Thursday, October 6, 2011

The One and Only Lovecraft

As I was reading L. Sprague de Camp's Lovecraft: A Biography (Ballantine, 1976), I came upon a piece of Lovecraft trivia worth sharing. De Camp stated that in his lifetime, Lovecraft was the only man in America with that surname. Intrigued, I searched census records and found that de Camp's statement appears to be true. That would suggest that--barring immigration or name changes--the surname "Lovecraft" is extinct in the United States. Further proof that Lovecraft was and is unique.

The young Lovecraft. Look closely and you will see that there are two faces in this photograph, Lovecraft's and that of a leering, ectoplasmic demon over his left shoulder, seemingly emerging from his ear like a genie from a bottle.

Text and captions copyright 2011, 2023 Terence E. Hanley

2 comments: