REHupa

On this day in 1942, General Jonathan Wainwright surrendered the island fortress of Corregidor and also all of the Philippine Islands to the Imperial Japanese Army. Corregidor was an island at the entrance to Manila Bay that was the “Gibralter of the East.” The island bristled with coast artillery meant to keep invading enemy fleets away from Manila Bay. There were also massive 12 inch mortars meant to lob bombs down on top of battleships. The mortars proved most useful in blasting Japanese heavy artillery on the Bataan Peninsula. American and Philippine forces had surrendered a month earlier at Bataan which became the scene of the infamous “Death March.” Corregidor held out for another month taking constant bombing by planes and shelling by heavy artillery. Finally an assault by the Japanese 61st Regiment gained a foothold and pressed inland. Their adversaries were men of the 4th Marine Regiment. When the Marine commanding officer, Col. Howard mentioned he would be the first officer in the history of the U.S. Marines ever to surrender a regiment, the response was he had no regiment left to surrender. The Coast Artillery Regiments had taken up to 75% casualties. When the Japanese landed tanks for the final push to Malinta tunnel which contained among other things the hospital containing 1,000 men, General Wainwright decided to surrender to prevent a massacre. The survivors were sent to Bilibid Prison in Manila before being shuttled to the infamous Cabanatuan P.O.W. camp. General Wainwright managed to survive captivity but did not live too long after the war. It had taken its toll. So today, lift a glass of your favorite beverage to the memory of Gen. Jonathan Wainwright, the 4th Marine Regiment, the 59th and 60th Coast Artillery Regiments and others who fought and died to buy time. Robert E. Howard predicted there would be war between Japan and the United States. Fellow Weird Tales writer Hugh B. Cave became a war correspondant in the Pacific Theatre. Hugh told me an experience of hiding under a shot up jeep from a Japanese machinegun position when he covered the Australian landing at Balikpapan in Borneo.

A friend of mine mentioned in an e mail that he did not have the paperback edition of Grey Maiden by Arthur D. Howden Smith. A great collection of stories I may add. Grey Maiden is the name of a sword forged in antiquity and passed down through the ages. Robert E. Howard probably read the stories in the pages of Adventure in the middle 1920s especially since Donn Othna carries a sword quite similar to Grey Maiden in “The King’s Service.” Anyway, I knew of a hybrid comic book/used bookstore that had a copy. I stopped on the way home from work and sure enough, found a copy. I noticed in the vintage science fiction paperback section there was a new addition of almost a whole shelf  of Robert E. Howard paperbacks. Lancer Conans, Berkleys, Zebras, Ace- all were in beautiful condition within the mylar bags. I checked prices which ranged generally from $8.00 to $16.00. The one that stuck out was the near fine copy of The She-Devil for a whopping $40.00! I know  that book had a smaller print run but I have found copies in used bookstores in the past. Is it that rare? I remember seeing it often enough back in 1983 in bookstores and even in some drug stores. Eide’s— the venerable punk rock record/comic book/book store in downtown Pittsbugh had a copy on the shelves through most of the 80s it seemed. Maybe distribution was good for my area. I can see a book that never hit the bookshelves (The Valley So Low and Other Stories by Manly Wade Wellman comes to mind-a book I got luckily at the time). Other book dealers must have She-Devil priced in a similar range. An Ace paperback can’t be that rare even if it had a small print run.

Robert E. Howard Days presents:

 The First Annual ROBERT E. HOWARD POETRY THROWDOWN!!!

Join fellow Howard Days attendees in the Pavilion at the Howard House on Friday the 13th (of June), after Leo Grin’s Cimmerian Awards presentations, for the First Annual Howard Days Poetry Throwdown.

Bring your Howard poetry and engage yourself in some poetry readings, or just listen to the entertainment that will demonstrate why Robert E. Howard’s poetry screams to be read aloud! And this all takes place in REH’s back yard! What better way to honor Howard’s legacy than by speaking his words outside the very window where they were written?! It doesn’t get much better than that!

Here’s what other poets are saying about Robert E. Howard’s poetry:

Walt Whitman, American Poet Emeritus: “Never heard of him. Besides, I’m dead.”  

Allen Ginsburg, Neal Cassady, Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, noted “Beat” poets: “Ol’ Two-Gun regularly kicks our collective asses when we have our own poetry throwdowns up on Crom’s mountain. He is, like, groovy, man!”  

Muhammad Ali, Pugilist and Poet: “Next to me, Bob Howard is the Greatest!”  

