Second Story Bonaventure Cemetery Conrad Aiken Strolling through Bonaventure Cemetery you will see a bench placed over a grave in place of a slab and wonder why its there. This will be the grave of the famous American Pulitzer Prize author and poet Conrad Aiken. You also see another large headstone next to him that belongs to his parents and wonder why they died on the same day. It is a tragic story that will haunt young Conrad all his life. Growing up his father was a physician that made a good living yet his mother wanted to be in the upper crust of Savannahs social society that took a considerable amount of money and socializing. This caused constant arguing in the house. Then on February 27, 1901 the bickering became quiet when little Conrad heard his father yell One, Two, Three! and then his mother screamed. After another gun shot rang out he ran in and found the bodies of his parents victims of a murder suicide. After their death he went to live in Massachusetts with his relatives. Eventually he went on to attend college at Harvard and married three times. Conrad later returned to Savannah and bought the home next door to where he grew up. It is said that during these last years of his life is when he expressed his wishes of having a bench placed on his grave as an invitation for people to stop by and have a martini with him. His epitaph came to him one day while he was at the cemetery and saw a ship passing by on the Wilmington River located nearby. The ship was called the Cosmos Mariner and struck his curiosity and he wanted to know where it was going. He read the local newspaper and inquired but to no success and didnt find out. So on his bench/tombstone is his epitaph which reads: Give my love to the world, and Cosmos Mariner—Destination Unknown.
Posted on: Fri, 23 Jan 2015 06:10:17 +0000
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