Jane Austen was tight with cash.

Maybe you're that type that watches CNBC, Fox Business, or Bloomberg all day and can't get enough talk about investments. Maybe you're just an inquisitive, nosy type about other people's finances. Either way, there's good news for you.

Coming up this week on the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen's death, there are a million different angles being taken to commemorate her. One is the Bank of England of all places, which is putting on a year-long exhibition where you can see Austen's ledger and how she computed interest on her deposits. You can also see how other writers like Charles Dickens and George Eliot invested their money.

I don't know about you, but I'm just fanning myself in excitement to learn about that 4% interest Austen earned on her £15 deposit.

Where Dead Writers Reside: Part One

It's October, and that requires obligatory Halloween-inspired posts. And nothing is more obligatorily macabre than looking at the tombstones of those who have died.

Now through Halloween we'll post collections of tombstones to see where famous writers are hanging out today.


Today:  Ralph Ellison, John Steinbeck, George Eliot, Aldous Huxley

Ralph Ellison

Ellison died in 1994 from pancreatic cancer at the age of 80.

His grave is located at the Trinity Church Cemetery and Mausoleum in Manhattan, NYC, NY.

Tombstone Notes:
It looks like one of those memorial bricks in a park used to raise money for a new swingset.





John Steinbeck
Steinbeck died in 1968 of congestive heart failure at the age of 66.

His grave is located at his mother's family plot (last name Hamilton) in Salinas, CA.

Tombstone Notes: 
Understated for a Nobel Prize winner. Memorial plaques on park benches are flashier than this.

George Eliot

Eliot died in 1880 from a throat infection mixed with a kidney illness. (Yeah, your guess is as good as mine.)

The former Mary Ann Evans is buried in Highgate Cemetery (East), in Greater London, England.

Tombstone Notes:
Channeling an inner Egyptian vibe, it reminds us of everything great about Ramses I.

Aldous Huxley

Huxley died from laryngeal cancer on November 22, 1963--the same day John F. Kennedy was assassinated and C.S. Lewis died. Not a good day for famous people.

He's buried in Watts Cemetery, Compton, near Guildford, Surrey, England.

Tombstone Notes:
Lumped in the middle of a family history of death--a who's who of dead Huxleys.

Bonus points for not being the Huxley with the wiped-out name.