OPEN TO ALL - JUST GET UP AND READ! There may or may not be prizes involved in a number of categories we have yet to make up (Hey, Barbara Barrett just put this good idea out there, so I’m making up the rest of it as I go…) But start getting those vocal chords in shape - you want to be heard over the roar of the trucks on Highway 36!

Note: Some of REH’s poems may not be appropriate for women & children or the faint of heart, so please plan accordingly. REH Days assusmes no responsibility for any injuries incurred during the reading of REH poetry. And, as always, please - No Wagering! (Unless The Skipper or Barbara give you really good odds!)

SEE (AND LISTEN TO) YOU THERE!

 April 20th is the 100th birthday for Donald Wandrei. Some of you don’t know who he is. Wandrei is a very important person in the scheme of things we hold important. Donald A. Wandrei (1908-1987) hailed from St. Paul, Minnesota. He had fourteen stories in Weird Tales, another sixteen in Astounding Stories, plus a few in other magazines. Here is why he is important:

1. As a young man, he started corresponding with H. P. Lovecraft. He was the first writer to take Lovecraft’s cosmic ideas and apply them to his own fiction. Lovecraft was writing a sort of cosmic horror, Wandrei applied it to science fiction. Wandrei’s “The Red Brain” beat Lovecraft’s “The Call of Cthulhu” by a few months, though by no fault of Lovecraft. Farnsworth Wright was hesitant to run Lovecraft’s story. Wandrei personally made the case for “The Call of Cthulhu” telling Wright that Lovecraft may look for other magazines to submit stories to. Wandrei’s visit with Wright worked. Frank Belknap Long, Clark Ashton Smith, and even Robert E. Howard tapped into Lovecraft’s cosmicism. Wandrei was the first and showed it could be done.

2. Wandrei was an accomplished poet. He was the first to write a series of sonnets for Weird Tales, “Sonnets of the Midnight Hours.” Lovecraft liked the idea so much, he embarked on his own, “Fungi From Yuggoth.” Robert E. Howard wrote his own series with “Sonnets out of Bedlam.” Wandrei was the first.

3. Donald Wandrei helped created modern science fiction. In late 1933, Astounding Stories was revived by Street & Smith under the editorship of F. Orlin Tremaine. The original Astounding had been a science fiction adventure pulp under Clayton Publications of low to mediocre quality. Clayton went under in early 1933 and Street & Smith bought Astounding Stories and Clues. Tremaine recruited Wandrei for both magazines, where he was a featured writer during the middle 1930s. His story “Colossus” was the first “thought variant” story. Tremaine turned an inferior magazine into the leading science fiction publication and Donald Wandrei’s stories helped make that transition. A few years later, John W. Campbell took over as editor and Astounding Stories became Astounding Science Fiction. Campbell discovered Robert Heinlein, Lester del Rey, L. Sprague de Camp, George O. Smith, A. E. Van Vogt etc. He also discovered Isaac Asimov, though he was not the first to publish him. No Wandrei to help revive Astounding Stories, no modern science fiction.

4. Donald Wandrei helped create Arkham House with August Derleth to preserve H. P. Lovecraft. Along the way Arkham House published Robert E. Howard’s first collection garnered from Weird Tales— Skull-Face and Others. I will say that the Arkham House method is still the one to follow. The books were well made, easy to handle, easy on the eye in layout and font. The cover art was generally good but not overwrought. The focus was on getting the fiction into the hands of the reader and have it as a pleasurable experience. Some small press operations would be wise to take heed today.

5. Wandrei did much of the work on Lovecraft’s Letters.  Lovecraft studies would be nowhere without those letters. We wouldn’t have books collecting letters of Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith etc if it was not for this pioneering work.

Robert E. Howard had a high regard for Donald Wandrei’s fiction and poetry. He mentioned him as one of the few writers of science fiction that he liked. Howard loved Wandrei’s poem “The Little Gods Wait.” Wandrei had written to Howard probably in 1932. Howard wrote a short letter to Wandrei in February 1933 expressing his admiration for Wandrei’s story “The Lives of Alfred Kramer” (most popular story in December 1932 issue of Weird Tales where “Phoenix on the Sword” appeared). It  appears that Wandrei had urged Howard to make a trip East to meet up with him and probably Lovecraft. One can only wonder what would have happened if Howard had taken up Wandrei’s suggestion. 

