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Prism (or PRiSM) is a Canadian rock band originally from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. They were active from 1977 to 1984 and are active again from 1988 to present. The band's sound is a mix of Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) and pop rock. They have released a total of 13 albums to date. Their success has been primarily in Canada where they won the Canadian music industry Juno Award for Group of the Year in 1981. Prism is noteworthy for launching the careers of international record producer Bruce Fairbairn and songwriter Jim Vallance.

On Sunday, March 6, 2011, Prism's Spaceship Superstar was chosen as the wakeup song for the Space Shuttle Discovery crew members. This was a significant point in history as it was the last day that the crews of the Space Shuttle Discovery and the International Space Station were together before Discovery returned to earth in the last mission of the shuttle Discovery.^[1]

History[link]

Sunshyne & Seeds of Time[link]

Prism was the brainchild of musician-producer Bruce Fairbairn and comprised members from two local Vancouver bands, Sunshyne and Seeds of Time. Fairbairn was originally a trumpet player in Sunshyne, a jazz-rock band, in the early 70s. Around 1974, the band switched their format to a blues-rock by recruiting guitarist Lindsay Mitchell from Seeds of Time as their frontman. Fairbairn then decided to pursue a recording contract for the band. After a year of trying he was unsuccessful and in mid-1975, he approached former Sunshyne member Jim Vallance for help in reworking the demos. Some changes were made. First, Vallance helped with new arrangements on two of Mitchell's songs and also began contributing some of his own at Fairbairn's request. Ron Tabak was recruited to replace Mitchell on lead vocals while Mitchell remained as the guitarist and alternate songwriter. A set of five demo songs, two by Mitchell and three by Vallance, were then recorded and sent to record labels across Canada. An executive at GRT liked one of Vallance's songs, "Open Soul Surgery", and offered Fairbairn's project a recording contract in 1976. The Seeds of Time did have 2 songs in the Canadian Top 100 (RPM Magazine) in 1971. 'My Home Town' reached #76 and 'Crying the Blues' reached #90.^[2]

Prism debut[link]

Over the next year Fairbairn produced the group's debut album. At the time there was no fixed band line-up for the recording, and Fairbairn employed various musicians from around the local Vancouver music scene. However, the group line-up eventually officially coalesced into Ron Tabak (vocals), John Hall (keyboards), Lindsay Mitchell (guitar), Tom Lavin (guitar, bass), Ab Bryant (bass) and Jim Vallance (drums). Fairbairn and Tom Keenlyside (saxophone) received credit as session musicians on the album, but were not band members.

By the time the album was completed, 7 of its 9 songs were written by Vallance with one by Mitchell and one by Lavin. As the album was about to go into production some changes were made to the credits. The label's management did not like the name "Sunshyne" and after several trying at local gigs ("Under Construction" and "Stanley Screamer"), the members settled on "Prism" as the band's new name. Also, Vallance decided to use a pseudonym, Rodney Higgs. As the principal songwriter, he was afraid that if the album failed he would never land another recording contract. By using the pseudonym, he could get around that problem.

The self-titled Prism album was released in May 1977. At this time, Bryant exited the group, later joining Chilliwack (and later still, The Headpins). A touring lineup was formed consisting of Ron Tabak (vocals), Lindsay Mitchell (guitar), Tom Lavin (bass), John Hall (keyboards) and Jim Vallance (drums.) After the first leg of touring, Vallance resigned as drummer but remained as principal songwriter. Vallance did not enjoy the lifestyle of touring, preferring instead to write songs in home studio. He was replaced with former Seeds of Time drummer Rocket Norton. "Spaceship Superstar" and "Take Me to the Kaptin" were released as singles and both charted in Canada. The debut album reached platinum status in sales (100,000+ units sold) by the next year.

1978-1981: Fixed lineup[link]

As Prism was preparing to record their follow up album, some changes happened to the lineup that would remain fixed for the next three years. Allen Harlow, another Seeds of Time alumnus, was brought in as bassist to replace Tom Lavin who departed to form his own band. Then Vallance quit the band as principal songwriter. Upon rehearsing song demos with the band, Mitchell and Vallance fell into heated disagreements over the style of songwriting. When it became apparent they were at an impasse, Vallance elected to go. He did leave two songs for the band, "N-N-N-No!" and "You're Like The Wind" (both credited under Rodney Higgs as songwriter.) But his departure left a gaping hole in songwriting for the band to fill. Fortunately, new member Harlow supplied two songs. The remaining members filled out the album. See Forever Eyes was released in 1978 with the title track and Harlow's songs, Flyin' and Take Me Away, released as singles. The album reached platinum status by the next year.

During the summer of 1979, the band returned to the studio to record their third and what would be their most commercially successful album. Mitchell was now the principal songwriter and wrote/co-wrote 4 songs for the album. Although it was his largest contribution yet for a single album, it fell short of what was needed. In an effort to help, Vallance became involved again and brought along his new songwriting partner, Bryan Adams, to contribute to the songwriting effort. Adams who at the time was an unsigned recording artist, wrote/co-wrote 3 songs. Armageddon was released in the fall of 1979 to much promotional hype. "Virginia", "Armageddon" and "Night to Remember" were released as singles and charted in Canada. The album reached double platinum status (in excess of 200,000 units sold) by the next year and helped garner the band their lone Canadian music industry Juno award for Group of the Year in 1981. Also, Mitchell received the SOCAN Song of the Year award for "Night to Remember" in 1980. The title track "Armageddon" would become one of the bands most recognizable songs. Despite the album's commercial success, the record label GRT went into receivership. After the greatest hits album All the Best From Prism, the band signed on with Capitol Records.

