New Friends and No Sleep - Howard Days 2012

This past weekend folks from around the world came to Cross Plains, Texas, for the annual celebration of the world's greatest pulpster - Robert E. Howard. For those in the know, this two day event is something of a literary pilgrimage that offers fans of Robert E. Howard and his work an opportunity to connect in a uniquely personal way with their favorite author. It's the equivalent of a spiritual journey that no true Howard fan should miss if they can help it.

And it's not easy getting to Cross Plains, Texas. It lies somewhere near the geographical center of the state and requires that one keep a sharp eye out as you travel from the more civilized ports of call lest you miss it. Hours from Dallas and the better part of an hour from the interstate, it pokes its sleepy small-town head over forgotten oil derricks and rolling wheat fields so suddenly you're apt to mistake it for a simple crossroads gas stop.

But, for those fans that braved the elements, dared torrential downpours and dodged hail the size of hockey pucks it was a welcome site. And did they come! From the Scottish Highlands to the hills of Hollywood the Howard Faithful were treated to a heaping helping of Texas hospitality by the good folks from Project Pride who host the annual gathering.

I had intended on writing a full-fledged trip report as I have done in year's past for the retired Cimmerian magazine and my REHupa mag, Iron Legions. But this year the mood of the event had lulled me into a contented, laid back, Howard fan-geek state. The atmosphere wasn't so much electric as it was satisfying. I mean that in the best possible way. I spent far more time this year enjoying the little things that make Howard Days so special for so many fans. I only had one panel to worry about and even that turned out to be a low key appeal to fans to open themselves up to the merits of the boxing stories. As usual, Fists at the Icehouse went over well with the large crowd that gathered to see "a fight at the Icehouse!" Howard scholar (and Venarium winner) Jeff Shanks and I played cornermen to Mark Finn's foghorn bellerin' rendition of Costigan as he sauntered to and fro, dancing lightly as he regaled the crowd with Howard lore. To satisfy the jeering throng, I tried to get ol' Finn to step up to the scratch line but he knew there was no money it and after a few feints and shuffle steps, he promptly turned out the lights and left the fans wanting more! Finn's a regular Tex Rickard for sure. The Icehouse is for the three of us an actual alter - a real battleground that Howard sparred in - and to be able to step upon and absorb the ambiance is nothing short of special. Good times.

And that's what this Howard Days was all about, really - good times. I finally got to meet Stygian winner Keith Taylor but wished I had had more time to speak with him. He reads this here blog so I know we can make a lengthier conversation happen some day. Congrats to him- he does a bang up job on all things Howard related. If you are a follower of his blog you no doubt read that some goofy fan almost made him late for the award ceremony. That'd be me. I just wanted to talk with him for a few minutes and what was supposed to be a few words stretched quickly into a few minutes. Sorry Keith!

As I said, good times. I was tired the whole weekend and yet I still found myself engaged in conversations late into the Texas night with old friends and new. I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Seth Humble, Brad Ellison, Mark Caroll and his wife, Jennifer Baughman. Wow! Not only were they huge Howard fans but they were great people. There were many other new faces this year and almost all of them were interested in learning more about Howard's boxing stories. Hell yeah! I got to watch Mark Caroll GM a motley crew thru an RPG game adventure that was epic. Finn, Harron, and others were a sweaty, deflated mess after Mark was done with them.

I also got to spend some quality time with some of my best Howard Days buds - the Quijas Brothers - Dominic and Eli, and their sons Joseph and Isaiah. They've been coming since about 2006 and they are passionate about Robert E. Howard. I am serious; these guys know their stuff and live it. I feel young and full of energy when I am around these guys and it was nothing but good times hanging with them. Speaking of young fans, I was pleasantly surprised to see a young man (name escapes me?) reciting Howard poetry at the Howard poetry slam hosted by Barbara Barrett. I know Joseph wanted to get up there but he must have been in slack-jawed awe after having witnessed the inimitable Tim Arney bellow "Drunk! Drunk! Drunk!" while nearly vaulting over Ed Chaczyk and the Wyrd Sisters in a kind of apoplectic poetic ecstasy.

That reminds me of some more good times I had all weekend with the old guard. Howard giants like Dennis McHaney, Paul Sammon, Tim Arney, Gary Romeo, Todd Woods, and Jeff Shanks hung out and talked with me, Aurelia, Ben Friberg, Al Harron, Jim Barron and Ed Chaczyk. We were all like bees jumping from one flower to the next, gathering up the Howard news at each table and soaking our brains in it. Ah, good times.

