Mike Davis over at Lovecraft eZine already shared my news about Wilum Pugmire, but for those who don’t read his blog and only know of Wilum’s condition due to my own previous post, I thought I should take note of it here as well.

I phoned Wilum (seen below at World Horror Con 2008) last night, and he sounded in much better sprits—and much stronger— than he had Sunday night. His voice was steadier, and he was more easily able to engage in conversation.

He’d been visited in the hospital yesterday by S. T. Joshi, Jessica Amanda Salmonson, and a couple of others, and they all arrived at the same time, which he says was fun, though a bit tiring.

He also said he’s been undergoing lots of tests, and is waiting to learn whether the doctor will sign off on the results. He was hopeful that he’d be released this morning at 9:00 a.m. (that’s Seattle time), but added that he probably won’t know anything definitive until the morning. (You know how hospitals can be—you often don’t know until the last minute whether or not you’re really going home.)

He also said that he’s thankful for all the good wishes, and apologized in advance for the fact that he won’t be strong enough to respond to each one individually. When he gets out, he’ll try to do one brief video blog (you can find his YouTube channel here) letting us know that he’s home, and then rest.

So let’s keep our fingers crossed that all goes well today.

Michael Davis, who runs the Lovecraft eZine, reports that Wilum Pugmire was hospitalized on Thanksgiving due to heart problems, and has been given a distressing diagnosis.

According to Mike:

He told me that the prognosis keeps getting worse each day—the doctors are, in his words, treating him like a terminal patient. He said he honestly does not know if he’s going to die or not. However, he’s in really great spirits. He told me that if he does die, he has accomplished everything he set out to do. He had the goal years ago of wanting to be known as a Lovecraftian writer, and he feels he has done that. I replied that not only has he accomplished it, but that I agree with Will Hart—he is the world’s greatest living Lovecraftian writer.

He has a relative bringing him a couple of Lovecraftian books tomorrow—he says if he dies, he wants to do it with a Lovecraft book on his chest.

In addition to being a wonderful writer, Wilum is also a heck of a lot of fun to hang around with, which we did a lot of during the 2008 World Horror Convention in Salt Lake City (among other places):

I’d been hoping to see him again in March when the WHC returned to Salt Lake City. And I’m still hoping. What do doctors know anyway? After all, Cthulhu wants Wilum healthy, and Cthulhu chews up doctors and spits them out. (more…)