Entries should include the text: The Robert E. Howard Museum & Cross Plains, Texas shown somewhere prominently within the artwork, but the rest of the design is up to the individual artist. The rules of good taste prevail, of course: no violent depictions or nudity will be considered.

Artists will retain all rights to their artwork and if an individual’s artwork is chosen, it should be considered as a donation to the Robert E. Howard Museum.

Payment will be in the form of two “contributor’s copies” of the t-shirt plus the honor and glory of being the Howard House t-shirt artist!

The winning entry will be announced by March 1, 2012, with the new t-shirt shown here and on display for sale at the REH Museum soon after.

As noted over at the TGR blog, Cross Plains had a big parade this past weekend celebrating the town’s centennial. All year long the town has been holding events and celebrations to mark this milestone and more are to come during the final quarter of the year.

Coming up next month is a fundraising dinner for the Cross Plains Public Library on October 22th at 6:30 pm. The event will take place at the First United Methodist Church in Cross Plains. Admission is only $12.00 per person and gets you a croissant sandwich meal. Paul Sammon will be the guest of honor and will give a talk on the movie industry, concentrating on the books to movies process. 

Since 1972, the author/filmmaker/still photographer has combined his passions for film and literature by working on motion pictures, photographing them, and writing about them. Paul has worked on many films, documentaries and “Making Of” featurettes; functioned as an actor, extra, still photographer, unit publicist, video cameraman and 2nd unit director. He has co-produced/co-directed a number of television series and specials, and appeared as a guest commentator on numerous “Special Edition” DVDs for films.

Paul has worked with people such as Ridley Scott, Irvin Kershner and edited The King Is Dead, a 1995 collection examining the Elvis Presley phenomenon and authored the massive Conan the Phenomenon volume. He also writes fiction, having short stories published in Peter Straub’s Ghosts (1995) and Cemetery Dance Magazine #15 and is a longtime time Howard fan who frequently attends Howard Days.

Movies Paul Sammon has worked on include Conan the Barbarian (1982), Dune, F/X, Blue Velvet, RoboCop, The Silence of the Lambs, The Addams Family and Starship Troopers, just to name a few.

If you’ve ever had questions about movie making, writing, photography or television, you’ll not want to miss it! For guaranteed seating, make your reservation by calling (254) 725-7722.

The library is also doing a project right now where folks read One Who Walked Alone and then watch The Whole Wide World and discuss the relationship of the two to each other.

The erudite Mr. Paul Herman asked me to post this. Dennis McHaney surprised the audience at the Banquet on Friday night at Howard Days with this announcement. One of the coolest events at a Howard Days filled with cool events!

That’s right, after 28 years of quiet, THE HOWARD COLLECTOR, the first and greatest REH journal, has returned. Started by Glenn Lord in 1961, THC served as a venue for REH studies, and set the standard for REH periodicals. Collecting rare and previously unpublished REH stories, poems and letters, along with book reviews, and interesting historical information from REH’s friends and associates, THC was uniquely situated to provide the best of everything. Glenn acquired the famed Trunk of lost materials, and he served as the literary agent for the REH heirs for more than 30 years. Glenn also tracked down and visited with several of REH’s friends, and accordingly gaining access to even more material. AND finally, Glenn is the kind of person who crafts a book with class, subtlety, and care, to create a book without silly flash, just great meat on them bones.

THC ran for 18 issues, ending in 1973, as Glenn got too busy with the business of REH to deal with cranking out a fanzine. Those original 18 issues are now highly collectable, and contain all sorts of rare and interesting REH works and discussion. Go check them out on eBay, sometime, and see the prices these fetch.

Glenn has been retired from the world of REH for more than a decade now. But Dennis McHaney had the idea of seeing if Glenn would be interested in doing another issue in his spare time. A group of us chatted with Glenn, and he decided to do it. With the kind permission of Paradox, and the efforts of a few friends (including Rob Roehm), the latest issue is now available. A LOT of research and work went into trying to properly match fonts, styles, paper, etc. Contents include an introduction by Glenn Lord, a previously unpublished REH poem, a previously unpublished REH drawing, a previously unpublished Breck Elkins fragment, and the infamous first draft of “Black Canaan”, the one that REH said the editors “cut the guts out of”. The guts are back in. And finally some book reviews by the great Fred Blosser.

The print run is limited to 200 copies total. The book is a fat 52 pages, and sells for $20. As Glenn has better things to do, I’m handling the shipping. Shipping in the US is $3 First Class, $6 Priority. Insurance is $2. For non-US destinations, please contact me at piherman@yahoo.com. Checks or money orders can be sent to:

Paul Herman
PO Box 250526
Plano, TX 75025

or PayPal to godzilladude@sbcglobal.net. Profits go to Glenn.

