Now to Part 2 of my encounter with Chris Matthews and his book “Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero.”

Despite early word that the MSNBC host would not sign books, at the end of his talk, Matthews said he would stay to autograph copies for anyone who wanted them.

Baltimore definitely lived up to its former slogan “the City that Reads” as about as 500 people packed the main atrium of the Enoch Pratt Free Library Thursday to hear MSNBC’s Chris Matthews speak about his book “Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero.” Matthews shared his insights on Kennedy’s early years, his illnesses and how they affected his life, and his drive to be a career politician, studying and mastering the craft of “retail politics.”

Yes, “nevermore” is a little obvious, but today is Edgar Allan Poe’s birthday, and the Poe Toaster did not show at Westminster Hall. So the “official” word is that the Poe Toaster tradition has ended.

As I wrote in my previous post, the folks at the Poe House seem to know that they are going to get some odd questions. In fact, they hand out a sheet listing some of the unusual questions visitors have asked. They include: Why is the paint peeling, why does the Poe House have that “old” smell and is the house haunted? (Poe’s grandmother died in the house, he did not). I think some (many?) visitors to the Poe House are hoping to discover something a little creepy; I suppose we all have a somewhat morbid curiosity when it comes to Poe. Another sample on the curator’s question list asks about the basement. The sheet reassures you that the basement is mostly used for storage and that “there is nothing mysterious or weird in the basement.”

Even though I’ve lived in Baltimore for years, I never seemed to find time to visit to the Poe house. Labor Day weekend 2010, my friend Nancy was visiting from Ohio. She had never been on a nerd trip, and I thought the Poe house would be an easy introduction