I would be remiss if I did not give an extra shout out to Dennis, Todd, Ed, Tim and Al...the only things that could have made our late night gab fests any cooler than they already were would have been to have Charles Gramlich and Tom Foster show up about midnight and say, "I heard there was a party in Cross Plains! Let's talk Robert E. Howard!"

I could go on and on but I'm just rambling, collecting bits and pieces of a great weekend and trying to assemble them like some giant jigsaw puzzle. I know how good it will look when I am finished but I'd rather not be rushed just yet. I think I'll just fit a few pieces together here and there until the next Howard Days rolls around. I sure as heck have enough memories to get me there.



To the good folks of the Middleton Ranch I salute you - the dinner was fabulous, the sunset serene and the Caddo Peak climb an adventure. Thanks to everyone involved. And can you believe!!! I haven't even mentioned the biggest news - for me - of the weekend: Howard Payne University has donated the original Robert E. Howard library (made famous by Rusty Burke's Howard Bookshelf over at REHupa) to the Howard House and Project Pride! What a thrill it was to see those books, with inscriptions to Bob, sitting in a case for all the Howard faithful to ogle over. With each passing year the Howard Home becomes more a living monument to the memory of Robert E. Howard than I dared dream possible. Perhaps it is time we call it a shrine?!


If I missed anyone - I am sorry. I slept a little more than 5 total hours during the weekend and as I drove back home to Albuquerque it was all I could do to keep my eyes open. No doubt after I have a chance to truly reflect on the event I will remember you as the days go by.

See you all next year!

Johnny Tapia 1967-2012

Sadly, another boxing great has cast aside his mortal coil and moved forever from our sight. My wife told me the news this morning that Johnny Tapia has passed away. I spent some time reading the many articles and wishing there were something I could add, something I could argue as they assessed a life cut short by violence, drugs and despair. For once, there isn't much I can add. They got it right when they declared it a miracle he had made it this far in life such were the troubles he faced outside the ring.

His mother was brutally raped and murdered in front of him when he was 8 years old. Told his father had been murdered before he was born only to learn 43 years later that he was alive after all. He grew up alone, angry, and filled with a kind of despondent rage that helped make him the boxer he would later become. He once described himself "as a pitbull...raised to fight to the death." He seemed to live his life as a series of challenges he hoped he'd lose. Drugs, gangs, violence and his own destructive tendencies - these were the real life opponents Tapia fought time and time again. A far cry from the ring where he reigned supreme.

Johnny Tapia was the poster boy for dichotomy. He was an addict and champion; an uncaring fiend one minute and an earnest and loving friend the next; he had a gregarious personality that seemed content only when walking that fine line between exuberant life and the melancholy depths of despair and death. His inner demons really were too much to overcome. His upbringing was just too horrifying to forget. He was a champion in the ring and a troubled soul outside it. The two halves of his life were never meant to reconcile one with the other - sadly, I feel that he has finally found the sweet release from life that he seemed always grasping for.

His achievements in the ring were glorious. His skills as a boxer were legendary. His life, however, will seem in retrospect the cold dregs of a tortured soul as it failed in miserable fashion to provide him with even the semblance of security and love he so desperately needed.

I wish I had had the opportunity to know this man or to have at least had his confidence as I suspect he had much to say about the subject of life. I do not know how I would have felt about him as he was notoriously volatile and prone to wild swings of emotion. However, as a fan of the sport he was certainly worthy of our respect as a ring warrior of the highest order, a giant little man who thrilled sporting fans the world over. Not having had the privilege of knowing him personally, I choose to remember him this way - arms raised above his head in victory, an infectious smile upon his scarred face. The smile always seemed so genuine, as if he were for a few moments released from the private hell of the rest of his life.

Rest in peace Johnny Tapia

58-5-2
30 KOs
3 Division Champion

A New Perspective

I am sorry that I hadn't thought about this blog the past month but so much has gone on that I wonder how I could have made time for it. A quick rundown might make even the bravest of men quake in fear..my wife has had two operations in as many weeks, my uncle was killed, a doctor damaged a nerve in my foot, my daughter has three deadly food allergies, and I am in the process of completing a cultural heritage program while simultaneously beginning my masters education in history. Add to that my children and writing for Howard related projects and I can honestly tell you that I've been busy.

