Best Friends

Shortly after the untimely and unfortunate death of his fifth wife (Eudora Pearl Dickinson, who plunged to her death in the Niagara River while trying to cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope), Emmett Lee Dickinson moved to Utica, New York.  While there, Dickinson was contacted by Mortimer Trinket, the manager of the Calvert Street Theater in Baltimore. Trinket had also contacted Edgar Allan Poe, with whom Dickinson had performed in the past in a vaudeville comedy duo known as “Izzy Sharp and Moe.”  Trinket proposed a series of reunion shows, and Dickinson readily agreed.  Soon he was back in Baltimore with Poe.  In Baltimore, Dickinson met an apprentice lamp lighter in the theater named Abraham Lincoln, and the two became life-long friends!
 
Now we’ve discovered that a new book has been published called “A Friend of Mr. Lincoln” (pictured at the left), and one look at the cover reveals that this MUST be the story of Abraham Lincoln and his good friend, Emmett Lee Dickinson.  On the cover of the novel, both men are in the classic pose of America’s greatest poet!  While we have not yet read the book, with a title and a cover like that, it must be about Lincoln and Dickinson!

We suspect that author Stephen Harrigan is a Dickinson fan, and it is highly likely that he was inspired to write this book based on Emmett Lee Dickinson’s poem “We don’t lie – Abe and I” (below on the left). Dickinson’s poem also inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem “We don’t cry – Tim and I” (below on the right).

For more information on the Lincoln-Dickinson friendship, click HERE and HERE (scroll to the entries dated 11/4 and 11/5).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:
 
We don’t lie – Abe and I,
We are far too bright
And know when to keep mum
To prevent a fight –
 
Then we palm our forehead
Smacked with a hand –
Laugh and cry – Abe and I –
When a joke is grand –
 
Dare to dream – he and me –
Notions that transcend –
We just shut our brown eyes
To see to the end –
 
Abe – see Advantages –
But, Oh, aim high!
Then – we talk –Abe and I –
At last He’ll – try –
 
Abe – tells a little Tale –
And we both laugh –
Please, Sir, I and Abe –
Have the gift of gab!
 
We must die – by and by –
Clergymen say –
Abe – shall – if I – do –
I – too – if he –
 
How will God arrange it –
When – Abe’s – at – play?
Life’s so miscellaneous – Lord –
I – “Abe” – I say!

By Emily Dickinson:
 
We don't cry – Tim and I,
We are far too grand –
But we bolt the door tight
To prevent a friend –

Then we hide our brave face
Deep in our hand –
Not to cry – Tim and I –
We are far too grand –

Nor to dream – he and me –
Do we condescend –
We just shut our brown eye
To see to the end –

Tim – see Cottages –
But, Oh, so high!
Then – we shake – Tim and I –
And lest I – cry –

Tim – reads a little Hymn –
And we both pray –
Please, Sir, I and Tim –
Always lost the way!

We must die – by and by –
Clergymen say –
Tim – shall – if I – do –
I – too – if he –

How shall we arrange it –
Tim – was – so – shy?
Take us simultaneous – Lord –
I – "Tim" – and Me!

We contacted Random House, Harrigan’s publihser, to confirm the Lincoln-Dickinson focus of “A  Friend of Mr. Lincoln,” but Zona Rutledge, the company’s Primary Quality Associate and Cloud Based Markets Analyst, reminded us of multiple existing TROs (“temporary restraining orders”) and EPOs (“emergency protective orders”), so we were unable to obtain confirmation.

Pictured below: Zona Rutledge, the Primary Quality Associate and Cloud Based Markets Analyst for Random House.