W. Paul Cook is remembered most often as a friend of H. P. Lovecraft; and so he has lingered posthumously in the shadow of his famous friend. He labored with love for half a century as a printer, publisher, editor, and author; the pleasure of the work itself was often the only reward for his labors. The purpose of this book is to place Cook in his own light; to illuminate his own talents as a writer of fiction, essays, and poetry; as a publisher and printer; and as a sincere exponent of amateur journalism. We will re-open the door, as best we can, to understand and appreciate the life of a modest man who styled himself "an ordinary printer," but whom friends called "the Colossus of the North" and a "sterling patron of weird literature."