My last post was about my uncle's homicide and while I do not regret my initial reaction I must accept that it certainly didn't make for "good" reading. In retrospect, perhaps this wasn't the best place to report on his avoidable demise. If, however, you are wondering what has happened since my last post I am happy to report that my family has sought legal counsel and is moving forward to extract justice for his unwarranted murder.

As far as my family problems there seems to be a silver lining to my wife's pain. For three weeks, I hobbled around on my bad feet and attempted to be both daddy and mommy to my three children. This proved to be both difficult and rewarding. When my son Max was born it was clear that he and I would be bonded in a way that every father and son should be. When my twin daughters were born I was happy but detached. I was working, going to school and in the middle of a relocation that left me and the girls with little "daddy" time. These past weeks represented an opportunity to be a father to them in the same way I was for Max. It's amazing how much we can learn about ourselves in times of crisis, both big and small. We are all better for this time together, closer and in a kind of harmony that I had not believed possible. I am becoming as close to my girls as I have always been with my son and I like it. A lot.

So, forgive me my emotional roller-coaster. It's been a hard year for the grub. Thank God for my family and friends for helping me through all of this.

My next post will focus on one of my favorite series, written by John Maddox Roberts, entitled the Stormland series. This is without a doubt the best pentalogy I have ever read. I pulled all 5 volumes off of my shelf and will review each one in the coming months. I' also have some Robert E. Howard news to post in the coming weeks.

So, while it may seem business as usual - it is, but with a sad  salute to what we all endure in our lives. To my uncle Eugene Benedict Gruber, I am going to miss you dearly. There's so much about life that we cannot control but as he would say, "Hell's Bells, Chris! Tell me something that I don't know - wouldja?"

Eugene Gruber - My Uncle or "Don't Even Act Like You Might Resist"

I had no idea you were in this kind of trouble, Gene. If I had known I would have helped like I've done in the past, kept you from this ridiculous end at the hands of those butchers. You've always let me know when you were in too deep for your own good and I've always come for you - why not this time? Why didn't you or anyone else let me know what was happening? Where you were? All I knew from my dad was that you were in County lock up for a few months. Gene - why didn't you let me know it was serious?

This post is not a eulogy or a remembrance - that will come later. Right now, I am partly numb with shock and shaking with rage over the tragic death/murder of my uncle. I am posting a video that shows my uncle receiving a broken neck from corrections officials as well as the accompanying Chicago Tribune article that recounts his last months on earth as a result of their barbaric brutality.

If you are one of the "brave" men on this video - please...visit me, man to man, and we will sort out our differences, I promise.

Both the video and the article can be found here:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-lake-county-inmate-death-eugene-gruber,0,1431801.story

Of course, there are at least a dozen other articles that you could find with a simple search.

By Lisa Black Tribune reporter

7:24 p.m. CDT, April 10, 2012

The death of a former Lake County jail inmate paralyzed after an altercation with a corrections officer has been ruled a homicide by the Cook County medical examiner’s office, prompting the state’s attorney’s office to call for a special prosecutor to investigate the case, officials said Tuesday.

Eugene Gruber, 51, of Grayslake, died March 3 from pneumonia which resulted from paraplegia following spine injuries suffered in an altercation, according to his death certificate.

“In light of the medical examiner’s findings, the state’s attorney’s office is going to be requesting the appointment of a special prosecutor to review the investigation and whether or not there should be any charges,” said Christen Bishop, chief of special investigations for the Lake County office.

Before Gruber’s death, Lake County prosecutors determined there were no grounds for criminal charges against staff members involved. The legal definition of “homicide” is broadly defined as the killing of one human being by another but does not necessarily mean the act was criminal.

James Sotos, an attorney representing the sheriff’s office, said the homicide ruling does not suggest any wrongdoing by jail employees.

“There’s nothing in this report that in any way is intended to suggest any kind of wrongdoing, culpability or liability, and it would be a disservice to interpret it that way,” Sotos said. “The finding of homicide means only that the cause of death is attributable to someone else’s act. So beyond that, it doesn’t really add anything to what is already known.”

Gruber died at Chicago rehabilitation hospital about four months after being injured during a brief incarceration.

