Quick Takes: A dead poets day?

A former teacher who founded the Dead Poets Society of America and traveled 15,000 miles to document the graves of poets has a new mission: to create a Dead Poets Remembrance Day on Oct. 7, the date that Edgar Allan Poe died.

Amateur poet Walter Skold of Freeport, Maine, launched his new endeavor Friday, beginning a 22-state tour of the graves of fallen bards. He’s enlisted 13 current and former state poets laureate to help drum up support.

“Of course, it takes a little chutzpah to say we’re starting a holiday,” said Skold, who left his job as a public school technology teacher to pursue his passions of poetry and photography. “But we believe it’s a really good idea, and we hope it catches on nationwide.”

—Associated Press

Daytime Emmy Awards on CBS

Looking to boost ratings for a foundering franchise, the Daytime Emmy Awards are moving to Las Vegas and back to a big broadcast television network this year.

After last year’s show drew a paltry 2.7 million viewers on the CW Network, which aired the program in the dog days of August, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences is hoping that a change of scenery and a return to a bigger TV presence will help. CBS has signed on for a one-year deal and will air the show on June 27.

Ratings for the show have been in a steady decline for the last decade. The last time the program had more than 10 million viewers was in 2002.

— Joe Flint

‘Idol’ fundraiser nets millions

“Idol Gives Back,” the annual fundraising edition of “American Idol,” has raised nearly $45 million so far, Fox reported Friday. Still to come are proceeds from iTunes sales of recordings of some of the performances on Wednesday night’s telecast.

The money will go to a variety of charities in the United States and other countries, Fox said, including the Children’s Health Fund, Feeding America, Malaria No More, Save the Children’s U.S. Programs and the United Nations Foundation.

—Lee Margulies

Frazetta kids end fight over art

The adult children of fantasy artist Frank Frazetta have resolved an ugly dispute over control of their elderly father’s body of work.

The family feud boiled over in December when Frazetta’s son, Frank Frazetta Jr., was caught using a backhoe to break into the artist’s museum. Police say he tried to remove 90 paintings insured for $20 million. Frank Frazetta Jr. insisted he was attempting to safeguard the art from his scheming siblings.

Frazetta, 82, is renowned for his sci-fi and fantasy art, creating covers and illustrations for more than 150 books and comic books as well as album covers, movie posters and original paintings. His work on iconic characters including Conan the Barbarian and Tarzan influenced generations of artists.

His children have been tussling over an estate estimated to be worth tens of millions of dollars, filing

dueling lawsuits in Pennsylvania and Florida. They resolved their differences following two days of mediation in Scranton, Pa., according to a statement issued by the family Friday, and “will now be working as a team” to promote the collection.

—Associated Press

Gay student to debut in Archie

Archie Comics is getting its first gay character.

The long-running comic said that an issue out Sept. 1 will introduce its first “openly gay” character, Kevin Keller, to the student body at Riverdale High School. The strapping blond will defeat Jughead in a burger eating contest, win the affection of Veronica and wrestle over how to gently rebuff her flirtations.

Jon Goldwater, co-chief executive of Archie Comics, said the introduction of Kevin is “about keeping the world of Archie Comics current and inclusive.”

—Associated Press

Finally

Disney plans: Disney reports that it is creating a sequel to the 2001 Pixar hit “Monsters, Inc.” that will hit theaters in November 2012, and is planning a new movie featuring the Muppets.

Woody plans: Woody Allen says his next film, which goes into production this summer, will be set in Paris with a title, appropriately, of “Midnight in Paris.”

Health update: Jennifer Carpenter, wife and “Dexter” costar of Michael C. Hall, says the actor is “fully recovered” from cancer and has returned to work on the Showtime series.

Crash update: The National Transportation Safety Board put the blame Friday on under-inflated tires and a failed attempt to abort takeoff for a 2008 Learjet crash in South Carolina that killed four people and seriously injured Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and celebrity disc jockey DJ AM.