Note this book was debuted and on sale for a couple hours in Cross Plains, and that sold about a third of them, without many folks even getting to see it. When they are gone they are gone.

Only one more week to the official start of Robert E. Howard Days in Cross Plains, Texas. The schedules are set (click the REH DAYS 2011 tab on the bar at the top of this page), the House is spiffed up and ready for visitors, and a lot of us are saddling up our pintos for a nice ride to Texas!

Pre-registration is over, but never fear. All are welcome to Howard Days – come and join in the tours, panels, events and happenings of June 10th & 11th. The only real cost is for the Friday night Banquet and if you come on by Friday night without being pre-registered, you can still partake of the REH fellowship, Silent Auction and REH Foundation Awards program. There may even be an unclaimed dinner spot – if so, please make the $15 donation and have a nice meal. No promises on the grub’s availability, but a good time is guaranteed!

The same goes for the Saturday night BBQ: Saturday-only attendees can still come out and enjoy the evening and some real chuck wagon chow, but a nice gesture would be a donation to Project Pride, our hosts for the weekend.

Speaking of the Silent Auction, Howard items you would like to donate can be done so any time during Friday – just bring them by the Howard House and Arlene or Era Lee will be glad to get them into the bidding wars at the Banquet. And it would be much appreciated.

There will be SIX books debuting at Howard Days 2011: Anniversary – A Tribute to Glenn Lord; Dreams in the Fire, a REHupan anthology; The Collected Letters of Dr. Howard; School Days-Brownwood & Cross Plains in the 1920′s; Footsteps of Approaching Thousands, a history of Cross Plains; and one big surprise book announced at the Banquet. Additionally, Damon Sasser’s REH: TWO-GUN RACONTEUR, the Definitive Howard Fanzine, makes it’s yearly appearance at Howard Days, and REH Foundation Legacy Circle members will receive V5N2 of the REHF Newsletter, the yearly lapel pin and an instant collectible surprise gift. Membership has its privileges, so stop by the REHF table and see how you can join.

Yowsa, there is a ton of stuff happening at this year’s Howard Days and there’s plenty of room for everyone! Come on down and check it out. This is going to be a GREAT ONE!

Like I was sayin’…Robert E. Howard Days always has all kinds of neat little surprises happening that attendees get first crack at. This year is no different, and now we have a second book making it’s debut at this year’s festivities.

Howard Days 2011 Co-Guest of Honor Dennis McHaney is bringing Anniversary: A Tribute to Glenn Lord and The Howard Collector. This McHaney authored & edited anthology is filled not only with tributes to our Howard Mentor, Glenn Lord, but it also contains a history of Glenn’s seminal Howard magazine, The Howard Collector. For the hardcore collector, five REH stories that appeared within the pages of THC are also reprinted in this volume. Contributors to this Anniversary Anthology include: Don Herron, Morgan Holmes, Roy Thomas, Dennis McHaney, Patrice Louinet, Fred Blosser, James Reasoner, Frank Coffman, Rusty Burke, Leo Grin, Paul Herman, Bill Cavalier, Damon Sasser, Barbara Barrett and Rob Roehm. Wow, quite a line-up to sing the praises of the World’s #1 REH Fan, Mr. Glenn Lord!

The first printing of 50 copies of Anniversary will be available to contributors and attendees only at Howard Days 2011 in Cross Plains. The book will then go on sale via Lulu on the Monday following HD for the great price of $20.

And while I’d like to show y’all the cover to this exciting tribute volume, Dennis is keeping it under wraps until Howard Days. He assures me it is wonderful – and that’s a pretty good description of our friend Glenn Lord, too.

See you in Texas in two weeks!

One of the (many) cool things about Howard Days is that there are usually several Howard-related surprises that HD attendees get the first look at. This year is no different with nifty stuff showing up that if I told you about it it wouldn’t be a surprise now, would it? But I will tease you by saying if one of the surprises happens, it will blow your mind! Ask me when you see me in Cross Plains…

OK, back on topic. One item that won’t be a surprise at Howard Days but is nonetheless really very nifty is DREAMS IN THE FIRE, an anthology of writings from past and present members of REHupa, the Robert E. Howard United Press Association.

