author
R. H. (Robert Hayward) Barlow
1918–1951
Best known as H. P. Lovecraft’s young friend and literary executor, he was also a gifted scholar whose work on early Mexico and the Nahuatl language earned lasting respect. His life was brief, but it crossed fiction, poetry, archaeology, and history in a way that still feels remarkable.
1 Audiobook
R.E.H.
by R. H. (Robert Hayward) Barlow
About the author
Born in 1918, Robert Hayward Barlow grew into a largely self-taught writer, editor, and researcher. He became closely associated with H. P. Lovecraft, both as a correspondent and collaborator, and after Lovecraft’s death he was entrusted with handling the author’s literary estate.
Barlow’s interests reached far beyond weird fiction. He studied in the United States and then turned seriously toward Mexico’s past, building a career as an anthropologist and historian of early Mexico with strong expertise in Nahuatl. He worked with the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, received support from both the Rockefeller Foundation and the Guggenheim Fellowship program, and later led the Department of Anthropology at Mexico City College.
He died in Mexico City in January 1951, only 32 years old. Even within that short life, he left behind an unusual legacy: part literary figure, part serious scholar, and part bridge between Lovecraft’s circle and the academic study of Mesoamerica.