Robert E. Howard

From The Midland (Texas) Reporter Telegram:

By Tumbleweed Smith When I spoke at the Cross Plains Chamber of Commerce banquet last month, some friends told me if I came early I could tour the Robert E. Howard house. I had heard of Howard only as the creator of "Conan the Barbarian." I had no idea of his significance or influence in the world of supernatural and fantasy literature. Howard grew up in Cross Plains and sold his first story to a pulp magazine when he was 17 years old. Soon he was making a penny a word and turning out enough stories to be making more money than anyone else in Cross Plains. He was earning more than his father, who was a doctor. He wrote Westerns, boxing stories and poetry, but what he loved most was to write about the fantasy world he created in his mind. Maps in the Howard house show his imaginary empire, complete with borders, rivers, mountains and forests. They all had intriguing, almost biblical, names.

The name of the writer, Tumbleweed Smith, sounds like the type of name R.E.H. would use for one of his westerns or weird adventures.