The group's next record, Young and Restless, was released in 1980. This was the first Prism album written without any contributions from Vallance: all songs were written by Mitchell, Harlow or Norton. The album spun off Prism's highest charting single, also called "Young and Restless", which peaked at #14 on the Canadian charts.

1981-1984: Henry Small era[link]

As the band was preparing to record their next album in the summer of 1981, Tabak was fired. Various reasons cited were his conflicts with other band members, several run-ins with the law, and/or lack of songwriting ability. Around the same time, keyboardist John Hall left the band. Vocalist Henry Small was brought in, and the new four-piece line-up (Small/Mitchell/Harlow/Norton) recorded the album Small Change, which was released later in 1981. The lead track "Don't Let Him Know", written by Jim Vallance and Bryan Adams, became Prism's first top 40 hit in the US and a #1 single on Billboard's new Rock Tracks chart,.^[3] The follow-up single "Turn on Your Radar" also charted, becoming their fifth and final American hit.

By the end of the tour for Small Change, Mitchell, Harlow and Norton had individually left Prism. With Mitchell's departure, Prism now had no original members left.

In 1982, the band's touring line up was Small, guitarist Paul Warren, bassist John Trivers, keyboardist Robyn Robbins and Doug Maddick on drums. Although the band had essentially broken up by the end of 1982, Small decided to continue recording as a solo artist but using the Prism name, and assembled a group of session musicians including Bill Champlin, Richie Zito, Mike Baird, and backup vocalists Bobby Kimball (Toto) and Alan Pasqua to assist him. Together, this ad hoc line-up released the album Beat Street under the Prism name in 1983. The album was not a commercial success, and failed to spin off any charting singles. Small—by now the group's only member—essentially retired from using the Prism name in early 1984, and the 'group' became defunct.

Death of Ron Tabak[link]

Several former members of Prism were in the preliminary discussion stages of a Prism reunion in late 1984. Al Harlow and Ron Tabak had made plans to spend Christmas, 1984 together at Harlow's place.^[4] Tabak decided to cycle to Harlow's home on Christmas Eve as a way to get some exercise. This turned out to be poor judgment, as the roads were snow covered and he rode at night without a headlight and helmet. It is believed that on the way, Tabak was struck by a passing vehicle, fell and hit his head on the pavement. He was taken by ambulance to the hospital where doctors did not detect anything wrong with him. Upon being released, Tabak abruptly became abusive, prompting two police officers at the hospital to arrest him on the belief he was drunk. He was later discovered unconscious in his jail cell and was rushed back to the hospital. A second examination discovered a blood clot had developed on the right side of his brain. Tabak died on Christmas Day 1984, before a pending neurosurgical operation could be performed.^[5] Previously discussed plans for a Prism reunion were canceled, out of respect for Tabak's passing.^[6][7]

[edit] Reunion and Jericho

In 1987, Prism reformed with a revised line-up. Harlow, Mitchell and Norton all returned, and were joined by new lead vocalist Darcy Deutsch, and new keyboardist Andy Lorimer.^[7] This line-up recorded one new track for another greatest hits album called Over 60 Minutes with...Prism, released in 1988. The new track, "Good To Be Back", was composed by Allen Harlow, Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance, produced by Vallance, and in a nod to long-time fans, was mixed by "Rodney Higgs".

Five years later, this same line-up released the first new Prism album in 10 years, 1993's Jericho. Guest musicians on the album included Bryan Adams, Paul Janz and Mark LaFrance, with Rick Springfield doing some of the songwriting.

[edit] Present lineup & Big Black Sky

Norton left the band in the 1990s, and Mitchell left in 2005 shortly after Darcy Deutsch's departure. Mitchell's departure left Prism once again with no original members from the first album. The band continues to tour with Harlow playing guitar and performing lead vocals. By 2008, Prism consisted of Harlow, Gary Grace (drums), Steve-O (keyboards, guitars) and Timothy B. Hewitt (bass, guitars, keyboards). This line-up released a new studio album called Big Black Sky in July 2008. It featured mostly compositions by Harlow, with one track written by long-time ally Jim Vallance.

Prism's current line-up is Allen Harlow (vocals, guitar), Gary Grace (drums), Marc Gladstone (keyboards) and Tad Goddard (bass).

Legacy[link]

Although Prism has had only moderate success as a band, their legacy is renowned for some of its former members who went on to have success in the music industry. Prism helped launch the careers of Bruce Fairbairn as an international record producer and Jim Vallance as a music industry wide songwriter. Fairbairn would go on to produce successful albums for international artists such as Loverboy, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, AC/DC, Kiss and Yes. Vallance would team up with Bryan Adams to become Adams-Vallance, one of the most successful song-writing teams in music history. Vallance then continued that success as a music industry "song doctor" for many well known international recording artists.

Discography[link]

Look up prism in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Prism may refer to:

Science and mathematics[link]

• Prism (optics), a transparent object which refracts light
  • Dispersive prism, the most familiar type of optical prism
• Prism (geometry), a kind of polyhedron
• Prism (geology), a type of sedimentary deposit

Media and entertainment[link]

Books, comics and magazines[link]

• Prism (comics), a Marvel Comics character
• Prism magazine (New Zealand), a Christian periodical
• PRISM international, a Canadian literary magazine
• ASEE Prism, the flagship publication of the American Society for Engineering Education

Music[link]

• Prism (band), a Canadian rock band
  • Prism (Prism album), the debut album of the Canadian band
• Prism (Japanese band), a jazz fusion band
• Prism (Jeff Scott Soto album)
• Prism (Yoshida Brothers album)
• Prism Records, a record label
• Prism, a marimba piece by Keiko Abe

Other[link]

