APRIL 20th - Respect for a Literary Elder

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On this day in 1841, Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” was published becoming the first detective story to be printed. Sherlock Holmes wasn’t dreamed into being until 1887, making Poe’s detective Monsieur C. Auguste Dupin his predecessor by 46 years. Not that being older or getting there first is a prerequisite for greatness. But it should be noted and respected. Like respect for your elders. You shouldn’t just blindly believe that someone older than you has more wisdom or is smarter or has all the answers. Experiences differ between human beings, and no two people experience the same thing in the same way. Like you shouldn’t go ask a 100-year-old monk for marital advice. But it does stand to reason that a person who has lived for longer will have accumulated more experiences and just may have some pearls that could prove useful to a more inexperienced tadpole. That monk might be able to teach you how to listen to what your significant other is really saying instead of daydreaming about what life would be like if you had a personal butler. Like Hobson in Arthur. The Dudley Moore version of course. Not that crap with Russell Brand. Having a Hobson would be great. A Bitterman too. In any event, all of those out there who enjoy whodunits, from Doyle’s Holmes to Dan Brown’s Robert Langdon and all the private eyes and detectives in between, can give a little tip of your hat to Mr. Edgar Allen Poe. I think that includes all you trillions of people who watch CSI: Whatever too.

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