Lovecraft's Colleagues

[j d worthington]

Not the more famous ones we know about (though I'm certainly open to discussing these, too) such as Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard, Donald Wandrei, and the like; but the more obscure colleagues who nonetheless may have influenced him or his writing, such as W. Paul Cook, Rheinhart Kleiner, Samuel Loveman, Edith Miniter, and so on. Many of these were amateurs, some were professionals. But no few of them actually did worthwhile writing of their own, and some of these are now being brought out of the depths of literary obscurity into the light once again.

So... I'd be interested in knowing if anyone around would care to have a discussion on these (and other) writers. To be frank, this was prompted by the fact that Hippocampus Press is issuing a collection of the writings of Edith Miniter, an amateur colleagues for whom Lovecraft always expressed respect and admiration, and who had at least one fairly successful novel to her credit as well: Our Natupski Neighbors (1916):

Dead Houses & Other Works by Edith Miniter- Hippocampus Press

They also have a selection of writings by W. Paul Cook:

W. Paul Cook: The Wandering Life of a Yankee Printer - Hippocampus Press

as well as various others (such as Robert H. Barlow, Samuel Loveman, etc.).

So... anyone up for such a discussion? Does anyone know of other writers whose works would fit into this discussion? (As noted above, though I intended this to be for those lesser-known, his colleagues from WT and such would also make for some interesting discussion.) If so, feel free to get the ball rolling....

 

[ghyle]

There is Richard searight, whose son, Franklyn, is also a writer, and a friend of mine. NecroPress put out 2 volumes of a projected 3 of his work, and there is a small amount about him in the forthcoming Lovecrat poetic circle book.

 

[j d worthington]

I'm aware of Richard's connection, and the Necro press publication of HPL's letters to him; and of the book of Franklyn's tales published by Hippocampus, but wasn't aware of him as a poet. However, looking this up, this may be of interest to other Lovecraftians here, as well:

Lovecraftian Cliff Notes by Franklyn Searight

Looking further... my, I have been out of touch!

Thanks for bringing this to my attention, Phillip....

 

[Ningauble]

So... anyone up for such a discussion?

Sure, could be fun. I haven't read much of them, though -- I've read Cook's Willis T. Crossman's Vermont (available from University of Tampa Press), and I've actually written a brief review of it. And I've started reading Barlow's Eyes of the God.

Does anyone know of other writers whose works would fit into this discussion?

Rheinhart Kleiner and Alfred Galpin, for example. But then you'd have to rely on the small selections published in the respective collections of HPL's letters to them.

 

[j d worthington]

Rheinhart Kleiner and Alfred Galpin, for example. But then you'd have to rely on the small selections published in the respective collections of HPL's letters to them.

True, but even that small selection is across a range of types of writing, and often had some connection with HPL himself...

 

[Ningauble]

Just wanted to point out that April 20 would have marked Donald Wandrei's 100th birthday. I hope Hippocampus Press can get Sanctity and Sin out before then -- it would be a nice gesture.

 

[j d worthington]

Just wanted to point out that April 20 would have marked Donald Wandrei's 100th birthday. I hope Hippocampus Press can get Sanctity and Sin out before then -- it would be a nice gesture.

Indeed it would; I can't think of a more fitting one....

 

[ghyle]

And don't forget the Wandrei concordance which is coming out with it, on cd-rom.

 

[Ningauble]

And don't forget the Wandrei concordance which is coming out with it, on cd-rom.

Oh, I'll never forget that!

 

[j d worthington]

The selection of writings by Edith Miniter is now available:

Dead Houses & Other Works by Edith Miniter- Hippocampus Press

as is the complete collection of Wandrei's poems:

Sanctity and Sin: The Collected Poetry and Prose-Poems of Donald Wandrei - Hippocampus Press

For those who shy away from poetry (often because of the way poetry is taught in school, or because of the feeling of being inaccessible to readers often engendered by modern verse -- or to modern readers by darned near any verse, it seems) I'd highly recommend giving Wandrei's verse a go, as it is frequently intensely powerful and evocative. And, of course, for those who are fans of Lovecraft, there's the fact that Wandreis' sonnet sequence almost certainly had an influence on Lovecraft's own Fungi from Yuggoth (1929-30) as well....