• PRISM (TV channel), a defunct cable television channel in Philadelphia
• Prism (street artist), a street artist from Melbourne , Australia

Computing and software[link]

Hardware[link]

• PRISM (chipset), a wireless networking chipset
• Apollo PRISM, a microprocessor made by Apollo Computer
• DEC PRISM, a microprocessor made by Digital Equipment Corporation
• SGI Prism, a computer

Software[link]

• Delphi Prism, a software development environment for .NET and Mono
• Mozilla Prism, a software product for desktop integration of web applications
• IBM's PR/SM, a mainframe hypervisor
• PRISM model checker, a probabilistic model checker
• GraphPad Prism, software for scientific graphing, biostatistics and curve fitting (nonlinear regression), available for Windows and Mac

Standards[link]

• PRISM - Publishing Requirements for Industry Standard Metadata (XML metadata vocabularies for syndicating, aggregating, post-processing and multi-purposing content.)

Education[link]

• PRISM (website), an educational portal website for teachers

Other meanings[link]

• Nokia Prism, a fashion mobile phone collection
• Oregon Performance Reporting Information System, a state agency
• Prism Micro Products, a British telecommunications company that produced modems for the Micronet 800 network

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Look up band in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Band may refer to:

Clothing, jewelry, and accessories[link]

• Bands (neckwear), two pieces of cloth fitted around the neck as part of formal clothing for clergy, academics, and lawyers
• Bandolier or bandoleer, an ammunition belt
• Belt (clothing)
• Wedding ring or wedding band
• Strap, an elongated flap or ribbon, usually of fabric or leather

Science and technology[link]

• Band (radio), a range of frequencies or wavelengths used in radio transmission and radar
• Rubber band, a short length of rubber and latex formed in the shape of a loop
• Möbius strip or Möbius band, an artifact with interesting topological features
• Band (mathematics), an idempotent semigroup
• Spectral bands, part of the optical spectra of polyatomic systems
• Metals and semiconductors
  • Valence band
  • Conduction band
  • Band gap

Medicine and biology[link]

• Bird ringing, or bird banding, placing a numbered bands of metal on birds' legs for identification
• A group of animals, such as gorillas or coyotes
  • Herd
  • Flocking (behavior)
• Band cell, a type of white blood cell
• Protein band, see Coomassie
• Gastric band, a weight-control measure

Organizations[link]

• Bands (Italian Army irregulars), military units once in the service of the Italian Regio Esercito
• Brazilian broadcast television network Rede Bandeirantes, nicknamed Band or Band Network
• The Band (wrestling), the Total Nonstop Wrestling name for the professional wrestling stable New World Order

Society and government[link]

• Band society, a small group of humans in a simple form of society
• The primary unit of Native Americans in the United States
• Band (First Nations Canada), the primary unit of First Nations Government in Canada

People[link]

• Band (surname)

Places[link]

• Band, Mureş in Romania
• Bánd, a village in Hungary

Music[link]

• Band, a company of musicians—see Musical ensemble
  • Rock band
  • Concert band
  • School band, a group of student musicians who rehearse and perform instrumental music together
  • Marching band, a group of performers that consist of instrumental musicians who generally perform outdoors and incorporate some type of marching (and possibly other movements) with their musical performance
• The Band, a Canadian-American rock and roll group
  • The Band (album), its eponymous album released in 1969

See also[link]

• All pages beginning with "Band"
• All pages with titles containing "Band"
• Banding (disambiguation)
• Drum and bugle corps (disambiguation)
• Stripe (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Demetri Martin
Demetri Martin at Northeastern University on April 11, 2007
Born	(1973-05-25) May 25, 1973 (age 39) New York City, New York, United States
Nationality	American
Years active	Since 2002
Genres	Observational comedy, surreal humor, musical comedy, wit/wordplay, sketch comedy
Subject(s)	Everyday Life, American Culture, Random Subjects
Influences	Steven Wright, Eddie Izzard, Emo Philips, Mitch Hedberg, Socrates
Notable works and roles	· Demetri Martin. Person.  · Correspondent on The Daily Show  · Himself/Various on Important Things with Demetri Martin  · Elliot Tiber in Taking Woodstock (2009)
Website	www.demetrimartin.com

Demetri Martin (born May 25, 1973) is an American comedian, actor, artist, musician, writer and humorist. Martin is best known for his work as a stand-up comedian, contributor on The Daily Show and for his Comedy Central show Important Things with Demetri Martin.

Early life[link]

Demetri Martin was born to a Greek American family^[1] in New York City, New York, and grew up in Toms River, New Jersey. He is the son of Lillian, a nutritionist, and Dean C. Martin, now deceased, a Greek Orthodox priest.^[2] Martin graduated from Yale University in 1995. Although he was accepted into Harvard Law School, he went to New York University School of Law after he received a full scholarship.^[3]

Career[link]

In 2001, Martin caught his first big break in stand-up comedy when he appeared on Comedy Central's stand-up showcase Premium Blend. At the 2003 Edinburgh Festival Fringe he won the Perrier award with his show If I....^[4] The show was turned into a British television special in 2004. From 2003 to 2004, Martin wrote for Late Night with Conan O'Brien.^[5] In 2004, Martin had his own Comedy Central Presents stand-up special. His special was divided into three parts. In the first, he performed in traditional stand-up comedy fashion. In the second segment, he used humorous drawings as visual aids, which would serve either as the punchline or a background. During the third segment, he played a guitar and put on a pseudo-play where he would strum his guitar while alternating between playing harmonica and talking; some of his comedian friends dressed as fairies and dragons acted according to the story he was telling, detailing the magical land where his jokes came from. Martin's mother and grandmother also appeared.

