DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker tells it this way, and I'm just here to do it justice. Robert Ervin Howard — born January 24, 1906, in Parker County, Texas. Now that's where the story starts, but it sure didn't stay there.
The boy moved around some, growing up in the Brown and Callahan County communities of Cross Cut, Cross Plains, and Brownwood. Small towns. Tight communities.
The kind of places where a kid with a big imagination had to build his own worlds if he wanted somewhere to go. And build them he did. He attended Brownwood High School and Howard Payne College, and before he was done with either, he was already publishing fiction in school newspapers.
You read that right — school newspapers. The fire was already burning. He went on to write poetry and short stories for popular magazines, but his main interest, the thing that really had its hooks in him, was science fiction and fantasy.
Then came 1932. That year, Robert E. Howard created the character Conan the Barbarian.
One man, in one moment of creative lightning, conjured something the whole world would eventually know. Conan has since traveled far beyond those Brown County roads — through books, magazines, and movies, known worldwide. Howard himself never saw the full reach of what he'd made.
On June 11, 1936, at the age of 30, Robert E. Howard committed suicide. Thirty years old.
The worlds kept expanding after him. That's the thing about a story well enough told — it doesn't need you anymore.
What the marker says
(January 24, 1906-June 11, 1936) Born in Parker County, Robert Ervin Howard grew up in the Brown and Callahan County communities of Cross Cut, Cross Plains, and Brownwood. He attended Brownwood High School and Howard Payne College, and published his first works of fiction in school newspapers. He later wrote poetry and short stories for popular magazines. His main interest was in science fiction and fantasy. In 1932 he created the character Conan the Barbarian. Howard committed suicide at age 30. His Conan character has become known worldwide through books, magazines, and movies. (1991)