On October 7, Edgar Allan Poe died in Baltimore, Maryland at age 40. Born in Boston to an American actor and an English-born
actress, Poe's mother died when he was two. Raised by his godfather in Richmond, Virginia, Poe showed early academic promise, but didn't
fare well in college, dropping out of both the University of Virginia and West Point. Influenced by England's great Romantic poets, Poe
began writing poetry, eventually writing some of America's most famous poems, like "The Raven" and "Annabel Lee." While editing and writing
stories for monthly magazines in Philadelphia and New York City, he became interested in the supernatural and the occult. He went on to
write some of the world's great horror tales, "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Pit and the Pendulum," and "The Fall of the House of Usher." Further
demonstrating his versatility, he wrote the first true detective story, "Murders of the Rue Morgue." In "The Purloined Letter" (1844), he
offered a paradoxical insight:

"The best place to hide anything
is in plain view."

Poe could also make penetrating observations on the events of everyday life. In an 1843 article, he made an observation that
seems applicable to life in modern-day organizations, where meetings often seem to last forever without getting anywhere:

"In one case out of a hundred a point
is excessively discussed because it is obscure;
in the ninety-nine remaining
it is obscure because it is excessively discussed."