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Welcome to Celebrate poe - Episode 390 - The Quaker Preacher

Today I want to talk about Elias Hicks - a fascinating person who greatly influenced Walt Whitman.

Greetings, Mr. Bartley.

Hello, Mr. Whitman. Now today I want to talk about Elias Hicks.

Ah, Mr. Bartley - you mean the Quaker preacher.r

Yes, Mr. Whitman - the one and the same.

Yes, I find the subject of Elias Hicks to be a most fascinating one. And you know that I greatly enjoy learning about the ancestry of various individuals who were important to my life.

Yes, Mr. Whitman - it seems that family history was an integral part of one’s identity for individuals living during your lifetime.

Exactly, Mr. Bartley, in the case of Elias Hicks, his family was descended from Robert Hicks, who, in 1622 at 42 years of age, arrived on the ship Fortune in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

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Welcome to Celebrate Poe - My name is George Bartley, and this is episode 389 - What Did Whitman Read?

Ghost sound

Hello, Mr. Whitman.

Greetings, George.

Mr. Whitman - I mean Walt - we have been talking about your youth. And I understand that you were largely self-taught in many respects. It seems that you greatly enjoyed reading Shakespeare and the King James Version of the Bible.

I certainly was impressed by Mr. Shakespeare’s works during my youth - as well as later in life - and basked in the beauty of his words.

Yes, from what I understand, your view of Shakespeare’s works evolved - if that is the right word - during your life.

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Welcome to Celebrate Poe - My name is George Bartley, and this is episode 388 - Celebrating Whitman

Edgar Allan Poe and Walt Whitman are, arguably, the greatest writers of the 19th century. So last year, I decided to start a new podcast about Walt Whitman called celebrate whitman, as well as continuing celebrate Poe. Here is a 30 second promo for that new "Celebrate Whitman" podcast:

"From the creator of the acclaimed "Celebrate Poe" podcast comes a new audio journey into the life and revolutionary works of Walt Whitman. "Celebrate Whitman" immerses you in the bold, optimistic vision of America's quintessential poet. Discover Whitman's cosmic perspective and how he captured the spirit of democracy through his groundbreaking free verse. Join us as we explore "Leaves of Grass" and Whitman's enduring impact on literature and culture. Official premiere for Celebrate Whitman is July 4, 2024.”

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Welcome to celebrate Poe - episode 387 - what did Whitman sound like part two - in the previous episode, my big concern was coming up with a voice for the imaginary ghost of Walt Whitman that sounded definitely distinct from my natural voice as George, as well as embodying the communication styles of Walt Whitman. And by the end of this episode, I hope you Will agree that I came up for a valid voice to represent the writer.

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Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 386 - What Did Whitman Sound Like, 1

In previous years, I have always done episodes about Walt Whitman simply by talking about his life. I did not use the format of me talking in the first person, and asking questions from Walt Whitman because I simply didn't know where to start regarding the topic of what did Walt Whitman sound like. There is a controversial recording of what may have been Whitman's voice, but it is a very poor quality and isn't much help at all.

So I decided to use perplexity AI in finding out information about Walt Whitman's voice - what he may have sounded like and how I could get the spirit of that across and a podcast. So I started with this prompt - and note that - and this is something I will say over and over again - you need to give a lot of information in your prompt to an AI bot even if it doesn't seem necessary to get a good response.

This is my prompt regarding getting the qualities for Walt Whitman's voice, and I apologize for the length. - but you really need to try and be thorough.

I do a podcast called celebrate Poe about the life and works of Edgar Allan Poe. It has had almost 400 episodes and downloads in more than 100 countries and territories. The format is that I interview the imaginary ghost of Edgar Allan Poe regarding his works and life. Of course I use my voice as the interviewer, and a Southern Voice as Edgar Poe. I used to be a historical re-enactor as Poe, and use a deep southern drawl - one that most authorities believe that Edgar Poe would've used, being from Richmond and not influenced by such sources as television, movies, and the Internet. And I am from Staunton Virginia, so a southern draw is not hard for me. Now fo pride month - june - and maybe longer - I am playing the part of an interviewer while interviewing the the imaginary ghost of Walt Whitman - using my natural voice and Walt Whitman responding in the first person. My question is do you have any advice on coming up with a voice to represent Walt Whitman for the podcast? Of course this is purely for audio, so I can contort my face all kinds of positions - but what qualities should I go for in coming up with a Voice for Walt Whitman

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They took each other's hands. Each gave way to the impulse of his manly love, rarer, alas! but as tender and true as the love of woman, and they drew nearer and kissed each other.

These words are from what is generally agreed to be America’s first gay novel. Stick with this podcast as we delve into the 1870 novel Joseph and His Friend, and this is Episode 385 - America’s First Gay Novel.

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Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 384 Drake the Rake.

After devoting an episode to Fitz Green Halleck, I thought I would devote an episode to - well, I don’t think lover is exactly the right word - but the person who was an extremely close friend of Fitz Green Halleck.

And we have the ghost of Joseph Rodham Drake right here.

Ghost sound

Hello I am Mr. Bartley. And you may call me George. Hello, Mr. Drake - may I call you Joseph?

Certainly.

Joseph, could you tell me a little bit about your life?

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No name in the poetical world is more firmly established than that of Fitz-Green Halleck. (Ghost of Poe voice)

Edgar Allan Poe wrote these words about Fitz green Halik for Graham’s Magazine in 1843. This episode will take a look at Halleck as inspiration for some of America’s first homoerotic works.

My name is George Bartley, and this is Episode Episode 383 - to clasp thy hand in mine revisited. This is the first of a series of podcast episodes for Pride months dealing with some of the individuals in Poe’s literary circle - some of the I people who were responsible for some of the earliest homoerotic literature in the United States.
If you have been listening to past episodes of Celebrate Poe, you probably know by now that I really like memory aids - especially when introducing a new subject or individual. Probably the most important name to remember is Fitz-Greene Halleck. At first, I wasn’t sure if the name was pronounced HALeck or HAYeck - but think of the computer Hal in 2001 - A Space Odyssey - Hal - who has the famous line “I’m sorry Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that.” Think Hal - for Halleck. And if I say HAYLeck instead of HALeck - which I probably will do - just chalk it up to me pronouncing the word wrong - it should be HALeck.

Fitz-Greene HALeck was born in 1790 - almost 20 years before Poe - in Guillford, Connecticut. Haleck and Guilford had an interesting relationship - it is said that the town never fully accepted Fitz Greene, and even though Halleck moved back to Guilford for the last two decades of his life, it appears that he never really felt at ease in his own hometown.

Now when Fitz-Greene was two years old, two drunken soldiers were passing by his father’s front door. The soldiers thdought it would be funny to discharge their rifles loaded only with powder right next to the side of the infant’s head. They thought it would be funny to watch the infant scream.

As a result, little Fitz-Greene had severe hearing problems in his left ear for the rest of his life - often appearing isolate in his relationships with other people because he just wasn’t able to hear what they said.

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