Radovarl wrote:
I didn't know that, thanks.  What's your source for that info (Tolkien's awareness of REH, not the Morris/MacDonald influence), if you don't mind me asking?  Not that I doubt you, I just want to read whatever it is.

Rad;

I don't remember the exact source, it was a book about the "Inklings", the group that included CS Lewis and other notables from Oxford college back in the day.  I'm going by my very poor memory, but from what I remember some members had read the odd few Weird Tales magazines that had found their way across the ocean, and commented on both Howard and Lovecraft.  I don't think the comments were very deep or informative but they do indicate the British fantasy writers did realize there was an American sword and sorcery market going on.  I just googled a bit and couldn't come up with a solid reference; it may have even been a book of letters exchanged between some Inklings members. in any case, REH was definitely not an influence on Tolkien, they approached their subjects through far different literary windows. (Tolkien with his love for ancient mythology and languages, Howard through his reading of histories).  It would have been funny in the early 1930s to sit both of them in a bar together and order them a few drinks.  I bet REH would have at first been greatly fascinated by the fact Tolkien fought in WWI, and both his vast literary background and his personal history, but I have a feeling REH's roughness and bombastic assertions would have put off the good professor. Still, if I had the power to suddenly transport REH, CAS and Lovecraft to an Inklings meeting; or Tolkien, CS Lewis and Charles Williams to a dusty bar in Texas to meet with the aforementioned trio...well, who wouldn't pay a fortune for those transcripts?  

Mike B.

zhowar wrote:rec.arts.books.tolkien is a good place to look for information like this. You can search it through Google Groups. I just found this thread:

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts ... 991069edad

Apparently L. Sprague de Camp stated in a book that Tolkien enjoyed Conan stories, but there's no published verification of this (nothing in Letters).

Wow, thanks Zho. That's probably where I read it then, in a De Camp collection or biography of Howard.

Mike B.

 None of the Americans had finished high school except Howard, and he only barely, while the core Inkling trio all had the equivalent of Master's degrees and were Profs except Williams.  The Americans were atheists, except possibly Howard for whom as far as I know there is no specific statement, while the Inklings were all devout Christians (Lewis converted atheist, Williams mystico-whacko-occult Christian, Tolkien devout Catholic).  Inklings were heavy drinkers, while the Americans were teetotalers except maybe CAS.

I don't think they would have gotten along well, at all

Hmmmm  . . .  one would've thought the opposite--the atheists would be the drinkers while the Christians wou've been teetotallers (or rarely drank at all).   Interesting information!

Random fact - C.S. Lewis died on the same day Aldous Huxley - 22nd Nov. 1963.

Winterwords wrote:Random fact - C.S. Lewis died on the same day Aldous Huxley - 22nd Nov. 1963.

I believe that it was also the same day that John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

Yes...I am correct...at least according to page 251 of The Inklings.

Mark  

red_bus wrote:
Waaay, back in 1988/89, I spent a year at the University of Kansas, in Lawrence, as an exchange student.  I recall being quite suprised to discover that it was a 'dry' campus - in that alcohol was not served or sold at all.  While there were plenty of (great) bars nearby, there were also plenty of people there who were suspicious if you drank at all.   In the part of Northern Ireland where I grew up - there is a strong no-drinking culture amongst some of the more Calvinist protestant churches.  But that too is (thankfully) a minority position  

Yes, there are still "dry" counties in the US.  My own college banned alcohol and tobacco.

I never wanted to smoke a pipe until it was forbidden.  Tried it......found out that it was like sucking a campfire into my mouth.  Images of Gandalf ruined forever.  

The ban on alcohol remains in effect to this day.  Probably better for college students anyway .  The ban did not result in temperance among those inclined to drink.  Rather, it resulted in widespread institutional hypocrisy.

Mark  

FormCritic wrote:Yes, there are still "dry" counties in the US.  My own college banned alcohol and tobacco.

To piggy-back off Mark's comments wrt alcohol, you can see the demographics of wet/dry counties here in Alabama, which is fairly indicative of the American South in general, at this link:

http://www.abcboard.state.al.us/wetdry.asp

The blue counties allow alcohol sales.  The tan-colored counties are dry.

Some cities are wet, while the surrounding county is dry.

Another oddity of this is alcohol sales on Sunday.  It's illegal to sell alcohol on Sunday in most counties and smaller towns around the state.  Only the larger towns allow Sunday alcohol sales.

In fact, where I live (Huntsville), which is a remarkably progressive metro area, only began allowing Sunday alcohol sales in the last 3-4 years.

The public universites are also (technically) dry, although you'd never know it visiting one.

Keith

Keith the Thief wrote:Speaking of "The South", my avatar is my 4th-great grandfather George Washington Hinshaw, who served as a 2nd Lt in the Alabama Home Guard in 1865.

People have said we look alike ... my beard is normal length, though.  I also don't have crooked eyes and I definitely do not have a comb-over  

Some things I'd love to bring back include the giant beard, the long flowing mustache, and men wearing hats....

And for the black men, the five foot fro immortalized in too many cool 70's fringe actors and basketball players to name....!

Mike B.

Badmike wrote:Some things I'd love to bring back include [] men wearing hats....

I'd particularly like to see hats (Fedoras) return to fashion.  My brother-in-law is a boy scout pack leader and wears one of the fedoras you can get at scout shops.  It looks really neat.  Very classy.  It's also incredibly, well, functional .... keeps the rain off ... what a concept.

Keith