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The Last Celt: A Bio-Bibliography of Robert E. Howard,
by Glenn Lord (West Kingston, RI: Donald M. Grant, Publisher,
1976). Contains autobiographical material by Howard from school
essays and letters, and biographical and memorial articles by
Glenn Lord, E. Hoffmann Price, H.P. Lovecraft, and Harold Preece,
in addition to an extensive bibliography of Howard’s work.
One Who Walked Alone: Robert E. Howard, The Final Years,
by Novalyne Price Ellis (West Kingston, RI: Donald M. Grant, Publisher,
1986). A memoir of Howard’s final two years by the woman
who dated him: unquestionably the best first-hand account of Howard,
particularly for this period.
Robert E. Howard: Selected Letters 1923-1930, and Robert
E. Howard: Selected Letters 1931-1936, edited by Glenn Lord
(West Warwick, RI: Necronomicon Press, 1989 and 1991). Extensively
annotated letters to Tevis Clyde Smith, Harold Preece, H.P. Lovecraft,
Clark Ashton Smith, and others.
Post Oaks and Sand Roughs, by Robert E. Howard (West
Kingston, RI: Donald M. Grant, Publisher, 1990). A slightly fictionalized
autobiographical novel which covers the period from 1924 to 1928.
Although the chronological sequence is sometimes altered and certain
episodes are undoubtedly exaggerated for effect, this is still
a very revealing document covering Howard’s beginnings as
a professional writer.
Dark Valley Destiny: The Life of Robert E. Howard, by
L. Sprague de Camp, Catherine Crook de Camp, and Jane Whittington
Griffin (NY: Bluejay Books, 1983). The “standard”
biography, marred by de Camp’s amateur psychologizing. A
seemingly indefatigable researcher, de Camp is to be commended
for having tracked down and interviewed so many of Howard’s
associates and relatives before they passed away. However, he
has arranged the information in such a way as to support preconceived
ideas about Howard, not always favorable, and in fact subsequent
research has called into question not just his interpretations,
which were subject to dispute upon publication, but many of his
purported “facts.” Nothing in the book should be accepted
without cross-reference to other sources of information.
Report on a Writing Man, and Other Reminiscences of Robert
E. Howard, by Tevis Clyde Smith (West Warwick, RI: Necronomicon
Press, 1991). A collection of all the articles written about Howard
by one of his closest friends.
Day of the Stranger: Further Memories of Robert E. Howard,
by Novalyne Price Ellis (West Warwick, RI: Necronomicon Press,
1989). An interview with Mrs. Ellis, a radio play she wrote in
which Howard is a character, and her speech given at a banquet
in Howard’s honor at the 1988 World Science Fiction Convention.
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