I exchanged some letters with Wandrei during the 1980s. He was long past his fiction writing phase but he may still have been writing some poetry in his last years. He had a reputation for strong opinions. My own take is he didn’t suffer fools lightly. Last year, on a discussion group, a now departed editor of the modern Weird Tales referred to Wandrei as a “hack.” He did write some dud stories, all writers do. How many writers manage to sell to Esquire at the same time Hemingway was in that magazine? Wandrei had three stories in Esquire. I am not sure if branding a writer who has sold to Esquire in its glory days as a hack will hold up as an accurate assessment.  Donald Wandrei’s fiction remains a favorite of mine to return to periodically. He had incredible command of language that was poetic and he used language correctly. In that regard, he may have been the best writer in Weird Tales. Don’t take my word for it, order yourself a copy of Colossus and Don’t Dream make your own decision.

I received an e-mail from Charles Saunders on his latest book. Dossouye collects the adventures of a women warrior set in Saunders’ fantasticated Africa—Nyumbani. The original stories go back over twenty-five years in anthologies such as Amazons! and Sword and the Sorceress. Charles de Lint was able to put together his own collection, Into the Green, from stories that appeared in those same anthologies about fifteen years ago. Here is the perfect companion book.

The Dossouye stories are full of action and realistic in their own way. No Barbie princess turned swordstress amazon here. Dossouye is a hard-bitten soldier from a corp of amazons in the nation of Dahomey based on real history.

You can order this book at www.stores.lulu.com/dossouye. This is a Sword and Soul Media presentation.

Just recently, a former member of REHupa finally got a computer and online. He asked me about finding a copy of Post Oaks and Sand Roughs for a friend of his.

I mentioned this to members and former members of REHupa. Jim Keegan did a check and found there are no copies for sale- not on E-bay, Abebooks, Bookfinder, Addall etc. This book may be one of the hardest of all Robert E. Howard books to find right now.

I pulled out my copy to refresh my memory.  Donald Grant published it in 1990. The novel itself is 161 pages and Glenn Lord supplied another fourteen pages of appendix material. This book is invaluable in giving a window into the frame of mind of Robert E. Howard in the middle 1920s.

I was not able to find what the print run from Donald Grant was. The cover is really quite hideous. Anyway, the stock of Robert E. Howard just keeps going up. Time for the Robert E. Howard Foundation to get this one back into print.

The sad news of the day is the passing of Gary Gygax, known the world over as the co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons. Mr. Gygax, along with Dave Arneson, is responsible for instituting a 20th Century pop culture genre that continues to this day. And he did it from the perspective of a Robert E. Howard Fan.

I wrote an article about REH at Gen Con this past year for V4n5 of Leo Grin’s The Cimmerian, and here’s an excerpt of what I wrote about Gary Gygax:

All during my D&D career, I’ve touted Robert E. Howard as a major proponent in the creation of Dungeons & Dragons. In the earlier days at Gen Con, D&D co-creator Gary Gygax was easily accessible to the ever-growing numbers of fans of his game, and I had the opportunity to talk with him directly about Howard’s influence on D&D. He bragged about reading everything Robert E. Howard ever wrote (I knew better, of course, and that he meant everything published, so I let it go…), but he was quite animated when recalling Howard’s works, and readily admitted to me the works of REH influenced him on the creation of D&D.

The first and most telling evidence that REH helped in the creation of Dungeons & Dragons appears in the original 3 book boxed set, published in November 1973. In his introduction, Gygax says: “These rules are strictly fantasy. Those wargamers who lack imagination, those who don’t care for Burrough’s Martian adventures where John Carter is groping through black pits, who feel no thrill upon reading Howard’s Conan saga, who do not enjoy the de Camp and Pratt fantasies or Fritz Leiber’s Fafhard and the Gray Mouser pitting their swords against evil sorceries will not be likely to find Dungeons and Dragons to their taste.”

Variants of the above quote found their way into subsequent reprintings of the D&D rulebooks, and then into the AD&D (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons) manuals as well. Robert E. Howard was always well-credited by Mr. Gygax, and I hope Gary was paying attention in the great resurgence of interest in REH over the last ten years. Crom, how could he not have noticed?

So, a great Howard Friend has left us. I like to think that maybe now Gary Gygax is sitting with ol’ Bob Howard on his front porch, jawing about history and Bob’s Conan and Gary’s Gord the Rogue, and maybe chuckling to themselves about the influence both of them had on all of us.

