If you know much about August Derleth, you know he made his rep equally between writing for pulps such as Weird Tales and doing the more artsy wordplay for Little Reviews — eventually he even combined the two fields of endeavor and did weird fiction little reviews, plus poetry little reviews. A go-getter like Derleth pretty much did it all, and then more stuff in his spare time.
Suddenly, I’m tired, just from thinking about it.
John D. Haefele, the reigning and never-to-be-dethroned Derleth expert, just began a little series of posts on the Derleth/Little Review topic if you want to surf in — worth it just to see the images of a 1934 sub to The Frontier out of Missoula.
When you think about it, Missoula has been a literary hotbed forever. I just did a tour by appointment this past weekend with a guy who last took the walk circa 1985 or 86 (he couldn’t believe I was still gumshoeing the mean streets), and he mentioned that he lived in Missoula for around eleven years and got to know James Crumley. I asked if he ever met Dennis McMillan, but my wild and accurate description of Dennis didn’t ring any bells for him. I suppose his stint in Missoula might not have crossed Dennis’ — if he was hanging around The Crumdog he’d have met Dennis, for sure.
And for those waiting patiently, don’t think that Haefele has been distracted and derailed from the main current project on the Great Tales of Lovecraft. He is plugging away, and is currently sending in chapters on Frank Belknap Long and Donald Wandrei — halfway through the manuscript or a bit more. Tens of thousands of words already done.
Tens of thousands left to go.
