1) Facts: 

Whitman’s novel Franklin Evans sold more copies during his lifetime than any of his other books, despite the fact that Whitman himself described it as “damned rot – rot of the worst sort.” ²³

As rumors circulated of Whitman’s failing health in 1889, a local cemetery owner in New Jersey contacted the dying poet and asked him to write a poem about the cemetery that they could use in their advertisements – all this in exchange for a free burial plot. 

He was gay 

He quit school at 11

Struggled finnancially most oof his llife.

He compared himself to Shakespeare

Often called father of the free verse

Opposed slavery

Second of nine children

His lungs shrunk to 1/8th of his breathing capacity when he died.

2) He inspired Vince Gilligan, the creator of Breaking Bad.