Since late 2005, he has been credited as a contributor on The Daily Show, on which he has appeared as the named "Senior Youth Correspondent" and on which he hosts a segment called "Trendspotting". He has used this segment to talk about so-called hip trends among youth such as hookahs, wine, guerilla marketing and Xbox 360. A piece about social networking featured his profile on MySpace.^[6] On March 22, 2007, Demetri made another appearance on The Daily Show, talking about the Viacom lawsuit against Google and YouTube.

He has recorded a comedy CD/DVD titled These Are Jokes, which was released on September 26, 2006. This album also features Saturday Night Live member Will Forte and stand-up comedian Leo Allen.

Martin returned to The Daily Show on March 22, 2006, as the new Youth Correspondent, calling his segment "Professional Important News with Demetri Martin". In 2007, he starred in a Fountains of Wayne music video for "Someone to Love" as Seth Shapiro, a character in the song. He also starred in the video for the Travis single "Selfish Jean", in which he wears multiple t-shirts with lyrics written on them.

On September 2, 2007, Martin appeared on the season finale of the HBO series Flight of the Conchords. He appeared as a keytar player named Demetri.^[7]

He also had a part in the movie The Rocker (2008) starring Rainn Wilson. Martin played the part of the videographer when the band in the movie was making their first music video.

In 2009, he hosted and starred in his own television show called Important Things With Demetri Martin on Comedy Central. Later in June, it was announced his show had been renewed for a second season.^[8] The second season premiered, again on Comedy Central, on February 4, 2010. Martin has stated that Important Things will not return for a third season.

Prior to completing work on his second season, Martin starred in the comedy-drama film Taking Woodstock (2009), directed by Ang Lee, which premiered at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. In the film Martin plays Elliot Tiber, a closeted gay artist who has given up his ambitions in the city to move upstate and help his old-world Jewish family run their Catskill Mountains motel. The film is based on the book written by Tiber.

On April 25, 2011, Martin released his first book, titled This Is a Book by Demetri Martin.

Martin was slated to portray Paul DePodesta as Oakland Athletics assistant GM to Billy Beane in the 2011 movie Moneyball, however was dropped and Jonah Hill took his place in the movie.

Plans[link]

Martin sold his movie concept Will to DreamWorks; he is expected to play a key supporting role.^[9] He will play the lead in the film Moon People, a pitch that he sold to Columbia Pictures.

Martin also signed a blind script deal with CBS in October 2010 to produce, write, and star in his own television series.^[10]

After CBS was shown the pilot for the series, they decided not to air it.^[11]

On August 11, 2011, Fox ordered a presentation of a new animated show they might air.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] If I

If I is a Perrier Comedy Award-winning comedy one-man show written and performed by Demetri Martin at the 2003 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.^[12] It was also aired on British television as a special. The show is an autobiographical examination of Martin's life, as seen through various definitions of the word "if."

The title of the special comes from a lengthy palindromic poem that Martin wrote; the words "if I" are at the center of the poem.^[13]

Comedic style[link]

Martin is known for being an unconventional stand-up comic. He uses one-liners and drawings on a "large pad", as well as accompanying his jokes with music on either guitar, harmonica, piano, keyboard, glockenspiel, toy bells, ukulele, or tambourine, sometimes all at once.^[14] He has cited comedian Steven Wright as an important influence (both use deadpan one-liners in their acts) and he is also a fan of Bill Cosby.^[15]

Personal life[link]

According to a July 2011 interview on the WTF with Marc Maron podcast, Demetri had a short-lived marriage to a girl he knew from high school. They began dating after high school and got married when he was in NYU Law School and she was attending NYU Medical School. He was aged 25 and in the end of his marriage when his stand-up career began.^[3]

He is extremely allergic to nuts and peanuts.^[16]

Martin moved to Santa Monica, California in 2009.^[17]

Filmography[link]

• Invite Them Up (2005)
• These Are Jokes (2006)
• Demetri Martin. Person. (2007)
• Important Things with Demetri Martin (2009–2010)

Filmography and television work[link]

Written works[link]

• This Is a Book, April 2011, ISBN 978-0446539708.

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (May 2012)

• Official website
• Demetri Martin on Myspace
• Demetri Martin at the Internet Movie Database
• Interview from November, 2006, in Onion AV Club
• Interview from October 2006, in The DePaulia
• Article, in The Scotsman
• Article, in Gelf Magazine
• Interview by Brian M. Palmer
• MP3 Audio Interview on The Sound of Young America public radio show and podcast
• Interview Believer Mag
• New Jersey Monthly Magazine
• Fresh Air, NPR.org

Edgar Allan Poe
1848 "Ultima Thule" daguerreotype of Poe
Born	Edgar Poe (1809-01-19)January 19, 1809 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	October 7, 1849(1849-10-07) (aged 40) Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Nationality	American
Spouse(s)	Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe
Signature

Edgar Allan Poe (born Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre. He is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction.^[1] He was the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and career.^[2]

He was born as Edgar Poe in Boston, Massachusetts; he was orphaned young when his mother died shortly after his father abandoned the family. Poe was taken in by John and Frances Allan, of Richmond, Virginia, but they never formally adopted him. He attended the University of Virginia for one semester but left due to lack of money. After enlisting in the Army and later failing as an officer's cadet at West Point, Poe parted ways with the Allans. His publishing career began humbly, with an anonymous collection of poems, Tamerlane and Other Poems (1827), credited only to "a Bostonian".

