In 1934, Texas-born Novalyne Price was a pretty, young schoolteacher with romantic
notions of becoming a writer. On a late spring afternoon, Clyde Smith, her beau at the time, introduced her to Robert E. Howard,
a working writer with a handsome face and a passion for words unlike any Novalyne had ever encountered.
To the outside world, Bob Howard was a mercurial social misfit. Slavishly devoted
to his ailing mother and to his writing, Howard was prone to telling spontaneous tales -- yarns, as he called them -- of seduction, violence and death perpetrated by his most famous
character, Conan the Barbarian. To Novalyne, he was extraordinary. Although his bizarre behavior and slovenly
appearance disturbed her, she forgave those flaws in light of his profound love of writing and a peerless imagination.
Their courtship was stormy. Novalyne longed for some semblance of conformity from
Bob, who clung to his sick mother, all too happy to keep her son close to her side. After more than a year of verbal sparring,
Novalyne and Bob finally shared a kiss -- long, tender, dizzying. Novalyne waited anxiously for a declaration of love from Bob,
who could only pull back, insisting on his freedom and declaring that marriage would never be in his future.
Novalyne, left with no choice but to move on, began a relationship with Truett Vinson,
an old friend of Bob's. Unbeknownst to the new couple, Bob learned of their courtship and, deeply wounded,
began to spiral further over the edge towards madness.
After a long silence, almost two years after their first encounter, Bob and Novalyne
reunited for a date. Desperate for one last chance at resurrecting their feelings for each other, Bob tearfully confronted Novalyne
and was once again crushed when she explained that she had been accepted to Louisiana State Universitys master's program and would be leaving.
Just before Novalyne's departure, Bob mustered up a sweet good-bye which ended with a wave and a promise
of lifelong friendship. Sadly, that day was the last that Novalyne Price and Robert Howard would spend with each other.
The summer of 1936 would mark the end of their relationship and the beginning of a
memory that lived in Novalyne Price's heart for almost 50 years, until its public retelling in 1985 in the form of her
first novel, One Who Walked Alone
Last Modified 12-December-1996
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