Marcelo Anciano

Marcelo Anciano may be the person most responsible for leading the resurgence in getting Robert E. Howard’s works in their original text back out in the world after the Howard Boom of the 1960’s to 1970’s. In 1998, he shepherded The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane into publication with Wandering Star, that is currently published by Del Rey. He led the charge to get the three Conan books done, as well as the Bran Mak Morn, Kull, and the two “Best of” volumes. He put together a crack team (Rusty Burke, Stuart Williams, Patrice Louinet, Jim & Ruth Keegan, Steve Tompkins, and others) to bring out the books in Howard’s original text. Rusty Burke credits Marcelo as the “genius” who inspired them all in working on those books.

Donald A. Wollheim

Donald A. Wollheim (1914-1990) was one of the most influential science fiction and fantasy fans, writers, editors, and publishers of the late 20th century. As a fan-publisher, Wollheim was responsible for the first publication of “Solomon Kane’s Homecoming” in Fanciful Tales of Time and Space (1936) and “The Hyborian Age” in The Phantagraph (1936) and the LANY version, and shortly after Robert E. Howard’s death, Donald Wollheim proposed a collection of his Conan stories. That first collection didn’t happen, but Wollheim never forgot Howard or the desire to promote his work. As a professional editor, Wollheim was responsible for the publication of Howard’s fiction in the popular Avon Fantasy Reader series, and while at ACE, Wollheim published Conan the Conqueror in a Double, and Almuric, as well as anthologies like The Macabre Reader (1960). As a publisher, DAW books continued to place Howard’s works at the forefront of the fantasy and sword & sorcery boom, including the Lin Carter-edited Year’s Best Fantasy Stories series and Lost Worlds (1980)—continuing to promote and publish Robert E. Howard for over 40 years.