Robert E. Howard
Robert E. Howard was born on the 22nd of January 1906 in Peaster, Texas. His father worked as a traveling country physician while his mother raised him in a series of Texas cowtowns and boomtowns. The family moved frequently during his early years to Dark Valley, Seminole, Bronte, Poteet, Oran, Wichita Falls, Bagwell, Cross Cut, and Burkett. By 1919, they settled permanently in the Central Texas hamlet of Cross Plains. That same year, the Vestal Well struck oil within the town limits. Thousands of people arrived seeking wealth from the new resource. The population swelled from 1,500 to 10,000 overnight. Crime rates exploded alongside the influx of newcomers. Howard despised the chaos that followed the discovery of black gold. He viewed the oil booms as the root cause of constant travel and social breakdown. This environment shaped his worldview before he ever wrote a single story.
Howard began writing stories at age nine, mostly historical fiction about Vikings, Arabs, battles, and bloodshed. He discovered authors like Jack London and Rudyard Kipling who influenced his later work. By 1924, after years of rejection slips, he sold his first short caveman tale titled Spear and Fang for $16. This sale introduced him to readers of the struggling pulp magazine Weird Tales. He dropped out of college shortly afterward to focus entirely on writing. To make money, he took jobs writing oil news for the local newspaper Cross Plains Review at five dollars per column. He also worked as a soda jerk at Robertson's Drug Store earning eighty dollars weekly. These jobs were exhausting and left him little time to write. Boxing became his primary outlet for frustration and anger during these difficult years. He spent hours punching bags and lifting weights to build himself from a skinny teenager into a burly man. His physical strength mirrored his growing determination to succeed in literature despite repeated failures.
In August 1928, Howard submitted Red Shadows to Weird Tales featuring Solomon Kane. The story became the first published example of sword and sorcery. It was followed by King Kull appearing in The Shadow Kingdom in August 1929. Farnsworth Wright bought that story for one hundred dollars, the highest amount Howard had earned up to that point. Conan the Barbarian emerged from Howard's mind over nine months starting in early 1932. He conceived the character while traveling through southern Texas eating tortillas and cheap Spanish wine. By March 1932, he rewrote an unpublished Kull story titled By This Axe I Rule! into his first Conan tale called The Phoenix on the Sword. Three more stories followed quickly including The Frost-Giant's Daughter and The God in the Bowl. Howard created an essay called The Hyborian Age to flesh out his invented world. He sent the first two stories to Weird Tales together with the third following days later. Conan appeared publicly in December 1932 and became an instant hit. Seventeen Conan stories were placed in the magazine between 1933 and 1936 alone.
Howard wrote a letter to Weird Tales editor Farnsworth Wright in August 1930 praising H.P. Lovecraft's story The Rats in the Walls. Wright forwarded the letter directly to Lovecraft who responded warmly. Soon both men engaged in vigorous correspondence lasting until Howard's death. They discussed barbarism versus civilization extensively in their letters. Howard believed civilization was inherently corrupt while Lovecraft held the opposite view. Through this exchange Howard contributed several notable elements to Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. His stories included The Black Stone, The Cairn on the Headland, The Children of the Night, and The Fire of Asshurbanipal. He also corresponded with other writers like Clark Ashton Smith and August Derleth. This group became known as the Lovecraft Circle. Howard earned the nickname Two-Gun Bob for his long explanations about Southwest history. Their friendship influenced each other deeply even though they disagreed fundamentally on core philosophical points.
By June 1936 Howard's life was collapsing around him. His mother Hester suffered from tuberculosis for decades and was nearing death. Care workers constantly interrupted his ability to write. Weird Tales owed him between eight hundred and thirteen hundred dollars in unpaid wages. Novalyne Price had already departed for another state leaving him isolated. On June 10 he drove to Brownwood and bought a burial plot for the entire family. The night before his suicide he asked where his father would go if his mother died. Isaac replied that he would follow wherever his son went. Howard may have thought his father intended to join him in ending their lives together. On the morning of June 11 he asked a nurse named Mrs. Green if his mother would regain consciousness. When she said no he walked out to his car and took a .380 Colt Automatic pistol from the glove box. He shot himself in the head dying eight hours later while his mother passed away the following day. A double funeral service
occurred on June 14 at Cross Plains First Baptist Church.
Howard's most famous character Conan the Barbarian has left an imprint comparable to Tarzan Dracula Sherlock Holmes and James Bond. His critical reputation improved over decades thanks to scholars like L. Sprague de Camp and Don Herron. The Robert E. Howard Foundation was created in 2006 to promote further scholarship. Courts granted his estate to his father who continued working with agent Otis Adelbert Kline. Rights eventually passed through multiple hands including Zora Mae Bryant and her children Jack Baum and Terry Baum Rogers. The Baums sold rights to Paradox Entertainment which is now based in Sweden but operates in the United States. Howard's first published book A Gent from Bear Creek appeared in Britain one year after his death. Collections like Skull-Face and Others followed in 1946 then Conan the Conqueror in 1950. De Camp achieved control over the Conan brand leading to pastiches like The Return of Conan by him and Björn Nyberg. Glenn Lord rediscovered unpublished pieces printing them in books such as Always Comes Evening and his magazine The
Howard Collector. Frank Frazetta's cover artwork enhanced popularity during the First Howard Boom of the 1970s.
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Common questions
When and where was Robert E. Howard born?
Robert E. Howard was born on the 22nd of January 1906 in Peaster, Texas.
What year did Robert E. Howard sell his first story to Weird Tales?
Robert E. Howard sold his first short caveman tale titled Spear and Fang for $16 by 1924.
How did Robert E. Howard create the character Conan the Barbarian?
Conan the Barbarian emerged from Robert E. Howard's mind over nine months starting in early 1932 while he traveled through southern Texas eating tortillas and cheap Spanish wine.
Who were the key correspondents in the Lovecraft Circle involving Robert E. Howard?
Robert E. Howard engaged in vigorous correspondence with H.P. Lovecraft until his death and also wrote to Clark Ashton Smith and August Derleth as part of the group known as the Lovecraft Circle.
On what date did Robert E. Howard die and how did it happen?
Robert E. Howard died on June 11 when he shot himself in the head with a .380 Colt Automatic pistol eight hours after asking a nurse about his mother's condition.
When was the Robert E. Howard Foundation established?
The Robert E. Howard Foundation was created in 2006 to promote further scholarship regarding the author.