|
Graves of North Carolina's Most Famous Writers Thomas Wolfe is buried, surrounded by his family, in Riverside Cemetery on Birch Street just north of Interstate 240 near downtown Asheville. His grave draws many visitors, who often leave flowers and other tokens of remembrance. His simple gravestone bears quotations from two of his works: "The last voyage, the longest, the best," from Look Homeward, Angel, and "Death bent to touch his chosen son with mercy, love and pity, and put the seal of honor on him when he died," from The Web and the Rock. Just down the hill from Wolfe's grave, a much smaller stone bears only the name of William Sydney Porter and the dated 1862-1910. Porter was otherwise known as O. Henry, master of the short story. Late in his life, Porter, a native of Guilford County, renewed acquaintance with his first sweetheart, Sarah Coleman, who had moved to Asheville. They married in 1907, and after Porter's death from alcoholism in New York, his wife brought him to Asheville to be buried. She and his daughter, Margaret, are buried beside him.
|
