A Letter from the Poe Foundation’s President

Dear Poe Museum Supporter,

Several years ago a young boy was touring Virginia with his family when they decided to pull off the highway for a visit to the Poe Museum. Earlier this year in an Entertainment Weekly interview, he would recall the “magical” experience of seeing the Museum’s Raven Room and how he thought the Museum was “the coolest thing in the world.” That boy grew up to be a popular screenwriter of blockbuster films and hit television series like Scream, Dawson’s Creek, and Vampire Diaries. Earlier this year, he even paid homage to his Poe Museum visit by writing a Poe-themed television series set in Richmond called The Following.

Kevin Williamson’s story is just one of the many we hear about young people the Poe Museum has inspired over the past nine decades. More recently, Rachel Martens, one of the attendees of the 2012 Edgar Allan Poe Young Writers’ Conference, has just published her first novel. Countless others have been instilled with a lifelong love of reading by a visit to the Poe Museum.

We have written you today because you know the power of the Poe Museum to inspire young minds, whether they visit us for school group tours, writing workshops, poetry readings, or on family vacations. That is why you support the Poe Museum, and that is why we are asking you to consider making a contribution to our Annual Fund today. With the New Year starting we want to ensure the Museum and its staff is prepared. This involves training new tour guides, promoting the Museum and its educational programs and printing Educator packets. Your support will help provide the resources needed to accomplish these tasks at hand.

Please take the time to make your generous tax-deductible gift today by clicking this link.

Help us preserve Poe’s legacy for present and future generations.

Sincerely,

Annemarie Beebe
President, Poe Foundation Board of Trustees