H. P. Lovecraft Square

[Extollager]

Providence council names intersection after HP Lovecraft | Breaking News | providencejournal.com | The Providence Journal - The Providence Journal

 

[j d worthington]

That is wonderful news! And I can scarcely imagine a more appropriate site than the one chosen....

Of course, speaking realistically, given that HPL is one of a very tiny handful of writers to come from Rhode Island who have made a lasting impression -- at least nationally, let alone internationally -- it shouldn't be all that surprising that such a thing would happen eventually......

 

[w h pugmire esq]

I look forward to visiting this square. It seems almoft a dream that I shall be in Providence again in a few weeks, for five wonderful days. The convention now has about 1,200 people attending. I look forward to ye unveiling of the Lovecraft bust as the Athenaeum, and I shall be conducting a poetic picnic at St. John's Churchyard, where we will dine on cheese and crackers and coffee ice cream while composing an acrostic sonnet in memory of Poe. Walking is difficult for me, so I won't be going on any of the tours, but I must haunt the wee copse beside the Shunned House, and I must stand before 10 Barnes Street. I have no interest in visiting Swan Point.

Whether lost within a crowd, or walking alone at night along the river near the Biltmore, where the convention will take place, will soothe me so. To be a Lovecraftian in Providence is to walk through an enchanted air. I will need some quiet time, alone, so as to commune with E'ch-Pi-El; but moftly I will be visiting with hundreds of Lovecraftians. Four or five of my publishers will have tables in the dealer's room, so I have a feeling my signing hand will be kept occupy'd. And then I shall return home and record, in story after story, the enchantment of Lovecraft's Providence.

 

[Extollager]

That is wonderful news! And I can scarcely imagine a more appropriate site than the one chosen.

Is the grey two-story house on the corner the place where HPL lived? Did his room face the street, if so?

 

[dask]

Great news indeed and long overdue.

 

[j d worthington]

Is the grey two-story house on the corner the place where HPL lived? Did his room face the street, if so?

No, I'm afraid not. 454 Angell was torn down in 1961; 598 I'm not sure about, though what exists there now is a condo. Both these were far to the east of Prospect St., as you can see here:

Yahoo! Maps, Driving Directions, and Traffic

However, one (Angell) held both his birthplace and the home he and his mother moved into, and where he lived until his marriage to Sonia; while Prospect was one of his favorite thoroughfares, and holds his last residence (66 College St. during his lifetime, moved to 65 Prospect later on), though it sits between Olive and Meeting rather than on Angell. (Wilum can, of course, correct me if I'm wrong about any of the above information, as he has been to Providence, whereas I have not....)

 

[w h pugmire esq]

598 still stands, where Lovecraft lived with his mum and wrote "The Outsider." The magick dwelling, for me, is 10 Barnes Street.

 

[j d worthington]

598 still stands, where Lovecraft lived with his mum and wrote "The Outsider." The magick dwelling, for me, is 10 Barnes Street.

Danke; I was going by a listing for that address when I made the comment about a condominium....