This is a project put together by Mark Finn and Chris Gruber, two of the manliest of men in or out of Howard Fandom, with a magnificent cover by Jim & Ruth Keegan. Behind the cover you will find :

• Introduction by Rusty Burke
• “A Gathering of Ravens” by Charles Gramlich
• “The Rhymester of Ulm” by James Reasoner
• “The Word” by Rob Roehm
• “This Too Will Go Its Way” by Barbara Barrett
• “CSI: Kimmeria” by Robert Weinberg
• “Bloody Isle of the Kiyah-rahi” by Christopher Fulbright
• “Son of Song” by Frank Coffman
• “Avatar” by Jimmy Cheung
• “Belit’s Refrain” by Barbara Barrett
• “Now With Serpents He Wars” by Patrick R. Berger
• “Best to Let it Lie” by Danny Street
• “Two Dragons Blazing: A Tale of the Barbarian Kabar of El Hazzar” by Angeline Hawkes
• “The Nights’ Last Battle” by Amy Kerr
• “Sailor Tom Sharkey and the Phantom of the Gentlemen Farmer’s Commune” by Mark Finn
• “I Am a Martian Galley Slave!” by David A. Hardy
• “A Spirit on the Wind” by Frank Coffman
• “Dead River Revenge” by Chris Gruber
• “The Moon” by Barbara Barrett
• “No Other Gods” by Gary Romeo
• “A Meeting in the Bush” by Morgan Holmes
• “Blades of Hell” by Don Herron
• Afterword by Mark Finn

Y’know what? I don’t need to say anything else. This tome is available via Lulu: http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/dreams-in-the-fire/15696549
and will debut at Howard Days on June 10th.

Indy sez: check it out!

Mark Adds:
In addition to helping Project Pride maintain the Robert E. Howard House, Dreams in the Fire makes a great autograph book for those of you wanting unique pieces of Howardian Memorabilia. Most of the people in the book are regular or semi-regular attendees to Howard Days and will be in Cross Plains this year to sign and date your copy. You can catch a lot of REHupans with this book!

All right, here’s the one month warning: Robert E. Howard Days in Cross Plains, Texas commences in thirty days! June 10th and 11th are the official dates for this year’s event, but Howard Days is always too much fun to confine it to a Friday and a Saturday.The Howard House will be open on Thursday, June 9th from 2 – 4 pm, so come on by and avoid the crowds!

Everyone is welcome to come early and stay late! A number of us are coming in on Wednesday (some on Tuesday!) to soak up not only the Texas sun but the palpable Howard vibes that emanate from our favorite Lone Star town. But before you saddle up your pinto, here are a few assorted reminders that Ol’ Indy would ask you to consider.

Pre-registration is necessary if you plan on having a meal at Friday night Celebration Banquet. 15 bucks gets you not only a great Tex-Mex meal, but also the pleasure of the company of fellow fans of Robert E. Howard! Project Pride, the wonderful folks who put this shindig together, is limited to 130 seats in the Community Center. The Banquet is almost always sold out, so please get you pre-reg dough to them before June 1st. This year you can PayPal your registration to projpride@yahoo.com or send your check or money order to: Project Pride, POB 534, Cross Plains, Texas 76443. (Of course, your pre-reg also pays for your participation in doughnuts & coffee plus lunch on Friday and the Saturday night Barbeque, so that’s quite a deal for 15 smackers!)

There’s also still plenty of time for you to look over your Howard collection and pick out a few items to donate to the Silent Auction, held in conjunction with the Banquet. There are always some unique Howard items and collectibles available for your bidding and all the proceeds go to Project Pride to help with the continued upkeep of the Robert E. Howard House & Museum. Project Pride is an all-volunteer organization and these fine folks make the Howard House available all year round for anyone interested in taking the tour, so a great way we can help them is with our monetary support. The Silent Auction is an excellent fund raiser, so please help and send your items to the address above.

There have been some tweaks added to the REH DAYS 2011 INFORMATION PAGE, so please check that out. We’re doing a few “extemporaneous” things this year (in addition to our Friday night Poetry Readings at the Pavilion). We’re going to try an on-the-spot art contest, among other things. We will most likely make some stuff up when we’re there as well, so surprises may abound!

I’ll be continuing with updating the INFO PAGE, so check back periodically. We hope to see a passle of y’uns at Howard Days this year, so y’all come!

Come one come all to Robert E. Howard Days in Cross Plains, Texas, June 10-11, 2011! It’s the world’s best and largest official gathering of REH Fans and Friends – ok, so it’s the only “official” REH gathering – so it’s automatically the best and largest! Score for Howard Fans!

This year’s “theme” is Howard History, as we’ve got four pretty big anniversaries to celebrate: 25 years since the first Howard Days, 50 years since Glenn Lord first published The Howard Collector, 75 years honoring the life of REH and 100 years since Cross Plains became Cross Plains!