Jail staff members described Gruber as drunk and combative when he was brought in on Oct. 31 after a disorderly conduct and trespassing arrest. Guards pepper-sprayed Gruber and then used a neck-twisting “take-down” measure while struggling to change his clothes, according to the state's attorney's report.

Over the next 24 hours, Gruber complained that he couldn't move his legs and was carried around, sometimes with his legs dragging, as guards tried to take his mug shot. He was not taken to the hospital until the next day, when his condition deteriorated.

Once at Vista Medical Center East, doctors determined Gruber suffered paralysis from a broken neck and performed two surgeries, records show. He was undergoing rehabilitation and being weaned off a ventilator before he died, his family’s lawyer has said.

Gruber's sister, Eileen Siwula, has filed a federal lawsuit against numerous jail officials and employees of Correct Care Solutions, the jail's health care provider. A Correct Care nurse was fired in part for reportedly failing to assess Gruber properly.

Correctional officers did not initially document the physical altercation with Gruber in their required daily reports, according to the state’s attorney’s report.

“You look at the numbers of officers who were there and they can’t control one drunk?” said Charles Gruber, Eugene’s cousin, who is also a former police chief. The homicide ruling came as no surprise, he said.

Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran has said that he is reviewing the incident to see whether it was handled in accordance with department policies.

Gruber's death is the second tied to the jail since January, when inmate Lyvita Gomes, 52, who had shown signs of mental illness, died after a 15-day hunger strike.

Curran announced last Friday that he intended to spend a week in jail as a “show of faith” in his corrections personnel. But on Monday, he canceled the plan at his lawyer’s request, Sotos said.

It's been some time since my last update. In that time I've been writing fiction, rehabilitating a nerve injury, and transcribing personal letters to Word documents. Mark Finn, my fellow Howardian junkie, has let loose with the Howard low-down over at his blog: http://marktheaginghipster.blogspot.com/

The fiction is a smattering of work that covers several genres and includes more than one type of media. I'm continuting to chronicle the adventures of Main 'Mwi, the half Miami scout that first debuted in the anthology dedicated to Robert E. Howard, called Dreams in the Fire. I've received a good deal of positive feedback regarding this character and the story, Dead River Revenge. The creative well for this character is very deep and I can't imagine running out of ideas for this historical-weird series. Yeah, I know, you want to know what the hell an historical-weird tale is? It's exactly what it sounds like; a crossroads of history and the weird pulp tale.

The second piece of fiction I've been working on is meant for the comic book format. The title (tentative) is Myth-Hunter and it records the adventure of the paranormal investiagtor, Alexander Dagda. He's a cross between Robert E. Howard's hard-boiled detective Steve Harrison and Dylan Dog (the Italian comic or even the Dark Horse version.) Look, I know this particular road has been traveled before but I think there have been many alleys left undiscovered. I like what I have written and I certainly like the world I have placed Dagda in. It's a concotion of all the pagan, literary, and historically unidentiafiable myths I've always been fascinated with. I'm an historian and I like to think that I create a believable sense of the arcane that has been missing from much of this genres recent represetatives. Besides, who doesn't like Lovecraftian allusions tempered with real world occult mysteries? This adventure has it all; modern Druids, Cthulian possibilities, Howardesque action and a frantic pace that that allows me to really dig deep without becoming boring.
FYI - I'm looking for an illustrator!

That's all for now.

Howard Boxing Volume Update

It's been awhile since my last post and for that I apologize. It's just that I've got so many darned things going on that I sometimes lose track of time and, invariably, something suffers. As you all know, I've been working hard on producing the four volume "Complete Boxing Stories" collection with fellow Howard scholars Mark Finn and Patrice Louinet. Well buckos, some very interesting developments have taken place that may affect our project. Don't panic! Let's just say that things have gotten very interesting of late - and it's all positive. Keep your eyes peeled for the next update

Volume Two - Almost There!

Good news Howard fans! Volume two of the complete boxing stories of Robert E. Howard is nearing the finish line. Volume two is full of surprises and there are several that will knock your socks off. I'm sorry, I can't give too much away but with Patrice and Mark handling the essays and introductions for this volume I am certain you won't be disappointed. More news coming soon ...yes, that means volume three is on my radar!

This is NOT the cover of the boxing project volumes.

It's the cover of the book I edited (Boxing Stories - Robert E. Howard) 

for Bison Books, beautifully crafted by master artist Gary Gianni.