The annual Robert E. Howard Days celebration will take place June 13th and 14th in beautiful Cross Plains, Texas. There is a reasonably complete information page now online, and if you click on the little tab labeled REH Days 2008 at the top of this page, you find out Everything You Need to Know About Robert E. Howard Days. Well, almost…

We’ll be adding and revising information there as we need to. This year’s Howard Days is a little more relaxed, and a little more “fannish” in its programming, but I can guarantee it’ll be as fun as ever. It is THE place to be if you are any kind of a Howard Fan — if you weren’t, you probably wouldn’t be reading this anyway!

So check it all out, and make your plans to join in for some fine Robert E. Howard fellowship. Let me know if you’ve got any questions, and I hope to see you in Texas!

Last week, Rusty Burke sent me an email alerting me to an advertisement at Paizo.com regarding their upcoming edition of Robert E. Howard’s Almuric as part of their Planet Stories line. In the description, it is stated “For those historians who believe the latter theory, the chief suspect is responsible for wrapping up Almuric is none other than Otis Adelbert Kline, Howard’s literary agent and himself a prominenent Weird Tales author. In addition to to veiled references to shady arrangements, theorists who believe Howard never lived to see a complete Almuric draft point to the novel’s ending as uncharacteristic of Howard’s style, whereas others accuse such conspiracy theorists to jumping at shadows. The debate rages to this day.”

I am not sure this is a raging debate with the lone exception of one person who has steadfastly refused to accept Almuric is anything but 100% Robert E. Howard despite repeated presented evidence to the contrary. “Veiled references to shady arrangements” has me perplexed. I have studied the history of Almuric for years and have some theories. Glenn Lord told me there was a first version for the novel that was more synopsis than draft. There was a second incomplete draft. He got this information from a fanzine article from around 1940. So, there is a second hand present that finished the novel.

Now to Otis Adelbert Kline. Cerasini and Hoffman did speculate that Kline finished the novel in their Starmont Reader’s Guide to Robert E. Howard. This theory is quickly demolished in that Otis Adelbert Kline would have taken a 50% cut of the sales if he had finished it. The receipts for the novel indicate a 10% agent fee. Also an examination of the climactic battle is most un-Klinish. Kline loved sword fights and used fencing terms such as moulinet for descriptions. Almuric’s last chapter is very clumsy with the action sequences. Some sentences are downright embarrassing. I compared potential posthumous collaborators including E. Hoffmann Price, Ralph Milne Farley, Otis Adelbert Kline, and Otto Binder. My criteria is they had to have been writing for Weird Tales at the time. I came to the conclusion that Otto Binder finished Almuric after comparing the texts of the two chapters to a number of stories of his from that period. I wrote this up as an essay entitled “The First Posthumous Collaborator” for REHupa back in 2002. Binder’s biographer, Bill Schelley agreed with me when I presented my ideas to him. I have no proof as we have no letters or receipts of payment. It is all circumstantial evidence based on textual comparison. I can say Otis Adelbert Kline can be ruled out easily. It is time to lay this one to rest.

A couple of weeks back, I received Lorelei of the Red Mist: Planetary Romances by Leigh Brackett. This is the second volume from Haffner Press collecting all of Brackett’s shorter fiction into uniform volumes. Haffner Press books are real favorites of mine (along with Fedogan & Bremer and Midnight House/Darkside Press). The books are big, solid, and well made for a fair price. The font makes for easy reading, layout is good, the choice of art tasteful and not overwrought. The same reason I like the old Arkham House books (Donald Wandrei and August Derleth were real serious “book people.”)

Leigh Brackett was big fan of Robert E. Howard. The first Haffner Press collection, Martian Quest, included some early Brackett fiction wherein the Howard influence was easy to spot. The black haired barbarian named Crom who battles the space vampires in “The Cube From Space” is one of the most obvious examples. This volume finds Brackett at her peak of writing skills. This volume could just as easily be marketed as a “Best of” collection. Brackett’s writing skills are honed and the influences are less obvious. The writing is both exotic and hard-boiled at the same time. You get to read classics such as “The Moon That Vanished” and the title story co-written with Ray Bradbury. Brackett wrote “Lorelei of the Red Mist” as an homage to Robert E. Howard. The Venusian barbarian Conan is very similar physically to the original Cimmerian. Leigh Brackett had to leave this story unfinished when Hollywood came knocking, so her youthful pal, Ray Bradbury, finished it. Interestingly, the Bradbury portion of the story is rather blood and thunder. A characteristic not associated with his fiction. Go out and buy this book. You won’t regret it. This is among the finest writing in the pulp magazines of the 1940s.

You can order at www.haffnerpress.com