REH Days

I spent yesterday in Cross Plains, Texas, taking part in the annual Robert E. Howard Days get-together. This was the largest one yet, as fans from all over the world converged on this little town to celebrate the centennial year of Howard's birth. All the programming while I was there was excellent, but the real highlight was an interview with Glenn Lord, who for many years was the agent for Howard's work. Many of the great Howard stories we take for granted now probably would have been lost forever without Glenn's efforts. The thing about Glenn is that he's such a soft-spoken Texas gentleman and is so genuinely friendly that when you're talking to him you tend to forget he's really an iconic figure in the history of fantasy fiction. It was fascinating listening to him talk at length about his work during the Fifties, Sixties, and Seventies that laid the foundation for the current outstanding state of Howard publishing and Howard fandom.

It was also great to see so many Howard fans in one place -- people I've never met before except on-line, people I haven't seen in years, people I see every year in Cross Plains. It's especially good to put faces with familiar names.

And don't forget, the World Fantasy Convention to be held this November in Austin is also Howard-themed, so I expect to see a lot of these folks again. I'm already looking forward to it.