August William Derleth died of a heart attack on the Fourth of July, 1971. Thus ended a literary career that spanned six decades. Derleth won awards for his fiction, co-founded one of the most beloved small presses in the history of publishing and nurtured the careers and literary reputations of a legion of legendary authors—H.P. Lovecraft and Ramsey Campbell being just two examples. AWD also helped co-found the Cthulhu Mythos along with HPL, Robert E. Howard and Clark Ashton Smith.