An Irish father and Greek mother would probably leave anyone with a bit of a lyrical legacy, but Lafacadio Hearn took it to 11. He was particularly well-known for translating Japanese traditional horror stories and also spent many years living in Kumamoto - sort of a Japan-residing Irish-Greek Edgar Allan Poe, if that is imanginable. I am reminded of this as my wife attended a seminar on his work this evening. Much of his writing is available for free on Gutenberg.org - William http://gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=lafcadio+hearn