 

[Lobolover]

Now this is what I meant.Miniter?Never heard of her.
Thats good.

 

[j d worthington]

Edith Miniter was one of HPL's amateur colleagues... though she had actually been a member of the 'dom long before HPL ever heard of it (some of her early work is represented in Truman J. Spencer's A Cyclopedia of the Literature of Amateur Journalism [1891], for example). She also wrote a novel, Our Natupski Neighbors, which was published professionally and garnered some critical acclaim. She was also the first, I believe, who wrote a tale spoofing HPL, "Falso Ossifracus", which is included in the book mentioned in my previous post. She helped provide HPL with some of the folklore that played a part in "The Dunwich Horror", as well....

 

[w h pugmire esq]

The two members of the Lovecraft Circle that I became great friends with were Harold Munn and Vernon Shea. Munn moved to nearby Tacoma, and on learning that I drove to Tacoma and found his phone number in a phone booth. Harold used to drive Lovecraft around on sight-seeing jaunts through New England, and his series of stories concerning the werewolves of Ponkert were inspired by a comment of Lovecraft's. I don't think HPL thought much of Harold's fiction, and he found Munn rather strange, perhaps because Harold was religious and had some odd ideas connected to supernaturalism.

I knew Vernon only through correspondence and telephone conversations. I don't know that Shea had any influence on HPL's fiction, but he certainly inspired some of Lovecraft's liveliest letters! I've been thinking about Vernon a lot because I've been working like a madman on a sequel to his story, "The Haunter of the Graveyard," which he wrote when Derleth requested a story from him for Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos. He was a dear sweet man. I finished my sequel last night, as part of an extension to my prose-poem/vignette sequence, "Uncommon Places." But I'm going to rewrite it as a complete story for the book I'm writing for Miskatonic River Press, and there it will be dedicated to Vernon. Corresponding with him was the highlight of my life as a young Lovecraftian. Now that I have finished the writing of my newest book, I ain't doing no more fiction writing this year, and one of the ways I plan on spending my time is re-reading the five Selected Letters volumes published by Arkham House. Some of the finest of those letters were inspired by young Shea.

 

[j d worthington]

Yes, the germ of "Tales of the Werewolf Clan" were taken from Lovecraft's letter to Baird of WT (published in the March 1924 issue) where he posed the query, "Take a werewolf story, for example -- who ever wrote a story from the point of view of the wolf, and sympathising strongly with the devil to whom he has sold himself?" Munn picked up on the first part of this challenge, but missed the second; and indeed the whole point HPL was making, which was the conventionality of view of most weird fiction. As a result, those tales fell into the same category HPL was criticizing in his letter. In their own way, they are quite enjoyable tales with some very nice touches, but they do keep the same mundane perspectives of good and evil, etc., rather than taking either a broader or less stereotyped approach.

I recall intensely disliking Shea's story when I first read Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos back when I was about 13, yet the story grew on me over the years, until I came to like it very much. I think it was the rather jaunty, broadly satirical tone which put me off on first reading, as it was so at odds with what had gone before.... I look forward to reading your response to this particular tale, as it should prove quite interesting.....

 

[Viatorium Press]

I'm curious to read The Wandering Life of a Yankee Printer, and to learn more about W. Paul Cook and his work as a printer in general. To anyone who has read the book, is their a fair amount in it about Cook's publishing activities, especially as related to Lovecraft? I am assuming there is...

Also interesting is the doomed effort by publisher William L. Crawford to properly publish Shadow Over Innsmouth in Lovecraft's lifetime. That whole situation just seems sad to me. Looks like Crawford's essay entitled "Lovecraft's First Book" is reprinted in Lovecraft Remembered. Have to check that out. Judging from how error ridden and botched the whole job seems to have been, it is unfortunate that Crawford is the only person to try to publish HPL hardcover in his lifetime.

