No Edgar Allan Poe biography would be complete without examining the frequently bizarre circumstances surrounding his life. Although today Poe is universally admired and respected, his journey was a difficult and frequently depressing existence fraught with poverty, misfortune, and the death of numerous loved ones. Perhaps it is fitting that such an inventive writer who frequently created tales involving mystery, murder, and the macabre would endure such a haunted reality. Poe epitomized "the starving artist," a man who literally lived and died for his art. These weird, bizarre, and strange facts will help explain, "Who was Edgar Allan Poe?"