Poe switched his focus to prose and spent the next several years working for literary journals and periodicals, becoming known for his own style of literary criticism. His work forced him to move among several cities, including Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City. In Baltimore in 1835, he married Virginia Clemm, his 13-year-old cousin. In January 1845 Poe published his poem, "The Raven", to instant success. His wife died of tuberculosis two years after its publication. He began planning to produce his own journal, The Penn (later renamed The Stylus), though he died before it could be produced. On October 7, 1849, at age 40, Poe died in Baltimore; the cause of his death is unknown and has been variously attributed to alcohol, brain congestion, cholera, drugs, heart disease, rabies, suicide, tuberculosis, and other agents.^[3]

Poe and his works influenced literature in the United States and around the world, as well as in specialized fields, such as cosmology and cryptography. Poe and his work appear throughout popular culture in literature, music, films, and television. A number of his homes are dedicated museums today.

Life and career[link]

Early life[link]

This plaque marks the approximate location^[4] where Edgar Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts.

He was born Edgar Poe in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 19, 1809, the second child of English-born 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.^[5] Edgar may have been named after a character in William Shakespeare's King Lear, a play the couple was performing in 1809.^[6] His father abandoned their family in 1810,^[7] and his mother died a year later from consumption (pulmonary tuberculosis). Poe was then taken into the home of John Allan, a successful Scottish merchant in Richmond, Virginia, who dealt in a variety of goods including tobacco, cloth, wheat, tombstones, and slaves.^[8] The Allans served as a foster family and gave him the name "Edgar Allan Poe",^[9] though they never formally adopted him.^[10]

The Allan family had Poe baptized in the Episcopal Church in 1812. John Allan alternately spoiled and aggressively disciplined his foster son.^[9] The family, including Poe and Allan's wife, Frances Valentine Allan, 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.^[11]

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.^[12] In March 1825, John Allan's uncle^[13] 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.^[14] 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.^[15] 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.^[16] 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.^[17] 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.^[18] At some point he started using the pseudonym Henri Le Rennet.^[19]

Military career[link]

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.^[20] He first served at Fort Independence in Boston Harbor for five dollars a month.^[18] 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.^[21] 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.^[22] 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.^[23]

Poe finally was discharged on April 15, 1829, after securing a replacement to finish his enlisted term for him.^[24] Before entering West Point, Poe moved back to Baltimore for a time, to stay with his widowed aunt Maria Clemm, her daughter, Virginia Eliza Clemm (Poe's first cousin), his brother Henry, and his invalid grandmother Elizabeth Cairnes Poe.^[25] Meanwhile, Poe published his second book, Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems, in Baltimore in 1829.^[26]

Poe traveled to West Point and matriculated as a cadet on July 1, 1830.^[27] In October 1830, John Allan married his second wife, Louisa Patterson.^[28] The marriage, and bitter quarrels with Poe over the children born to Allan out of affairs, led to the foster father finally disowning Poe.^[29] Poe decided to leave West Point by purposely getting court-martialed. On February 8, 1831, he was tried for gross neglect of duty and disobedience of orders for refusing to attend formations, classes, or church. Poe tactically pled not guilty to induce dismissal, knowing he would be found guilty.^[30]

He left for New York in February 1831, and released a third volume of poems, simply titled Poems. The book was financed with help from his fellow cadets at West Point, many of whom donated 75 cents to the cause, raising a total of $170. They may have been expecting verses similar to the satirical ones Poe had been writing about commanding officers.^[31] Printed by Elam Bliss of New York, it was labeled as "Second Edition" and included a page saying, "To the U.S. Corps of Cadets this volume is respectfully dedicated." The book once again reprinted the long poems "Tamerlane" and "Al Aaraaf" but also six previously unpublished poems including early versions of "To Helen", "Israfel", and "The City in the Sea".^[32] He returned to Baltimore, to his aunt, brother and cousin, in March 1831. His elder brother Henry, who had been in ill health in part due to problems with alcoholism, died on August 1, 1831.^[33]

Publishing career[link]

After his brother's death, Poe began more earnest attempts to start his career as a writer. He chose a difficult time in American publishing to do so.^[34] He was the first well-known American to try to live by writing alone^[2][35] and was hampered by the lack of an international copyright law.^[36] Publishers often pirated copies of British works rather than paying for new work by Americans.^[35] The industry was also particularly hurt by the Panic of 1837.^[37] Despite a booming growth in American periodicals around this time period, fueled in part by new technology, many did not last beyond a few issues^[38] and publishers often refused to pay their writers or paid them much later than they promised.^[39] Poe, throughout his attempts to live as a writer, had to repeatedly resort to humiliating pleas for money and other assistance.^[40]

Poe married his 13-year old cousin, Virginia Clemm. Her early death may have inspired some of his writing.

After his early attempts at poetry, Poe had turned his attention to prose. He placed a few stories with a Philadelphia publication and began work on his only drama, Politian. The Baltimore Saturday Visiter awarded Poe a prize in October 1833 for his short story "MS. Found in a Bottle".^[41] The story brought him to the attention of John P. Kennedy, a Baltimorean of considerable means. He helped Poe place some of his stories, and introduced him to Thomas W. White, editor of the Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond. Poe became assistant editor of the periodical in August 1835,^[42] but was discharged within a few weeks for being caught drunk by his boss.^[43] Returning to Baltimore, Poe secretly married Virginia, his cousin, on September 22, 1835. He was 26 and she was 13, though she is listed on the marriage certificate as being 21.^[44] Reinstated by White after promising good behavior, Poe went back to Richmond with Virginia and her mother. He remained at the Messenger until January 1837. During this period, Poe claimed that its circulation increased from 700 to 3,500.^[5] He published several poems, book reviews, critiques, and stories in the paper. On May 16, 1836, he had a second wedding ceremony in Richmond with Virginia Clemm, this time in public.^[45]