I sometimes think about an alternate hisotry in which Derleth started Arkham house while Lovecraft was still alive. I wonder how things would have worked out differently.

 

[Ningauble]

I'm curious to read The Wandering Life of a Yankee Printer, and to learn more about W. Paul Cook and his work as a printer in general. To anyone who has read the book, is their a fair amount in it about Cook's publishing activities, especially as related to Lovecraft? I am assuming there is...

I haven't read that book yet (still on my shelf), but I have read a collection of Cook's short stories

UTPress / University of Tampa

(also available in hc) and it is a GREAT read -- amusing and entertaining, and it made me laugh out loud her and there.

 

[j d worthington]

I'm curious to read The Wandering Life of a Yankee Printer, and to learn more about W. Paul Cook and his work as a printer in general. To anyone who has read the book, is their a fair amount in it about Cook's publishing activities, especially as related to Lovecraft? I am assuming there is...

Also interesting is the doomed effort by publisher William L. Crawford to properly publish Shadow Over Innsmouth in Lovecraft's lifetime. That whole situation just seems sad to me. Looks like Crawford's essay entitled "Lovecraft's First Book" is reprinted in Lovecraft Remembered. Have to check that out. Judging from how error ridden and botched the whole job seems to have been, it is unfortunate that Crawford is the only person to try to publish HPL hardcover in his lifetime.

I sometimes think about an alternate hisotry in which Derleth started Arkham house while Lovecraft was still alive. I wonder how things would have worked out differently.

I have not read the book as a whole, only selections from it, but from what I have read, I would say the sort of material you are looking for is mostly in the first section, which is by others about Cook, and a few pieces in the second, which are by Cook.

On the idea of such an alternate history... have you read Peter Canon's The Lovecraft Chronicles? This is by a Lovecraftian scholar who takes a view of a certain alteration in HPL's fortunes with his writing, and speculates (based on the known facts) of what might have been....

 

[Viatorium Press]

I have not read the book as a whole, only selections from it, but from what I have read, I would say the sort of material you are looking for is mostly in the first section, which is by others about Cook, and a few pieces in the second, which are by Cook.

On the idea of such an alternate history... have you read Peter Canon's The Lovecraft Chronicles? This is by a Lovecraftian scholar who takes a view of a certain alteration in HPL's fortunes with his writing, and speculates (based on the known facts) of what might have been....

Peter Canon is an intriguing figure. I want to check out his works, particularly the one you mention...

 

[j d worthington]

Pulptime and Scream for Jeeves are also quite delightful, blending genuine facts from HPL's life, speculations on certain lacunae, and outright fantasy-weaving into a charmingly witty whole. The first is written as from the point of view of Lovecraft's (then) young colleague, Frank Belknap Long, and also features an aging Sherlock Holmes, while Scream for Jeeves is a wonderful set of Wodehousian adventures as we see Bertie Wooster's take on "The Rats in the Walls", "Cool Air", and The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. (In addition to being a Lovecraftian of note, Cannon is also -- as you are quite possibly aware, given your comment -- rather knowledgeable about both Doyle and Wodehouse.)

These two now hard-to-find paperbacks from Necronomicon Press were later reprinted by the SFBC (iirc) in a single hardbound volume, titled The Lovecraft Papers, which reproduces all the original illustrations (including the covers) by Jason Eckhardt, and which is much easier to find online and costs considerably less:

Amazon.com: The Lovecraft Papers (9781568652023): P. H. Cannon: Books

 

[Ningauble]

These two now hard-to-find paperbacks from Necronomicon Press

Pulptime was published by Weirdbook and Scream for Jeeves by Wodecraft Press (but the latter is a joke and the publisher was in fact Necronomicon Press).

were later reprinted by the SFBC (iirc) in a single hardbound volume, titled The Lovecraft Papers, which reproduces all the original illustrations (including the covers) by Jason Eckhardt

The original illustrations for Pulptime are by Stephen Fabian and are not included in The Lovecraft Papers.