{"id":8478,"date":"2009-12-16T11:05:56","date_gmt":"2009-12-16T18:05:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leogrin.com\/CimmerianBlog\/?p=8478"},"modified":"2015-09-25T09:17:53","modified_gmt":"2015-09-25T16:17:53","slug":"time-to-saddle-up-howard-fans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/leogrin.com\/CimmerianBlog\/time-to-saddle-up-howard-fans\/","title":{"rendered":"Time to Saddle Up, Howard Fans"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a>\"\"<\/a>

Maggie Van Ostrand<\/p><\/div>\n

EDIT:<\/strong> Thanks to Howard fans coming together and forming a determined shieldwall, both Texas Escapes<\/em> and Fandomania<\/em> have made adjustments to Ms. Van Ostrand’s article. As [redacted] puts it: “Texas Escapes<\/em> has pulled the article down and Fandomania<\/em> has placed enough editorial padding between the piece and the site that there can be no doubt as to the veracity of the piece in question.” Van Ostrand has also apologised for not digging deeper into the research regarding Howard’s life. So, no need to email either site or Van Ostrand.<\/p>\n

Also, readers of this blog entry\u00a0should be aware that its sole purpose was to serve\u00a0as a call to arms directed\u00a0specifically at REH fans. In my opinion, its purpose has been served.\u00a0In no way was it intended to be informative to the general public. Certain basic knowledge was assumed, since it was aimed entirely at active, informed REH fans, as the title should have indicated to any unwary reader. Uncomplimentary language was directed towards Ms. Van Ostrand. This is in no way an apology, simply a preface intended to inform readers of content.<\/p>\n

— Deuce Richardson<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

*Note: All terms such as “harridan” or “virago” have been streamlined by the substitution of “liar” in this text. However, the individual reader can feel free to re-insert such terms.<\/p>\n

Over on the website known as Fandomania<\/em>, a woman named Maggie Van Ostrand<\/a> has posted a blog entry entitled, “Was\u00a0Conan Really a Fictional Character?”<\/a> I think a better headline would be “Am I a Willfully\u00a0Uninformed, Sensationalistic Old Liar?”<\/p>\n

Van Ostrand’s “article” is quite possibly the most concentrated dose of misinformation and malicious speculation regarding the life of Robert E. Howard that I have ever read. You can forget Arnie Fenner. L. Sprague de Camp was a bit more moderate than Maggie, preferring to spread his lies, half-truths\u00a0and fictionalizing about REH’s life\u00a0over a greater number of pages. Apparently, unlike LSdC (her font of Howardian wisdom), Van Ostrand does not plan to make a career out of distorting the public’s perceptions of REH’s days on this mortal coil. This is her one shot at the Man From Cross Plains and she’s gonna make it count. Both barrels, baby.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Six sentences into her piece, ol’ Maggie lays this one on her readers: “Both of REH\u2019s parents were beyond weird and there is no doubt they created Robert\u2019s tortured mind.” This, and the sentences preceding, set the utterly sensationalistic tone for the entire wretched “article.” Van Ostrand’s purpose is not to inform her audience about a gifted writer. No, her obvious intent is to tell an entertaining story about some “crazy” guy from West Texas and his “beyond weird” parents, the truth be damned.<\/p>\n

The whole\u00a0catty screed is filled with flabbergasting wowsers and jaw-dropping fantastications from beginning to end. Old Mags very possibly reaches the absolute nadir of imbecilic\u00a0guesswork when writing about Doc Howard’s thoughts regarding his new-born son.\u00a0Maggie (to paraphrase Lovecraft), works herself into a grotesque, malignant saraband of fantastic speculation. This<\/em> is the thought she puts into Isaac Mordecai Howard’s head: “Had his earth-born child come from the Gates of Hell with a Dark Lord watching over him?” Oh yeah, and she also also accuses Doc Howard of have a head of “excessive” black hair. I can’t make this stuff up, but Van Ostrand sure\u00a0can.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Damon Sasser was the first Howardian to\u00a0hit the crime scene. He informed ol’ Mags that her primary source material, De Camp’s Dark Valley Destiny<\/em>, was outdated and long since debunked. Van Ostrand responded:<\/p>\n

