Dead Mentor Poet: A Dozen Things I've Learned about Rainer Rilke

1. As a teenager, Rene (as he was called as a boy) had horrible acne.

2. Throughout his life he was plagued by profound headaches.

3. At age 17, he ran off with Olga Blumauer to an "obscure" hotel in Vienna. It was three days before they were found and brought back. The relationship was over - as was his career in business.

4. Rilke's mother dressed him as a girl complete with long gowns and braids until he entered pre-school. This was not the custom of the day.

5. He wrote many plays. Many bad p...