Walter Skold is a poetry lover who lives in Maine. But partially inspired by John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley, he set out on a tour of poet’s graves across America. And lacking a poodle companion, he brought along a life-sized stuffed black panther he named Raisin.

Six years later that tour has come to an end, and John Updike’s tombstone, designed by his son, was one of Skold’s favorites. So much so that he asked Michael Updike to carve his own tombstone. “The last poet’s grave I find will be my own,” he wrote in an unfinished poem he worked on throughout his journey.

Here’s the full story by York Dispatch writer David Weissman:  “York native finishes six-year grave-visit tour.”