Short answers, pulled from the story.
Lin Carter was an American author, editor, and critic of science fiction and fantasy, born on the 9th of June 1930 in St. Petersburg, Florida, and died on the 7th of February 1988. He is best known for editing the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series from 1969 to 1974 and for his sword-and-sorcery novels, particularly the Thongor the Barbarian series beginning with The Wizard of Lemuria in 1965.
Lin Carter served as an editor at Ballantine Books from 1969 to 1974, running the Adult Fantasy series. He used the line to revive overlooked fantasy classics by authors including Lord Dunsany, James Branch Cabell, Hope Mirrlees, and Evangeline Walton, and helped new writers such as Katherine Kurtz and Joy Chant enter the field.
Khymyrium, formally titled Khymyrium: The City of the Hundred Kings, from the Coming of Aviathar the Lion to the Passing of Spheridion the Doomed, was an epic literary fantasy Carter claimed to have begun around 1959. It was intended to revive the style of medieval chronicle fantasy and introduce a new magic system called Enstarrment, but the complete novel was never published despite three excerpts appearing between 1969 and 1971.
The Gandalf Award was an early fantasy equivalent of the Hugo Award, recognizing outstanding merit in fantasy authors and works. Carter co-sponsored it through SAGA, and it was given annually by the World Science Fiction Society from 1974 to 1981 before Carter's declining health brought it to an end. Its purpose was later carried on by the World Fantasy Awards, first presented in 1975.
Lin Carter died on the 7th of February 1988 in Montclair, New Jersey, from a fatal heart attack. He had developed emphysema alongside oral cancer; on the day he died he experienced severe breathing problems, went into cardiac arrest, was revived by doctors, and then suffered a second, fatal heart attack.
The Trap Door Spiders was an all-male literary banqueting club that served as the basis for Isaac Asimov's fictional mystery-solving group, the Black Widowers. Carter was a member and was the model for Asimov's character Mario Gonzalo.