I am not such a literary buff, but Dani really is. So she was stoked yesterday when Harrisburg marked the 200th birthday of Charles Dickens – probably one of the 19th century’s finest writers of the 19th century and the most famous of English language during that time. Since Dickens visited our city in 1842 on a trip to America, Harrisburg recognized the man’s life and the huge impact he had on literature.
Although Dickens wasn’t impressed with Harrisburg, attacking its “feeble lights, reflected dismally from the wet ground, did not shine out upon a very cheerful city,” he had a lot of time for the Eagle Hotel proprietor whom he described as the “most obliging, considerate, and gentlemanly person I ever had to deal with.”
So in recognition of Dickens’ time spent in Harrisburg, a party was held at the Midtown Scholar Bookstore that Dani said was really great. I was happy to just stay home and anyway she went with her work colleagues. She told me excerpts from “The Pickwick Papers” and “American Notes,” were read by a theater arts professor who was dressed in late Victorian style.
