore in a delirious state. He was taken to hospital, but died 4 days later. There has been much speculation surrounding his sudden deterioration and death. His demise has been attributed to alcoholism, TB, epilepsy, cooping (a practice in which citizens were attacked, absconded, plied with alcohol and forced to vote for a political candidate), diabetes and even rabies.

Cause of Death: A mystery

Gustav Kobbé(March 4th 1857 – July 27th 1918)

American music critic and author Gustav Kobbé’s posthumously published, The Complete Opera Book, remains to this day the opera lover’s bible. Kobbé was on the verge of international fame when he met his demise. On July 27th 1918, Kobbé, an avid sailor, was out sailing in the Great South Bay off Bay Shore, New York, when an errant seaplane coming into land, misjudged its descent and struck his boat, killing the opera critic instantly.

Cause of Death: Hit by aeroplane

Dan Andersson(April 6th 1888 – September 16th 1920)

Dan Andersson was a Swedish author, poet and composer, who became a cult figure in his native Sweden posthumously. The 32-year-old Andersson met an unfortunate end when he went to Stockholm in September 1920. On arrival at his hotel, the receptionist failed to inform him that his room had just been treated with hydrogen cyanide, in an effort to eradicate an infestation of bed bugs. At 3pm on September 16th 1920 Andersson was found dead in his room.

Cause of Death: Hydrogen Cyanide

Sherwood Anderson(September 13th 1876 – March 8th 1941)

Anderson found fame during his lifetime with his interrelated short story sequence, Winesburg, Ohio and his bestselling novel, Dark Laughter. In 1941 at the age of 64, Anderson fell ill with abdominal pains on a cruise to South America. He was rushed to hospital, where he was diagnosed with peritonitis and died. The autopsy revealed that he had swallowed a toothpick, which had damaged his internal organs, causing the infection. It is widely assumed that this occurred when the author was eating the olive from a martini.

Cause of Death: Swallowed a toothpick

Yukio Mishima(January 14th 1925 – November 25th 1970)

Arguably the most important Japanese author of the 20th Century, Mishima was a nationalist with a commitment to the code of the Samurai (bushido). On November 25th 1968 the author and 4 members of his Tatenokai ‘shield society’ (a private militia sworn to protect the Emperor of Japan) barricaded themselves in the Tokyo headquarters of the Eastern Command of Japan’s self-defence forces. Having delivered a speech from the balcony to the soldiers below, Mishima committed Seppuku, a Japanese ritual suicide consisting of disembowelment followed by beheading.

Cause of Death: Seppuku

Tennessee Williams(March 26th 1911 – February 25th 1983)

American playwright Tennessee Williams found fame with his play The Glass Menagerie (1944), a big hit on Broadway in New York. By the 1960s the talented playwright had descended into depression, drug use and commitments to mental health facilities. On the morning of February 26th 1983, Williams was found dead in his suite at the Elysee Hotel in New York. The medical examiner’s report indicated that the cause of death was choking to death on a cap from a bottle of eye drops.

Cause of Death: Swallowing bottle of eye drops

Click here to sign up to my monthly book-related newsletter.

7 Famous Writers Who Died Poor

Mar 20 2015

This week sees the latest instalment in my famous author series. Here are 7 famous writers who died poor:

H. P. Lovecraft

(August 20th 1890 – March 15th 1937)

H.P. Lovecraft was an American author, who is regarded as one of the most important horror fiction writers of the 20th Century. However Lovecraft achieved very little success during his lifetime and was only ever published in pulp magazines. The author lived frugally for much of his adult life, even going without food so he could afford postage stamps. At the age of 46 he died in poverty in his hometown of Providence, Rhode Island.

Edgar Allan Poe

(January 19th 1809 – October 7th 1849)

Poe was an author, poet, editor and literary critic, whose tales of mystery and the macabre are still widely read to this day. One of the earliest American practitioners of the short story, Poe is also widely considered as being the inventor of the detective fiction genre. Despite his popularity Poe was near penniless at the time of his death. This was probably due to his poor financial acumen and rampant alcoholism.

Oscar Wilde

(October 16th 1854 – November 30th 1900)

Oscar Wilde was a flamboyant writer, poet and playwright, acclaimed for his enduring wit and writing abilities. At the height of his fame Wilde was a successful playwright. In 1895 Wilde was arrested for gross indecency with other men. This culminated in a guilty verdict and large legal fees that forced the writer into bankruptcy. At the age of 46 a near destitute Wilde died of cerebral meningitis in the squalid Hotel d’Alsace in Paris.

Herman Melville

(August 1st 1819 – September 28th 1891)

Best known for his epic novel Moby Dick, Herman Melville is today regarded as one of the greatest American authors of all time. Melville’s first book, Typee, quickly became a bestseller, and by his mid-thirties Melville had achieved considerable success. But this success was short-lived and his career was soon in marked decline, as he found himself beset with financial difficulties. When Melville died in 1891 his works were out of print and he was poor.

O. Henry

(September 11th 1862 – June 5th 1910)

O. Henry was a renowned and prolific short story writer. In the 10 years prior to his demise he published over 300 stories. However when he died in 1910 O. Henry was virtually penniless. This was no doubt due in part to the alcoholism that afflicted him in later years, as well as his carefree attitude to money, which included on several occasions spending his advances, but not delivering the promised story or script.