The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket was published and widely reviewed in 1838.^[46] In the summer of 1839, Poe became assistant editor of Burton's Gentleman's Magazine. He published numerous articles, stories, and reviews, enhancing his reputation as a trenchant critic that he had established at the Southern Literary Messenger. Also in 1839, the collection Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque was published in two volumes, though he made little money off of it and it received mixed reviews.^[47] Poe left Burton's after about a year and found a position as assistant at Graham's Magazine.^[48]

In June 1840, Poe published a prospectus announcing his intentions to start his own journal, The Stylus.^[49] Originally, Poe intended to call the journal The Penn, as it would have been based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In the June 6, 1840 issue of Philadelphia's Saturday Evening Post, Poe bought advertising space for his prospectus: "Prospectus of the Penn Magazine, a Monthly Literary journal to be edited and published in the city of Philadelphia by Edgar A. Poe."^[50] The journal was never produced before Poe's death. Around this time, he attempted to secure a position with the Tyler administration, claiming he was a member of the Whig Party.^[51] He hoped to be appointed to the Custom House in Philadelphia with help from President Tyler's son Robert,^[52] an acquaintance of Poe's friend Frederick Thomas.^[53] Poe failed to show up for a meeting with Thomas to discuss the appointment in mid-September 1842, claiming to be sick, though Thomas believed he was drunk.^[54] Though he was promised an appointment, all positions were filled by others.^[55]

Poe spent the last few years of his life in this small cottage in the Bronx, New York.

One evening in January 1842, Virginia showed the first signs of consumption, now known as tuberculosis, while singing and playing the piano. Poe described it as breaking a blood vessel in her throat.^[56] She only partially recovered. Poe began to drink more heavily under the stress of Virginia's illness. He left Graham's and attempted to find a new position, for a time angling for a government post. He returned to New York, where he worked briefly at the Evening Mirror before becoming editor of the Broadway Journal and, later, sole owner.^[57] There he alienated himself from other writers by publicly accusing Henry Wadsworth Longfellow of plagiarism, though Longfellow never responded.^[58] On January 29, 1845, his poem "The Raven" appeared in the Evening Mirror and became a popular sensation. Though it made Poe a household name almost instantly,^[59] he was paid only $9 for its publication.^[60] It was concurrently published in The American Review: A Whig Journal under the pseudonym "Quarles".^[61]

The Broadway Journal failed in 1846.^[57] Poe moved to a cottage in the Fordham section of The Bronx, New York. That home, known today as the "Poe Cottage", is on the southeast corner of the Grand Concourse and Kingsbridge Road. Virginia died there on January 30, 1847.^[62] Biographers and critics often suggest Poe's frequent theme of the "death of a beautiful woman" stems from the repeated loss of women throughout his life, including his wife.^[63]

Increasingly unstable after his wife's death, Poe attempted to court the poet Sarah Helen Whitman, who lived in Providence, Rhode Island. Their engagement failed, purportedly because of Poe's drinking and erratic behavior. However, there is also strong evidence that Whitman's mother intervened and did much to derail their relationship.^[64] Poe then returned to Richmond and resumed a relationship with his childhood sweetheart, Sarah Elmira Royster.^[65]

Death[link]

Edgar Allan Poe is buried in Baltimore, Maryland. The circumstances and cause of his death remain uncertain.

On October 3, 1849, Poe was found on the streets of Baltimore delirious, "in great distress, and... in need of immediate assistance", according to the man who found him, Joseph W. Walker.^[66] He was taken to the Washington College Hospital, where he died on Sunday, October 7, 1849, at 5:00 in the morning.^[67] Poe was never coherent long enough to explain how he came to be in his dire condition, and, oddly, was wearing clothes that were not his own. Poe is said to have repeatedly called out the name "Reynolds" on the night before his death, though it is unclear to whom he was referring. Some sources say Poe's final words were "Lord help my poor soul."^[67] All medical records, including his death certificate, have been lost.^[68] Newspapers at the time reported Poe's death as "congestion of the brain" or "cerebral inflammation", common euphemisms for deaths from disreputable causes such as alcoholism.^[69] The actual cause of death remains a mystery.^[70] Speculation has included delirium tremens, heart disease, epilepsy, syphilis, meningeal inflammation,^[3] cholera^[71] and rabies.^[72] One theory, dating from 1872, indicates that cooping – in which unwilling citizens who were forced to vote for a particular candidate were occasionally killed – was the cause of Poe's death. ^[73].

Griswold's "Memoir"[link]

The day Edgar Allan Poe was buried, a long obituary appeared in the New York Tribune signed "Ludwig". It was soon published throughout the country. The piece began, "Edgar Allan Poe is dead. He died in Baltimore the day before yesterday. This announcement will startle many, but few will be grieved by it."^[74] "Ludwig" was soon identified as Rufus Wilmot Griswold, an editor, critic and anthologist who had borne a grudge against Poe since 1842. Griswold somehow became Poe's literary executor and attempted to destroy his enemy's reputation after his death.^[75]

Rufus Griswold wrote a biographical article of Poe called "Memoir of the Author", which he included in an 1850 volume of the collected works. Griswold depicted Poe as a depraved, drunk, drug-addled madman and included Poe's letters as evidence.^[75] Many of his claims were either lies or distorted half-truths. For example, it is now known that Poe was not a drug addict.^[76] Griswold's book was denounced by those who knew Poe well,^[77] but it became a popularly accepted one. This occurred in part because it was the only full biography available and was widely reprinted and in part because readers thrilled at the thought of reading works by an "evil" man.^[78] Letters that Griswold presented as proof of this depiction of Poe were later revealed as forgeries.^[79]

Literary style and themes[link]

1860s portrait by Oscar Halling after an 1849 daguerreotype

Genres[link]

