Today marks the 112th anniversary of the birth of pulp writer Robert E. Howard. It has become a tradition on this date for Howard fans to read a favorite story and raise a toast.
Howard wrote something for every interest: sword and sorcery, hard-boiled detectives, weird horror, historical fiction, boxing, westerns, pirates, and poetry.
Two-Gun Bob's fans who are also tabletop gamers are seeing another resurgence of products, with the Conan adventure board game (recommended), and the main rulebook and several sourcebooks for the Conan RPG out now. Marvel Comics recently announced that the Conan comic book rights are going back to them from Dark Horse Comics.
I've been thinking about re-reading his sword-and-planet novel Almuric soon, so for his birthday this year I might read one or two chapters, or maybe watch THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD (1996).
For more information on his life and career, start with the following sites:
- Robert E. Howard Days
- The Robert E. Howard Foundation
- Howard Works bibliographic database
- The Cimmerian (archive; no longer updated)
I highly recommend Mark Finn's Howard biography, the Locus and World Fantasy Award-nominated Blood and Thunder: The Life and Art of Robert E. Howard available as an expanded edition from the REH Foundation.
PDF
