Tiesittekö, että Conanin luomiseen liittyy Suomi-yhteys??
Itse en tämmöisestä ollut kuullut, mutta ilmeisesti Howard oli kirjeenvaihdossa suomalais-amerikkalaisen sci-fi-kirjailija Emil Petajan kanssa (ikinä kuullutkaan! aukko sivistyksessä!) ja lähetti tälle 1932 kirjoittamansa runon Cimmeria, josta sai alkunsa Conanin maailma!
Petaja oli kuulemma kirjeenvaihdossa myös mm. Lovecraftin kanssa.
Tässä kokonaisuudessaan englanniksi teksti, jossa tästä kuulin:
* * *
In the last few weeks I've had a number of enquiries from list
members about the signed Robert E. Howard photograph posted in my Comic Art Fans gallery. This interest has been prompted, I suspect, by the ongoing hoopla surrounding the centenary of the author's birth.
http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryRoom.asp?GSub=5115In case any other enquiring minds want to know the background to this item, the photo is from the Emil Petaja estate. The author of 13 novels and more than 100 short stories, in 1995 Petaja was named the first ever Author Emeritus by the Science Fiction Writers of America.
A Finnish-American, he was a contemporary of REH and an occasional contributor to WEIRD TALES. He corresponded with the CONAN author, H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith and other writers from the magazine's stable. Petaja was present at the creation of Conan, so to speak, in that he was the fella REH sent his poem CIMMERIA to in February, 1932. According to the handwritten note to Petaja on the typescript, the poem was: "Written in Mission, Texas, February 1932; suggested by the memory of the hill-country above Fredricksburg seen in a mist of winter rain". A fully-realised Conan sprang from REH's fecund brow almost simultaneously to inhabit the "land of Darkness
and deep Night" described in the poem. When Petaja died in 2000, his collection of pulp-era correspondence/artifacts -- a veritable treasure trove of such material -- was broken up and sold. Never ceases to amaze me how this little photo has survived the years virtually unscathed -- no yellowing, no mildew stains, no bends or tears. It's the only signed REH photo I've ever come across -- I've seen the occasional letter sold at auction and, of course, I think most of us are familiar with the handful of REH manuscripts that are in private hands. But this piece is unique as far as I am aware.