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Someday He'll Join Them: Dead Poets Society Head Gets Tombstone

Robert F. Bukaty
/
Associated Press/file
In this April 20, 2010 file photo, Walter Skold of Freeport, Maine, reads a Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem while posing in Eastern Cemetery in Portland, Maine.

FREEPORT, Maine - The founder of the Dead Poets Society of America is preparing for the day he'll become a dead poet _ by getting a tombstone.
 
Walter Skold, of Freeport, Maine, is drawing inspiration from his visits to the graves of more than 600 bards for his own tombstone to be carved by the son of novelist John Updike.
 
The design created in collaboration with Michael Updike features traditional and modern styles, Latin and Hebrew letters, Greek Muses and a biblical quote from St. Paul.
 
One day, it'll be placed on Skold's final resting place in Pennsylvania.
 
Skold, who's moving to Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, began visiting and documenting the graves of poets in 2009 in an effort to draw attention to dead and largely forgotten bards.