Poe's best known fiction works are Gothic,^[80] a genre he followed to appease the public taste.^[81] His most recurring themes deal with questions of death, including its physical signs, the effects of decomposition, concerns of premature burial, the reanimation of the dead, and mourning.^[82] Many of his works are generally considered part of the dark romanticism genre, a literary reaction to transcendentalism,^[83] which Poe strongly disliked.^[84] He referred to followers of the movement as "Frog-Pondians" after the pond on Boston Common.^[85][86] and ridiculed their writings as "metaphor-run mad,"^[87] lapsing into "obscurity for obscurity's sake" or "mysticism for mysticism's sake."^[84] Poe once wrote in a letter to Thomas Holley Chivers that he did not dislike Transcendentalists, "only the pretenders and sophists among them."^[88]

Beyond horror, Poe also wrote satires, humor tales, and hoaxes. For comic effect, he used irony and ludicrous extravagance, often in an attempt to liberate the reader from cultural conformity.^[81] In fact, "Metzengerstein", the first story that Poe is known to have published,^[89] and his first foray into horror, was originally intended as a burlesque satirizing the popular genre.^[90] Poe also reinvented science fiction, responding in his writing to emerging technologies such as hot air balloons in "The Balloon-Hoax".^[91]

Poe wrote much of his work using themes specifically catered for mass market tastes.^[92] To that end, his fiction often included elements of popular pseudosciences such as phrenology^[93] and physiognomy.^[94]

Literary theory[link]

Poe's writing reflects his literary theories, which he presented in his criticism and also in essays such as "The Poetic Principle".^[95] He disliked didacticism^[96] and allegory,^[97] though he believed that meaning in literature should be an undercurrent just beneath the surface. Works with obvious meanings, he wrote, cease to be art.^[98] He believed that quality work should be brief and focus on a specific single effect.^[95] To that end, he believed that the writer should carefully calculate every sentiment and idea.^[99]

In "The Philosophy of Composition", an essay in which Poe describes his method in writing "The Raven", he claims to have strictly followed this method. It has been questioned, however, if he really followed this system. T. S. Eliot said: "It is difficult for us to read that essay without reflecting that if Poe plotted out his poem with such calculation, he might have taken a little more pains over it: the result hardly does credit to the method."^[100] Biographer Joseph Wood Krutch described the essay as "a rather highly ingenious exercise in the art of rationalization".^[101]

Legacy[link]

Illustration by French impressionist Édouard Manet for the Stéphane Mallarmé translation of "The Raven", 1875. Digitally restored.

Literary influence[link]

During his lifetime, Poe was mostly recognized as a literary critic. Fellow critic James Russell Lowell called him "the most discriminating, philosophical, and fearless critic upon imaginative works who has written in America", suggesting – rhetorically – that he occasionally used prussic acid instead of ink.^[102] Poe's caustic reviews earned him the epithet "Tomahawk Man". A favorite target of Poe's criticism was Boston's then acclaimed poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who was often defended by his literary friends in what would later be called "The Longfellow War". Poe accused Longfellow of "the heresy of the didactic”, writing poetry that was preachy, derivative, and thematically plagiarized. Poe correctly predicted that Longfellow's reputation and style of poetry would decline, concluding that "We grant him high qualities, but deny him the Future".^[103]

Poe was also known as a writer of fiction and became one of the first American authors of the 19th century to become more popular in Europe than in the United States.^[104] Poe is particularly respected in France, in part due to early translations by Charles Baudelaire. Baudelaire's translations became definitive renditions of Poe's work throughout Europe.^[105]

Poe's early detective fiction tales featuring C. Auguste Dupin laid the groundwork for future detectives in literature. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle said, "Each [of Poe's detective stories] is a root from which a whole literature has developed.... Where was the detective story until Poe breathed the breath of life into it?"^[106] The Mystery Writers of America have named their awards for excellence in the genre the "Edgars".^[107] Poe's work also influenced science fiction, notably Jules Verne, who wrote a sequel to Poe's novel The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket called An Antarctic Mystery, also known as The Sphinx of the Ice Fields.^[108] Science fiction author H. G. Wells noted, "Pym tells what a very intelligent mind could imagine about the south polar region a century ago."^[109]

Like many famous artists, Poe's works have spawned innumerable imitators.^[110] One interesting trend among imitators of Poe, however, has been claims by clairvoyants or psychics to be "channeling" poems from Poe's spirit. One of the most notable of these was Lizzie Doten, who in 1863 published Poems from the Inner Life, in which she claimed to have "received" new compositions by Poe's spirit. The compositions were re-workings of famous Poe poems such as "The Bells", but which reflected a new, positive outlook.^[111]

Edgar Allan Poe photographed circa 1849

Even so, Poe has received not only praise, but criticism as well. This is partly because of the negative perception of his personal character and its influence upon his reputation.^[104] William Butler Yeats was occasionally critical of Poe and once called him "vulgar".^[112] Transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson reacted to "The Raven" by saying, "I see nothing in it"^[113] and derisively referred to Poe as "the jingle man".^[114] Aldous Huxley wrote that Poe's writing "falls into vulgarity" by being "too poetical"—the equivalent of wearing a diamond ring on every finger.^[115]

It is believed that only 12 copies of Poe's first book, Tamerlane and Other Poems, have survived. In December 2009, one copy sold at Christie's, New York for $662,500, a record price paid for a work of American literature.^[116]

Physics and cosmology[link]

