Today they’re tossing a party for Glenn Lord in Texas, to celebrate the father of Robert E. Howard fandom hitting his 80 year milestone on the 17th. Yeah, I kind of wish I was there — I’ve always liked Glenn, who has provided assistance with many of my Two-Gun Bob projects over the years, beginning in 1974 with some notes that I needed before I could write “Conan vs. Conantics.” And of course Glenn was a cornerstone factor in my being able to put The Dark Barbarian together in 1984. No Glenn, no Howard Studies as we know it today — and whatever “studies” there may have been instead probably would have been fairly pathetic. With Glenn, well, here we are — complete pure text editions for everything Howard ever wrote (you can’t say that for even Hammett, unfortunately), complete letters and poetry, some bedrock litcrit. Eighty years on the planet well spent, and that’s only talking REH.
Earlier this year I mentioned yet another book on Howard I contributed something to, and referred to another that appeared as a surprise for Howard Days. I didn’t give out the title, because it wasn’t published as yet, and it has taken awhile for the item to become available online. But I see that it is ready for order now. The book is Anniversary, a tribute to Glenn, which you can get in either hardback or trade paperback states. Editor Dennis McHaney selected my unrestrained cannonade in praise of Glenn as the first volley in the lineup — plus other major Howard fans such as Rusty Burke toss in their two cents, and you get some reprints from Glenn’s The Howard Collector that seldom if ever have been reprinted — for a fuller blurb check the end of the first link above. For any deep, deep Howard fan, a book well worth having on the shelves.
