Robert E. Howard

Howard's earliest printed work came from a friend's hand. Tevis Clyde Smith printed some of his first stories on a small portable press, and Smith's encouragement helped Howard resolve to live by writing. He turned out every kind of formula fiction, fight stories, ghost stories, historical adventures and heroic fantasies, for a penny a word. His heroes, he said, simply cut, shoot or slug their way out of a jam. None of his books appeared in his lifetime. Decades later, the Handbook of Texas says, only J. R. R. Tolkien outsold him among fantasy writers.

What the plaque 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)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Lake Brownwood State Park — 11 mi
  A CCC park on a reservoir that filled in a single flood before its dam was done, with stone cabins, a hilltop dance pavilion and a grand staircase climbed by dancers arriving by boat.

More markers nearby

• Charlie Webb and John Wesley Hardin — 0.3 mi
• The Rev. Noah Turner Byars — 1.3 mi
• Dr. Mollie W. Armstrong — 1.4 mi
• Daniel Baker College — 1.4 mi