I stand by my article. If purists want to put an end to a book that one of Sasser\u2019s own recommended sources says \u201cremains the premiere Howard biography,\u201d then why don\u2019t you have a book burning and get rid of the books you disagree with? I’m done with this silliness.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Maggie’s “recommended source” is from a Gary Romeo piece that has been left up on the REHupa site in the interest of open\u00a0intellectual discourse, not\u00a0because anyone else agrees with it (except for Steve Allsup). I love how the Magster sets up a straw-man with her “book burning” quip. If such was the case, Gary’s pathetic defense of Dark Valley Destiny<\/em> wouldn’t even be there for her to squint her beady eyes at. Her Magness then shows her\u00a0commitment to the truth by flouncing out of her own blog.<\/p>\n

[Gary Romeo, wherever you are, I hope you’re proud of yourself. I guess you and Allsup down at Firebase DeCamp can high-five each other now.]<\/p>\n

Many excellent comments by stalwart Howard fans\u00a0followed\u00a0Maggie’s regal departure. I was impressed by “Lisa,” a Howard fan heretofore unknown to me.<\/p>\n

I urge each and every REH fan to go to Fandomania<\/em>, read the pertinent\u00a0comments so we’re all on the same page, and then contact the editor of the site at jason@fandomania.com<\/a>. Maggie the Crazed\u00a0Liar has left the building. She cares not for your opinions and\u00a0refuses to\u00a0respond to your “purist” prattle. However, I’m sure that the editor is still checking his inbox. Fill that thing with righteous (but barbarically courteous)\u00a0indignation. I think Maggie needs to move on or make an apology.<\/p>\n

Lest my gentle readers think that Fandomania<\/em> is the only site in the blogosphere where the Magginatrix has left her foul taint, be apprised of the fact that she is a contributing editor\u00a0at Texas Escapes<\/a><\/em>. Therein you can find\u00a0posted a truncated version of her vile screed.<\/p>\n

Texas Escapes<\/em> seems like a nice enough website. Its mission statement<\/a> involves exploring the people, places, history and architecture that make Texas what it\u00a0is, especially small-town Texas.\u00a0What I find painfully ironic is that those were Robert E. Howard’s selfsame,\u00a0deeply-felt interests. Eighty years ago, REH could’ve been writing for TE.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Yet, the editors allowed\u00a0some raddled and addled old\u00a0liar to perpetrate this hatchet-job\u00a0on one of Texas’ finest and most famed writers. To add insult to injury, they allow some carpetbagging scribbler from New York State\u00a0to\u00a0do so. That ol’ Mags would\u00a0choose Dark Valley Destiny<\/em> as her source\u00a0does not surprise me.\u00a0De Camp was a carpetbagging scribbler from NY himself. Were the editors of Texas Escapes<\/em> even aware that a biography about the Texan Robert E. Howard was written by the Texan [redacted]<\/a>? So much for being all about Texas.<\/p>\n

Texas Escapes<\/em> is a husband-and-wife enterprise. I implore every Texan REH fan to contact\u00a0John and Kate Troesser at correction@texasescapes.com<\/a>. Let them know\u00a0how you feel about this character assassination inflicted upon one\u00a0of Texas’ proudest sons. If you don’t receive a response or see an apology, feel free to\u00a0find some other means\u00a0of getting the word out and making your displeasure known.<\/p>\n

If Jason Dorough or the Troessers ask where factual information can be found regarding the life of Robert E. Howard, tell ’em that there’s plenty to read right here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Like I said, time to saddle up.<\/p>\n

*I’d like to thank Damon Sasser for the heads-up as well as for the inspiration for this entry’s title (though I like to think that I would’ve come up with it on my own). Damon has posted his own most excellent response to\u00a0Van Ostrand’s utterly unprovoked attack here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EDIT: Thanks to Howard fans coming together and forming a determined shieldwall, both Texas Escapes and Fandomania have made adjustments to Ms. Van Ostrand’s article. As [redacted] puts it: “Texas Escapes has pulled the article down and Fandomania has placed enough editorial padding between the piece and the site that there can be no doubt […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fandom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/leogrin.com\/CimmerianBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/leogrin.com\/CimmerianBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/leogrin.com\/CimmerianBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/leogrin.com\/CimmerianBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/leogrin.com\/CimmerianBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8478"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"http:\/\/leogrin.com\/CimmerianBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8478\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16769,"href":"http:\/\/leogrin.com\/CimmerianBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8478\/revisions\/16769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/leogrin.com\/CimmerianBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/leogrin.com\/CimmerianBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/leogrin.com\/CimmerianBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}