Lindsey Graham

I stand by what I wrote.

I'm sure you do.

It sounds as though you're profiting handsomely off Edgar's talents, all while denigrating his character.

Your account is completely self-serving.

You suggest that Edgar admired you.

You know as well as I do how false that is.

We were not friends, I admit, but I haven't let that cloud my account of his life.

You feel your face flush with anger.

Not friends.

You turn away quickly, a fire kindling deep within you.

You vow to do whatever you can to salvage your friend's reputation against the editor who has allowed his personal grievances to get in the way of the truth.

For years, Poe's friends fought to defend his legacy.

In 1860, poet Sarah Helen Whitman published a book entitled Edgar Poe and His Critics, in which she criticized Griswold's perverted facts and baseless assumptions.

Her book defended Poe's unique artistic genius, his innate goodness, and his devotion to his wife.

Nevertheless, it was Griswold's account that became authoritative.

It influenced generations of readers to associate Poe with his evil and insane fictional characters, but Griswold also ensured that Poe's work would continue to attract interest.

Poe's reputation fared better in Europe, where his personal controversies were less widely known.

In France, the renowned poet and critic Charles Baudelaire exalted Poe as his literary soulmate and published widely read translations of his work.

But in the United States, it would take another century before Poe's reputation as a great writer was rehabilitated.

Despite his short life, Edgar Allan Poe had an extraordinary influence on literature and culture on both sides of the Atlantic.