12 replies to this topic

[Strom]

Well written and reasoned argument supporting Robert E. Howard's mother in The Cimmerian's latest blog entry by Leo Grin:

In Defense of Hester Jane Ervin Howard

[Taranaich]

I'm really glad to see an essay on Howard's mother: I sometimes feel that she gets the raw deal as either the object of Howard's alleged Oedopus Complex, or a paranoid, insecure helicopter mother.

Well done, Leo.

(I enjoyed that playful Brundage nod)

[godzilladude]

A Must read!

[Rusty Burke]

This thing is absolutely freakin' brilliant! I told Leo I wish I had written it, but I couldn't have done it half so well. I've just posted about it at REHupa. It's too bad that Leo doesn't list blog posts as nominees for the Hyrkanian Award (best essay of the year) -- I'd give this one every one of my votes. Maybe we should have a write-in campaign for it!

Rusty

[amster]

Great article. I really enjoyed it. My aunt died of Alzheimers a few years back, so I saw first hand what a toll that an illness like that can take on the caregivers as well as the afflicted. Its an old saying, but it needs to be repeated: don't pass judgement on others until you've walked in their shoes.

[deuce]

This thing is absolutely freakin' brilliant! I told Leo I wish I had written it, but I couldn't have done it half so well. I've just posted about it at REHupa. It's too bad that Leo doesn't list blog posts as nominees for the Hyrkanian Award (best essay of the year) -- I'd give this one every one of my votes. Maybe we should have a write-in campaign for it!

Rusty

I agree, Rusty. BTW, y'all, Rusty's blog about Leo's most excellent blog can be found here...
http://www.rehupa.com/?p=450

[Mikey_C]

An excellent piece. I particularly liked this point:

Far from being the catalyst for opening the door and pushing him towards it, if anything the love and support from his family seems to have been one of the only things that kept him from pulling the trigger much earlier...

Amateur, half-baked, posthumous psychoanalysis must be one of biography's greatest dangers. "Everything was the mother's fault" was a popular cliche of the 50s. It helped to keep the womenfolk under control through guilt after they had a taste of freedom during the war; "Get back in the kitchen and be a good mom!". LSDC obviously fell for it big time. The irony of it is, Hester sounds like she was a good mother. She encouraged and fostered Howard's chosen career and we all owe her for that. Most parents would have joined the "Go and get a proper job!" chorus he was subjected to outside of the home. Who knows, he could have killed himself earlier, without publishing a thing...

[deuce]

An excellent piece. I particularly liked this point:

Far from being the catalyst for opening the door and pushing him towards it, if anything the love and support from his family seems to have been one of the only things that kept him from pulling the trigger much earlier...

Amateur, half-baked, posthumous psychoanalysis must be one of biography's greatest dangers. "Everything was the mother's fault" was a popular cliche of the 50s. It helped to keep the womenfolk under control through guilt after they had a taste of freedom during the war; "Get back in the kitchen and be a good mom!". LSDC obviously fell for it big time. The irony of it is, Hester sounds like she was a good mother. She encouraged and fostered Howard's chosen career and we all owe her for that. Most parents would have joined the "Go and get a proper job!" chorus he was subjected to outside of the home. Who knows, he could have killed himself earlier, without publishing a thing...

It's very possible, Mikey. Her support (and her admiration for his success) seem to have been strong motivations for his dogged pursuit of success within the pulp fiction field. Howard had toyed with the idea of suicide LONG before his mother's tuberculosis entered its terminal phase. My personal opinion about when REH questioned the nurse concerning whether his mother would ever "recognize" him is this: Howard had entertained thoughts of suicide for many years. Care for his mother was one of the few things holding him to "this world". Judging from his letters, he didn't foresee an afterlife where all would be joyfully reunited for eternity with full memories of their "earthly" lives. He felt an obligation to care for his mother as long as she "knew" he was there. Her lapse into a coma sundered the last barrier betwixt him and "The Tempter". As always, I feel a close reading of Marchers of Valhalla is instructive.

My two Depression-era copperheads.

[indestructibleman]

that is an excellent article. kudos to Leo.

[VoragoExcarnator]

I was never aware of mrs. howard's unfortunate reputation. Great essay though.

[Buxom Sorceress]

I just read about Bob's Parents...

http://www.thecimmer...e-ervin-howard/

Very interesting, revealing, and deeply moving.
And some of the best info and explanations of suicides.
[ my sincere thanks to Leo ]
--

And The seemingly deliberately twisted extensive defaming of the Howards by decamp is mind-boggling, and very offensive and disturbing.

The more I read about decamp's machinations... the more 'deeply-twisted-evil-git' he seems?

Why would a successful, clever man like decamp waste so much time on such darkly nasty twisting-slandering of such long dead people?
Did he later come to hate [jealous of?] Bob's great talent and fame?

[deuce]

More on Hester's younger days:

http://rehtwogunraconteur.com/?p=19789