@rasterman @matrix The way I heard it was that he liked that cat so much, he named his character's cat after his cat.

@Jimmietherustle @matrix I can't really find a source for that, but if you have one, please do post it.

Semi-related: Lovecraft's short poem "On the Creation of Niggers":

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/On_the_Creation_of_Niggers

@rasterman @matrix Really? I'll see if I can find it. I remember reading it recently.

Nice poem. I like it when words are rhymed with nigger.

@rasterman @matrix Best I could find. It's wikipedia, so handle with care. I remember reading it somewhere else, though. Maybe I'm hallucinating.

@rasterman @matrix https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rats_in_the_Walls#cite_ref-20 forgot the link.

@Jimmietherustle @matrix Shit, son, I had that source all along! It's on a Penguin Modern Classics compilation of Lovecraft stories. That "S. T. Joshi" referenced in Wikipedia is the same who edited this book I have in my hand right now. The rest of the source claims the cat ran away in 1904 when his family moved, and that Lovecraft was likely 9 years old when he got the cat.

Good job tracking that source. I must've read it back when I first read this book, but obviously I forgot. Thanks!