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I am providence...
The phrase in the title is the only thing, except for the name and dates, that is placed on Lovecraft's tombstone (Providence is the city in which he was born and, at the same time, providence).
It is not known whether this was his desire or the initiative of his colleagues.
But, in any case, the phrase very accurately reflects the state of things - practically unknown during his lifetime, leading a calm, even reclusive lifestyle, after his death Lovecraft became a cult figure, overgrown with a huge amount of rumors and speculation.
The reason for this is undoubtedly his work, previously appreciated only by a narrow circle of friends and fans, and now recognized as a classic and taken as a starting point for numerous subsequent sequels and imitations.
But before we go directly to creativity, let's try to put together all the few and scattered information that is available about the author's life itself.
Howard Phillips Lovecraft was born on August 20, 1890 in Providence, Rhode Island.
His parents, mother Sarah Susan Phillips Lovecraft and father Winfield Scott Lovecraft, then lived at 454 (then 194) Angell Street.
When Howard was three years old, his father suffered a nervous breakdown while staying in a hotel in Chicago (he worked as a traveling salesman) and after that was placed in a hospital, where he spent five years, until his death on July 19, 1898.
After the death of his father, the boy was raised by his mother, two aunts and, especially, his grandfather - Whipple Van Buren Phillips.
My grandfather had the most public library in the city (and maybe in the whole state) and this played an important role in shaping Howard's reading preferences.
He began to read and write himself at an early age (even earlier he began simply composing oral poems).
And one of the first works that he noted as the most favorite and impressed him was "Fairy Tales of 1001 Nights" (Arabian Nights), which he read for the first time at the age of five.
It was from there that Abdul Alhazred was born, who later became the pseudonym of the author himself, and even later a character in his stories, the author of the Necronomicon.
And it is to this book that Lovecraft owes the oriental motifs in his subsequent work.
The author also loved the Greek myths, the Iliad and the Odyssey from childhood, the reflections of which we can also find later in his poetry and prose.
From early childhood, Lovecraft was distinguished by poor health.
Having practically no friends, he spent most of his time with his grandfather in the library.
But his interests were not limited to literature as a profession.
He was seriously engaged in chemistry, astronomy, history (especially the history of his native state and New England).
Even at school age, he began independently publishing newspapers and magazines dedicated to his scientific interests and research (The Scientific Gazette (1899-1907) and The Rhode Island Journal of Astronomy (1903-07)).
They were distributed mainly among classmates and subsequent friends and colleagues.
At Hope Street High School, his interests and research are approved by teachers who replace Howard with friends among his peers.
And in 1906, his article on astronomy was first published by The Providence Sunday Journal.
Later, he became a regular columnist in The Pawtuxet Valley Gleaner, dedicated to astronomy.
And even later in such publications as The Providence Tribune (1906-08), The Providence Evening News (1914-18) and The Asheville (N. C.) Gazette News (1915).
In 1904, Howard's grandfather died.
He and his mother, experiencing financial difficulties, are forced to leave the mansion in which they lived and move to a cramped apartment at 598 Angell Stirt.
Howard was very much worried about the loss of his home, where he was born and which was his native one.
In 1908, Howard himself has a nervous breakdown, which forces him to leave school without graduating.
An attempt to enter Brown University ends in failure, which leads to an even more reclusive lifestyle of Lovecraft.
From 1908 to 1913, Lovecraft practically did not leave the house, continuing to study astronomy and poetry.
The exit from seclusion occurred in a very original way.
Reading a lot of old "cheap" magazines, among which was The Argosy, he came across the love stories of a certain Fred Jackson.
This prompted him to write an angry letter to the magazine.
It was published in 1913 and caused a storm of protest from Jackson's admirers.
This led to a whole correspondence on the pages of the magazine, in which many people and authors were involved.
Among them was Edward F. Daas, president of the United Amateur Press Association (UAPA).
It was an organization that included young authors from all over the country who wrote and published their own magazines.
He offers Lovecraft to become a member of the UAPA.