Click on the REH DAYS 2011 tab at the top of this page and you will magically be transported to the Information Page. Hopefully, most of the info there will guide you (and entice you) on your trip to REH Days. Parts of the page are still “in progress” and will be revised with updated info, but the solid stuff you’ll need to know to enjoy yourself for a great weekend is there. I’ll be clarifying a few things (like some of the panels), but three months away means it’s time to really start making your trip plans.

There will be folks from all over the U.S. plus visitors from France and Scotland coming in for our little Chock Full O’Howard festival. If you’ve thought about coming before but haven’t, this is the year to come on down. We’ve got a few surprises in store for attendees and the whole shebang is just a ton of fun, so I hope to see you there!

The theme of Robert E. Howard Days in Cross Plains this year is “Howard History”. We’ve decided to distinguish four important anniversaries in the world of REH: 100 Years of Cross Plains, 75 Years honoring the Legacy of Ol’ Two-Gun, 50 years since Glenn Lord’s first publication of The Howard Collector and the 25th year since the very first REH Days. (It’s going to be a great time this year, so y’all come!)

But for this particular Howard enthusiast, 2011 marks another milestone: 45 years since the publication of the first mass market REH paperback, CONAN THE ADVENTURER, from Lancer books.

I was in the process of turning from 16 to 17 in September of 1966 when this book fairly leaped into my hands from the paperback shelves at the Wilco Food store in Miller, Indiana. The cover was barbarian magnificence telling me this Conan fellow was “The World’s Greatest Fantasy Hero”, and while I didn’t initially fall into that belief (my heart belonged to Tarzan), I decided to sacrifice 60 cents of my comic book money and give this Robert E. Howard guy a try. After all, the very first page of this book compares Howard to Edgar Rice Burroughs, and I had already read all the ERB from that early 60′s boom, so what did I have to lose?

Turns out I had everything to gain – REH quickly replaced ERB as my favorite author. I’m on record as saying that this book, Conan the Adventurer from Lancer Books, is the single most important event ever in the history of Howard Publishing. And I’ve chronicled how Robert E. Howard Saved My Life – this book was the start of it all.

And today, even as I celebrate 45 Years of CONAN THE ADVENTURER, I can still be a 16 year old transported to a magical place, thanks to the genius of Robert E. Howard…appreciate it, Bob!

As the snows blow cold here in NW Indiana (and most parts of the country, actually) it’s the very best time to turn our thoughts to the warmer upcoming months. Specifically, Robert E. Howard Days in Cross Plains, Texas, is happening once again in 2011 (“officially”) on June 10 & 11. Hope you can make plans to be there. There will be many more details forthcoming this week as we get the REH Days Information Page tuned up for 2011, so hang with us and stay tuned.

This year, under the sponsorship of The Robert E. Howard Foundation and Project Pride of Cross Plains, with assistance from the Robert E. Howard United Press Association, our “theme” is all about Howard History. 2011 marks four unique anniversaries upon which will will devote our festivities. Cross Plains, Texas is already celebrating it’s 100th anniversary as an incorporated town (you can follow this on Facebook right now), it’s the 75th year of honoring the Legacy of REH, it’s the 50th anniversary of Glenn Lord’s benchmark Howard publication, The Howard Collector, and it’s the 25th anniversary of the very first Robert E. Howard Days.

Keeping that history angle in mind, we’ve chosen two Legendary REH publishers to be our Co-Guests of Honor this year: Damon Sasser and Dennis McHaney. Those of you familiar with Howard Fandom will of course recognize Damon and Dennis and we’re happy to have them at Howard Days to talk and be available to their legions of fans. Damon is the publisher of REH: Two-Gun Raconteur (“The definitive Howard Fanzine”) and runs the REH: TGR blog, and Dennis’ The Howard Review is his ultimate claim to fame (among others) in a nearly 40 year career as as a REH publisher. Dennis also runs the biggest REH message board at rehinnercircle.com.

There’s lots more info to come here on the REHupa site, plus there’ll be info at the REH Foundation site, Damon’s TGR blog and Conan.com. We’re in the process of setting up the scheduling for Howard Days, plus there’ll be some truly fantastic events happening if everything falls into place this year. All of the familiar fan-friendly events are still happening: House & Town tours, Banquet & Silent Auction, Swap Meet, Postal Cancellation, Saturday BBQ plus a plethora of interesting panels & hopefully some special events.

Ok, if that’s not enough enticement, keep your radio dial tuned here for updates and more detailed information. In the meantime, shouldn’t you be making your plans to get to Howard Days this year? We’ll be looking for you! Y’all come!