Edgar Allan Poe died on the brink of literary fame in Europe, where he has been appreciated ever since, thanks to the efforts of one Charles Baudelaire. His posthumous reputation in America was colored by the efforts of an enemy he didn't recognize as such during his lifetime. Rufus Griswold, who Poe counted as a friend, skewered his image. Contemporary society accepted Griswold's false words, and his image has been forever tarnished.