Eureka: A Prose Poem, an essay written in 1848, included a cosmological theory that presaged the Big Bang theory by 80 years,^[117][118] as well as the first plausible solution to Olbers' paradox.^[119][120] Poe eschewed the scientific method in Eureka and instead wrote from pure intuition.^[121] For this reason, he considered it a work of art, not science,^[121] but insisted that it was still true^[122] and considered it to be his career masterpiece.^[123] Even so, Eureka is full of scientific errors. In particular, Poe's suggestions opposed Newtonian principles regarding the density and rotation of planets.^[124]

Cryptography[link]

Poe had a keen interest in cryptography. He had placed a notice of his abilities in the Philadelphia paper Alexander's Weekly (Express) Messenger, inviting submissions of ciphers, which he proceeded to solve.^[125] In July 1841, Poe had published an essay called "A Few Words on Secret Writing" in Graham's Magazine. Realizing the public interest in the topic, he wrote "The Gold-Bug" incorporating ciphers as part of the story.^[126] Poe's success in cryptography relied not so much on his knowledge of that field (his method was limited to the simple substitution cryptogram), as on his knowledge of the magazine and newspaper culture. His keen analytical abilities, which were so evident in his detective stories, allowed him to see that the general public was largely ignorant of the methods by which a simple substitution cryptogram can be solved, and he used this to his advantage.^[125] The sensation Poe created with his cryptography stunt played a major role in popularizing cryptograms in newspapers and magazines.^[127]

Poe had an influence on cryptography beyond increasing public interest in his lifetime. William Friedman, America's foremost cryptologist, was heavily influenced by Poe.^[128] Friedman's initial interest in cryptography came from reading "The Gold-Bug" as a child—interest he later put to use in deciphering Japan's PURPLE code during World War II.^[129]

In popular culture[link]

As a character[link]

The historical Edgar Allan Poe has appeared as a fictionalized character, often representing the "mad genius" or "tormented artist" and exploiting his personal struggles.^[130] Many such depictions also blend in with characters from his stories, suggesting Poe and his characters share identities.^[131] Often, fictional depictions of Poe use his mystery-solving skills in such novels as The Poe Shadow by Matthew Pearl.^[132]

Preserved homes, landmarks, and museums[link]

The Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site in Philadelphia is one of several preserved former residences of Poe

No childhood home of Poe is still standing, including the Allan family's Moldavia estate. The oldest standing home in Richmond, the Old Stone House, is in use as the Edgar Allan Poe Museum, though Poe never lived there. The collection includes many items Poe used during his time with the Allan family and also features several rare first printings of Poe works. The dorm room Poe is believed to have used while studying at the University of Virginia in 1826 is preserved and available for visits. Its upkeep is now overseen by a group of students and staff known as the Raven Society.^[133]

The earliest surviving home in which Poe lived is in Baltimore, preserved as the Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum. Poe is believed to have lived in the home at the age of 23 when he first lived with Maria Clemm and Virginia (as well as his grandmother and possibly his brother William Henry Leonard Poe).^[134] It is open to the public and is also the home of the Edgar Allan Poe Society. Of the several homes that Poe, his wife Virginia, and his mother-in-law Maria rented in Philadelphia, only the last house has survived. The Spring Garden home, where the author lived in 1843–1844, is today preserved by the National Park Service as the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site.^[135] Poe's final home is preserved as the Edgar Allan Poe Cottage in the Bronx, New York.^[62]

In Boston, a commemorative plaque on Boylston Street is a couple of blocks away from the actual location of Poe's birth.^{[136][137][138][4]} The house which was his birthplace at 62 Carver Street no longer exists; also, the street has since been renamed "Charles Street South".^[139][140] A "square" at the intersection of Broadway, Fayette, and Carver Streets had once been named in his honor,^[141] but it disappeared when the streets were rearranged. In 2009, the intersection of Charles and Boylston Streets was newly designated "Edgar Allan Poe Square".^[142]

Other Poe landmarks include a building in the Upper West Side, where Poe temporarily lived when he first moved to New York. A plaque suggests that Poe wrote "The Raven" here. The bar where legend says Poe was last seen drinking before his death still stands in Fells Point in Baltimore, Maryland. The drinking establishment is now known as "The Horse You Came In On", and local lore insists that a ghost they call "Edgar" haunts the rooms above.^[143]

Poe Toaster[link]

Adding to the mystery surrounding Poe's death, an unknown visitor affectionately referred to as the "Poe Toaster" paid homage to Poe's grave annually beginning in 1949. As the tradition carried on for more than 60 years, it is likely that the "Poe Toaster" was actually several individuals, though the tribute was always the same. Every January 19, in the early hours of the morning, the person made a toast of cognac to Poe's original grave marker and left three roses. Members of the Edgar Allan Poe Society in Baltimore helped protect this tradition for decades. On August 15, 2007, Sam Porpora, a former historian at the Westminster Church in Baltimore where Poe is buried, claimed that he had started the tradition in the 1960s. Porpora said the claim that the tradition began in 1949 was a hoax in order to raise money and enhance the profile of the church. His story has not been confirmed,^[144] and some details he gave to the press have been pointed out as factually inaccurate.^[145] The Poe Toaster's last appearance was on January 19, 2009, the day of Poe's bicentennial.

Selected list of works[link]

Other works

• Politian (1835) – Poe's only play
• The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (1838) – Poe's only complete novel
• "The Balloon-Hoax" (1844) – A journalistic hoax printed as a true story
• "The Philosophy of Composition" (1846) – Essay
• Eureka: A Prose Poem (1848) – Essay
• "The Poetic Principle" (1848) – Essay
• "The Light-House" (1849) – Poe's last incomplete work

See also[link]

	Edgar Allan Poe portal
	Horror portal
	Poetry portal
	Biography portal

• Edgar Allan Poe and music
• List of coupled cousins
• USS E.A. Poe (IX-103)

References[link]