Willis Clark Conover, Jr. (18 December 1920 - 17 May 1996) was an American broadcaster and music producer who spent a time in his youth corresponding with horror author Howard Phillips Lovecraft [1].
Overview[]
Conover had been interested in science fiction from an early age, and this brought him into contact with Lovecraft who, by this time, was reaching the end of his life.
An avid science fiction fan from an early age, Conover published his own fanzine, the Science Fantasy Correspondent, as a youth [1]; this brought him into contact with Lovecraft at the age of fifteen, and the two maintained correspondence for a time, although by this point Lovecraft was nearing the end of his life [2]. Their correspondence has been collected in the volume Lovecraft at Last (1975, Carrollton Clark).
Conover would go on to spend much of his life in the broadcasting and music production industries, being a prominent figure in promoting jazz in conjunction with an anti-segregation mindset. Despite this, his was a relatively unknown voice in the United States, his influence being felt far more keenly in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, where access to jazz music was severely limited [1].
A lifelong smoke, Conover died of lung cancer in May 1996 [1].
Selected Bibliography[]
- Lovecraft at Last (1975)
External Links[]
- Willis Conover at Wikipedia
- Willis Conover at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- Willis Conover at Goodreads
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Willis Conover at Wikipedia
- ↑ Lovecraft at Last at the H. P. Lovecraft Archive