Looking for T.S. Eliot in St. Louis... A Quest in Futility

This sad posting is dedicated to Tom McGlaughlin who once wrote:

"It just occurred to me that you are in the birthplace of T.S. Eliot.
Eliot, born in St. Louis, Missouri, was educated there until I think
about halfway through high school...

TJ, my plea to you is to find something Eliot-esque in St. Louis [...] and visit it, and bring me something back..."

Well, Tom, and anyeveryone else who may be interested in how Mound City recognizes arguably the most important poet of the 20th century, here's what I found so far:

First, I noticed we had a group meeting in a building called Eliot Hall. While technically named for the family and not T.S. himself (his grandfather William Greenleaf Eliot actually founded Washington University and it was originally called Eliot Seminary), I thought close enough. Eliot Hall.

Interestingly, it is famous for being the ugliest building on campus. The only one not in the Gothic style, it is more...Stalin-esque. A slab of concrete. Poor T.S.!





Perhaps off campus would be better. After all, the Loop recognizes many famous native St. Lou-natics with its Walk of Fame.

Unfortunately, Phyllis Dyler and Dan Dierdorf get better treatment than T.S. I found his star (6500 block of Delmar) but a restaurant has placed its outdoor seating on top of his star. I asked a guy if I could move his table for a second so I could photograph the star and he looked at me like I was crazy. You can still see the table leg in the picture.



Beneath the star is this little box, a nice summation of the poet's career, don't you think:


In case you can't read it, I think you can click on it to make it bigger. Don't mind the gum stains.