Zora Neale Hurston

(January 7th 1891 – January 28th 1960)

Zora Neale Hurston was an American folklorist, anthropologist and author, who wrote 4 novels and more than 50 short stories, plays and essays. Her most famous novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, was published in 1937. Although Hurston achieved considerable success she later faded into obscurity, and her later years were marred by financial and medical difficulties, which resulted in her living in the St. Lucie County Welfare Home, where she died of heart disease.

Joseph Roth

(September 2nd 1894 – May 27th 1939)

In his prime Joseph Roth was a renowned and well-paid political journalist, in addition to being a novelist. Roth’s most famous work, The Radetzky March, is regarded as being one of the greatest novels of the 20th Century. When Hitler rose to power, Roth, a Jew, fled his adopted home of Berlin. His situation deteriorated further due to severe alcoholism, a wife suffering from schizophrenia and a precarious financial situation. In 1939 Roth died a pauper of delirium tremens in Paris.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Click here to sign up to my monthly book-related newsletter.

Bizarre Author Deaths V

Jan 10 2014

This week’s blog post is dedicated to two more bizarre author deaths. Initially I did not envisage that this author series would have so many instalments, but with the multitude of bizarre/mysterious author deaths that have occurred down the years, I anticipate that there will be at least a further two instalments at some point.

Edgar Allan Poe

(January 19th 1809 – October 7th 1849)

Notable works: The Raven, The Masque of the Red Death, Tamerlan and Other Poems

Poe was an author, poet, editor and literary critic, whose tales of mystery and the macabre are still widely read to this day. One of the earliest American practitioners of the short story, Poe is also widely considered as being the inventor of the detective fiction genre. Evidence of the writer’s enduring popularity is the fact that an original copy of Poe’s Tamerlane and Other Poems sold at Christie’s in New York for $662,500, a record price for a work of American literature.

The bizarre events surrounding Poe’s death were as mysterious as the nature of his writing. On October 3rd 1849 Mr. Joseph Walker found Poe wandering the streets of Baltimore in a delirious state. The writer was taken to hospital, but was unable to give an accurate account of what had occurred before his demise four days later.

There has been much speculation surrounding Poe’s sudden deterioration and death. Due to the fact that he was found wearing someone else’s clothes it has been argued that he was the victim of cooping, a practice in which citizens were attacked, absconded, plied with alcohol and forced to vote for a political candidate. His sudden deterioration and demise has also been attributed to alcoholism, TB, epilepsy, diabetes and even rabies.

Dan Andersson

(April 6th 1888 – September 16th 1920)

Notable works: The Charcoal-Burner’s Tales, The Charcoal-Burner’s Songs, Three Homeless Ones

Dan Andersson was a Swedish author, poet and composer, who became a cult figure in his native Sweden posthumously. Regarded as one of Sweden’s greatest ever poets, his themes of naturalist mysticism and searching for God continue to resonate with his readers to this day.

Andersson’s memory has been commemorated with two stamps in his honour, a museum in his hometown of Ludrika, in addition to a Dan Andersson week, celebrated in the first week of every August. There is also a bust of the iconic poet in the country’s capital, Gothenburg.

The thirty-two year old Andersson met his premature demise when he went to Stockholm in September 1920 to try and secure a job at the newspaper Social-Demokraten. On arrival at the hotel he was due to stay in, the Hotel Hellman, the receptionist failed to inform him that his room had just been treated with hydrogen cyanide, in an effort to eradicate an infestation of bed bugs. At three pm on September 16th 1920 Andersson was found dead in his room.

Click here to read Part IV

Posthumously Famous Authors IV

Sep 13 2013

This is the final instalment of the Posthumously Famous Authors series.

Henry David Thoreau

(July 12th 1817 – May 6th 1862)

Notable works: Civil Disobedience, Walden, The Works of Henry David Thoreau, Cape Cod.

An author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, environmentalist and transcendentalist, the multi-dimensional Henry David Thoreau’s prodigious writing output consists of nearly twenty volumes of writing. Thoreau was well known as a transcendentalist, naturalist and ardent abolitionist during his lifetime and even succeeded in having two books published, neither of which were very popular. He famously self-published A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, but only sold three hundred of the one thousand copies that he had printed.

It was only after Thoreau’s death in 1862, aged forty-four, from tuberculosis, that the respected but largely under-appreciated writer began to receive the attention that he deserved. The event that was to herald this transformation was the publishing of his journal in 1906. Thoreau’s works were to become increasingly popular over the course of the twentieth-century.

Today Thoreau is recognised as being one of the greatest writers America has ever produced. His views on politics and nature, in addition to his modern prose style having assured him of a place in history. Thoreau’s memory is honoured by The International Thoreau Society, which is both the largest and oldest society dedicated to an American author.

Edgar Allan Poe

(January 19th 1809 – October 7th 1849)

Notable works: The Raven, The Masque of the Red Death, Tamerlane & Other Poems.

Edgar Allan Poe was an author, poet, literary critic and editor who flirted with fame for much of his working life. If it were not for his rather premature death, the cause of which is debated to this day, with theories ranging from tuberculosis to rabies, Poe might indeed have become famous.

Poe relished the macabre, a reoccurring theme in much of his writing. Unfortunately there was little appetite for the genre during his lifetime. However he did achieve a degree of popularity though not financial success with his poem, The Raven. (Poe was reportedly paid $9 for The Raven, a very modest sum even in the 1840s).

Today Poe is remembered not only as being one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story, but is also generally considered to be the inventor of the detective fiction genre. Evidence of the writer’s endearing popularity is the fact that an original copy of Poe’s Tamerlane and Other Poems sold at Christie’s in New York for $662,500, a record price for a work of American literature.