A Literary Crush (that's not mine)

This time it is not my personal crush, but a crush that was expressed by one literary figure over another. I was reading some excerpts from Louisa May Alcott's journals while in the laundromat this afternoon because... well what else do people do at the laundromat? I needed a break from homework and though there hasn't been much news, I do entertain hopes of doing an independent study on Alcott next semester. Anyway, I came across this passage about her sister's wedding:

Mr. Emerson kissed her [Meg]; and I thought that honor would make even matrimony endurable, for he is the god of my idolatry, and has been for years.

A deliberate reference to Romeo and Juliet it would seem. She had a crush on Emerson- I laughed out loud when I read that. Her family was very closely knit with the literary community. When her sister Elizabeth (inspiration for Beth in Little Women) died, Emerson and Thoreau were among the pallbearers according to her journal.

Louisa May Alcott

Next semester I may be embarking on a rather exciting project about Louisa May Alcott. Best known for largely autobiographical novel Little Women she also wrote many stories and novels that she like to refer to as "blood and thunder" stories- gothic romantic thrillers under the name A.M. Barnard.
The more I learn about her and her work the more I adore her and become even more excited for the project. Reading accounts of her life and her personal letters makes me feel a very strong connection to her. I'll be very pleased to continue my research.
Her father was an abolitionist and friend of Emerson (Louisa and his daughter were apparently close), Thoreau and many other intellectuals of the time. She was a nurse during some of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War where she was inspired to write Hospital Sketches. Then she contracted Typhoid fever and was dosed with a mercury based medicine that caused vivid and disturbing dreams- perhaps providing inspiration for some of her sensational novels?
Over this winter break I'll be rereading Little Women, I haven't read it since I was twelve. My goal is also to go to Concord MA and visit Orchard House where she lived most of her life and wrote the novel. I have friends that live near Boston, so I'm hoping they might let me couch-surf with them for a few days. I've always wanted to see Boston as well and while I'm there, I'd love to take a day to visit Walden. It would be quite the literary trip and I want to do it in December before I fully embark on this project, but money and the prospect of driving around Massachusetts in the middle of winter may delay me until the spring.
I've also been toying with the idea of writing my own gothic romance in a similar style to hers to get me in the proper mindset.
Maybe I'll post excerpts if it goes well.
Now back to reading Sons and Lovers.