And in 1914, his proposal was accepted.
Lovecraft began publishing his own magazine, The Conservative (1915-23), in which he published his poetry, as well as articles and essays written specifically for this publication, and those that were sent to other magazines by him.
A total of 13 issues of The Conservative are published.
Necronomicon Press will later reprint these issues, among other works of Lovecraft.
Later, Lovecraft became the President and Editor in Chief of UAPA.
Having already had experience writing fiction earlier ("The Beast in the Cave" (1905) and "The Alchemist" (1908)) and now plunged into the world of amateur prose, Lovecraft again takes up the pen as a science fiction writer.
For the first time since 1908.
In 1917, "The Tomb" and "Dagon"were successfully published.
Now the main occupation and hobby of the author is prose, poetry and journalism.
In 1919, a nervous attack already happens to Lovecraft's mother.
And, just like his father, she is placed in a clinic, from where she does not leave until her death.
She died on May 24, 1921.
Lovecraft is very worried about the death of his mother, but a few weeks later a serious change occurs in his life - at a conference of amateur journalists in Boston on July 4, 1921, he meets a woman who will later become his wife.
It was Sonya Haft Green, a Russian born Jew, seven years older than Howard himself.
From the first meeting, they find a lot in common in each other and Lovecraft often visits her in Brooklyn in 1922.
Their relationship was not a secret, and therefore the announcement of the wedding on March 3, 1924 was not a surprise to their friends.
But it was a complete surprise for his aunts, whom he notified only in writing and then, after the wedding had already taken place.
Lovecraft moves to his wife in Brooklyn and things in their family are not so bad - he is already earning as a professional writer by publishing his early works in Weird Tales, and Sonya runs a quite prosperous hat shop on Fifth Avenue in New York.
But later the store goes bankrupt, and Lovecraft loses his job as an editor at Weird Tales.
In addition, Sonya's health is deteriorating and she is put in a New Jersey hospital.
On January 1, 1925, Sonya left for Cleveland to start a business there, and Lovecraft moved into a one room apartment in one of the districts of Brooklyn, called Red Hook.
Having many acquaintances in the city, he does not feel completely alien and abandoned.
At this time, such things as "The Shunned House" (1924), "The Horror at Red Hook" and "He" (both also 1924) came out from his pen.
In early 1926, Lovecraft plans to return to Providence, which he misses all this time.
At the same moment, his marriage cracks and later (in 1929) breaks up completely.
Returning to Providence on April 17, 1926, Lovecraft does not lead a hermit lifestyle, as it was in the period from 1908 to 1913.
On the contrary, he travels a lot to ancient places (Quebec, New England, Philadelphia, Charleston, St. Augustine) and works fruitfully.
During this time, he wrote some of his best works, including "The Call of Cthulhu "(1926)," At the Mountains of Madness "(1931)," The Shadow out of Time " (1934-35).
At the same time, he maintains an extensive correspondence both with his old friends and with many young authors who owe their career in this field largely to Lovecraft (August Derleth, Donald Wandrei, Robert Bloch, Fritz Leiber).
During this time, he wrote many articles on politics and economics, as well as on all those subjects that continued to interest him - from philosophy and literature to history and architecture.
The last two or three years of the author's life are especially difficult.
In 1932, one of his aunts, Miss Clark, died and Lovecraft moved to a room at 66 College Street in 1933 with his second aunt, Miss Gunwell.
After the suicide of Robert Howard, one of his closest pen pals, Lovecraft falls into depression.
At the same time, the disease progresses, which will then be the cause of his death - intestinal cancer.
In the winter of 1936-1937, the disease progresses so much that Lovecraft is admitted to the hospital (Jane Brown Memorial Hospital on March 10, 1937.
Where he dies five days later.
Lovecraft was buried on March 18, 1937 in the family plot at the Swan Point Cemetery.
On a simple tombstone, in addition to the name, dates of birth and death, there is only one inscription - "I AM PROVIDENCE"...
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