2 September 2010

The Riverside Cemetery, Asheville, North Carolina: Southern Literary Tour, Part Two: #7

In Asheville's Riverside Cemetery, North Carolina, it's easy to spot the famous writers buried here - Thomas Wolfe, and O. Henry (William Sydney Porter) because they're well signposted. The grave of Horace Kephart's photographer friend and companion is far less easy to find as George Masa isn't a household name, and I was too weary to ask at the office (assuming there was anyone there.) However, by way of a bonus, I spotted the grave of a notable writer and Wolfe scholar, and here is Ted Mitchell's obituary.

A person could be forgiven for expecting an angel statue on Thomas Wolfe's grave.

W. O. Wolfe's grave is at the side of his son's.

The grave of William Sydney Porter, better known under his pseudonym O. Henry.

Ted Mitchell's gravestone contains a quotation from Wolfe: 'Where shall the weary rest? Where shall the lonely of heart come home? What doors are open for the wanderer, and in what place, and in what time, and in what land? Where? Where the weary of heart can abide forever, where the weary of wandering can find peace, where the tumult, the fever, and the fret shall be forever stilled?'

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