Edwin Baird
Baird first published some of Weird Tales' most famous writers, including H. P. Lovecraft, C. M. Eddy, Jr., Clark Ashton Smith and Seabury Quinn, author of the hugely popular Jules de Grandin stories. The magazine lost a considerable sum of money under Baird's editorship, however—running through $11,000 in capital and amassing a $40,000 debt—and he was fired after 13 issues.
Henneberger offered the job to Lovecraft, who declined, citing his reluctance to relocate to Chicago; "think of the tragedy of such a move for an aged antiquarian," the 34-year-old writer declared.
The magazine also became the subject of controversy after a story by C. M. Eddy, Jr. was published in the May–July issue, "The Loved Dead", that briefly mentioned necrophilia. There was a public outcry and according to Eddy, Weird Tales was removed from several newsstands as a result, but also the publicity regarding the story resulted in increased sales and helped to save the imperiled magazine from bankruptcy.
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