Robert E. Howard: Don't mess with this dude, OK?
Fans of Texan Robert E. Howard recently rallied in his defense after an Internet columnist sullied the pulp legend’s name.
Seems that writer MAGGIE VON OSTRAND wrote columns on TEXAS ESCAPES and FANDOMANIA that offered a rather sensationalized dose of speculation on the life of Robert E. Howard – and in doing so stepped into a big steaming pile of irate fandom. In a post urging fans to rally behind the good name of Conan’s creator, Deuce Richardson of THE CIMMERIAN blog blasted Mags’ column as the “most concentrated dose of misinformation and malicious speculation regarding the life of Robert E. Howard that I have ever read.”
Howard fans came riding in from the Steppes to defend the author’s honor. So great was the outcry that both websites appear to have distanced themselves from the column.
“Thanks to Howard fans coming together and forming a determined shieldwall, both Texas Escapes and Fandomania have made adjustments to Ms. Van Ostrand’s article,” The Cimmerian’s Richardson wrote in a new post. “As MARK FINN puts it: ‘Texas Escapes has pulled the article down and Fandomania has placed enough editorial padding between the piece and the site that there can be no doubt as to the veracity of the piece in question.’ Van Ostrand has also apologised for not digging deeper into the research regarding Howard’s life. So, no need to email either site or Van Ostrand.”
It’s great to see that more than seven decades after the imaginitive Texas writer’s passing, his life and work continue to inspire and delight fans — and inspire some fierce debate.
The piece on Fandomania: Was Conan the Barbarian Really a Fictional Character? is still up…with a note from the editor acknowledging that it was poorly researched crap. Read the comments, if you have a lot of time, Van Ostrand attempts to defend her work and is slapped down hard by legions of REH fans. While the Texas Escapes piece may have been taken down, if anybody wants to see it let me know. I made a PDF of the page when it was still online.
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by SanfordAllen: Weighing in on the Great Robert E. Howard debate at Missions Unknown: http://bit.ly/6oxc8T…
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Actually, this offensive started with an urgent plea from Mark Finn to the e mail group for The Robert E. Howard United Press Association, and those are the major voices that posted to discredit Van Ostrand’s atrocity. By the time it was reported on The Cimmerian blog, the battle was over and members of REHupa had handed Van Ostrand her head.
We old guard Howard fans have seen this sort of thing happen from time to time. Some poorly informed dimwit picks up all the wrong info for a knock-off piece like Van Ostrand’s, and because any fool can post an opinion on the internet, there are always plenty of dummies who go along with the “I read it on the internet, it must be true” baloney.
Not on our watch.