Alfred Galpin (8 November 1901-5 March 1983) was a writer, literary academic and musical composer, as well as a long-time friend and correspondent of H. P. Lovecraft's.
Overview[]
First making Lovecraft’s acquaintance while still in high school, the two met through the United Amateur Press Association, an organisation which Lovecraft spent a great deal of time involved with. There, Galpin served two terms as vice president, the appointment being made by Lovecraft himself. They also wrote a series of round-robin pieces with fellow author Maurice W. Moe; most of these pieces are no longer extant.
Although Galpin and Lovecraft corresponded for decades, they only met in person once, when the latter visited Galpin and Samuel Loveman in Cleveland, Ohio in July 1922.
When hearing of Lovecraft’s death in 1937 Galpin dedicated the last in a series of four musical pieces, which he was in the process of completing, to his old friend: "Lament for H. P. L."
Later in life Galpin would write a memoir titled "Memories of a Friendship"; August Derleth included the work in the Arkham House anthology The Shuttered Room and Other Pieces in 1959. This volume also featured the first printing of Lovecraft's cautionary short story "Old Bugs", in which a fictionalised version of Galpin who succumbed to the lure of alcohol became a drunken destitute.
Selected Works[]
Literature[]
Non-Fiction[]
- "Memories of a Friendship" (1959)
Music[]
- "Lament for H. P. L." (1937)