Bill Crider pointed me to this newspaper photo of novelist James Reasoner (left) and Bill Cavalier (right) participating on a panel at Robert E. Howard Days, a salute to the CONAN author hosted by his hometown of Cross Plains, TX:
Fans and experts alike agreed Saturday that Robert E. Howard, the Cross Plains
fantasy writer who took his own life at the age of 30, would have become a giant
in his field if he had lived. The question, though, is exactly what field that
might have been.
I saw something in that photo I’ve never seen on a panel dias before. A can of OFF. Now that’s class. At least it wasn’t RAID. (Click on the photo for a larger image).
What you can’t tell from that photo is that we’re actually outside, in a covered pavilion in the backyard of the Howard House. Bug spray is a necessity in Texas in June.
I always thought (personally) that Howard WAS a giant in his field. For quite a few years, his work pretty much defined mainstream fantasy.
I thought the can of OFF was for pesky groupies. Now my illusions are shattered once again.