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Linwood Vrooman Carter (June 9, 1930 – February 7, 1988) was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor, poet and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft (for an H. P. Lovecraft parody) and Grail Undwin.

Life[link]

Carter was born in St. Petersburg, Florida. He was an avid reader of science fiction and fantasy in his youth and became broadly knowledgeable in the field. He was also quite active in fandom.

Carter served in the United States Army (Infantry, Korea, 1951–53), after which he attended Columbia University (1953–54). He was a copywriter for some years before writing full-time. He married twice, first to Judith Ellen Hershkovitz (married 1959, divorced 1960) and later to Noel Vreeland (married 1963, while they both worked for Prentice-Hall publishers; divorced 1975). He was an advertising and publishers copywriter (1957–69). From 1969 he was a freelance writer and editorial consultant. During much of his writing career he lived in Hollis, New York.

He was a member of the all-male literary banqueting club the Trap Door Spiders, which served as the basis of Isaac Asimov's fictional group of mystery solvers the Black Widowers. Carter himself was the model for the Mario Gonzalo character. He was also a member of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America (SAGA), a loose-knit group of Heroic fantasy authors founded in the 1960s, some of whose work he anthologized in the Flashing Swords! series. In the 1970s Carter issued his own fantasy fanzine, titled Kadath after H.P. Lovecraft's fictional setting (see The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath). The number of issues put out is uncertain, however the 1974 issues contained Carter's Cthulhu Mythos story "The City of Pillars" (pp. 22–25).

In 1985, his quality of life was severely reduced when he developed oral cancer and had to endure extensive surgery to have it removed. Only his status as a Korea veteran enabled him to receive treatment, which failed to cure his illness and left him disfigured.

In the last year before his death, he had begun to reappear in print with a new book in his Terra Magica series, a long-promised Prince Zarkon pulp hero pastiche, Horror Wears Blue, and a regular column for Crypt of Cthulhu magazine.^[1] Despite these successes, Carter had increased his alcohol intake, becoming a borderline alcoholic and further weakening his body, already ravaged by his cancer and therapy. The disease subsequently resurfaced, spreading to his throat and leading to his death in 1988. He resided in East Orange, New Jersey in his final years, and died in nearby Montclair, New Jersey.

The editor of Crypt of Cthulhu, Robert M. Price, had published a Lin Carter special issue - Vol 5, No 2 (whole number 36; Yuletide 1985). Price, who was appointed Carter's literary executor, was preparing a second all-Carter issue when Carter died; it was turned into a memorial issue - Vol 7, No 4 (whole number 54 Eastertide 1988). Two further issues of the magazine were devoted to Carter alone, totalling four special Carter issues (see References below).

Writing career[link]

A longtime science-fiction and fantasy fan, Carter first appeared on the scene with his entertaining letters in Startling Stories in the late 1940s. He did not break into professional print until 1957 with a Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction story, though he had earlier issued two volumes of fantasy verse, Sandalwood and Jade (1951) (technically his first book) and Galleon of Dream (1955). An early collaborative story, The Slitherer from the Slime (with Dave Foley, printed as by 'H.P. Lowcraft') (Inside No 53 (Sept 1958) is a sort of parody of H.P. Lovecraft.

Early in his efforts to establish himself as a writer Carter gained a mentor in fellow author L. Sprague de Camp, who critiqued his novel The Wizard of Lemuria in manuscript. (Though this was the seventh novel Carter had written, it was the first to find a publisher, appearing from Ace Books in March, 1965).^[2] Due in large part to their later collaborations, mutual promotion of each other in print, joint membership in both the Trap Door Spiders and SAGA, and complimentary scholarly efforts to document the history of fantasy, de Camp is the person with whom Carter is most closely associated as a writer. A falling-out in the last decade of Carter's life did not become generally known until after his death.

Carter was a prolific penman. He claimed that after his first book appeared in print (The Wizard of Lemuria) in March 1965, something like twenty-five books appeared bearing his name before The Wizard of Lemuria was revised and reissued in 1969 as Thongor and the Wizard of Lemuria, which means Carter averaged about six books published per year during that four-year period.^[3]

Unknown to many of his fans is the fact that Carter was a major scripter for ABC's original Spider-Man animated TV show during its moody, fantasy-oriented second season in 1968-69.

Carter had a marked tendency toward self-promotion in his work, frequently citing his own writings in his nonfiction to illustrate points and almost always including at least one of his own pieces in the anthologies he edited. The most extreme instance is his novel Lankar of Callisto, which features Carter himself as the protagonist.

As a fiction writer most of Carter's work was derivative in the sense that it was consciously imitative of the themes, subjects and styles of other authors he admired. He was quite explicit in regard to his models, usually identifying them in the introductions or afterwords of his novels, and introductory notes to self-anthologized or collected short stories. His best-known works are his sword and planet and sword and sorcery novels in the tradition of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert E. Howard, and James Branch Cabell. His first published book, The Wizard of Lemuria (1965), first of the "Thongor the Barbarian" series, combines both influences. Although he wrote only six Thongor novels, the character appeared in Marvel Comics's Creatures on the Loose for an eight-issue run in 1973-74 and was often optioned for films, although none were produced.

His other major series, the "Callisto" and "Zanthodon" books, are direct tributes to Burroughs' Barsoom series and Pellucidar novels, respectively.

Other works pay homage to the styles of contemporary pulp magazine authors or their precursors. Some of these, together with Carter's models, include his "Simrana" stories (influenced by Lord Dunsany), his horror stories (set in the "Cthulhu mythos" of H. P. Lovecraft), his "Green Star" novels (uniting influences from Clark Ashton Smith and Edgar Rice Burroughs), his "Mysteries of Mars" series (patterned on the works of Leigh Brackett), and his "Prince Zarkon" books (based on the "Doc Savage" series of Kenneth Robeson). Later in his career Carter assimilated influences from mythology and fairy tales, and even branched out briefly into pornographic fantasy.

Posthumous collaborations with Robert E. Howard and Clark Ashton Smith[link]

Some of Carter's most prominent works were what he referred to as "posthumous collaborations" with deceased authors, notably Robert E. Howard and Clark Ashton Smith. He completed a number of Howard's unfinished tales of Kull and Conan the Barbarian, the latter often in collaboration with L. Sprague de Camp. He also collaborated with de Camp on a number of pastiche novels and short stories featuring Conan.

The posthumous 'collaborations' with Smith were of a different order, usually completely new stories built around title ideas or short fragments found among Smith's notes and jottings. A number of these tales feature Smith's invented book of forbidden lore, the Book of Eibon(Cthulhu Mythos arcane literature). Some of them also overlap as pastiches of H.P. Lovecraft's work by utilising elements of Lovecraft's Cthulhu MythosThese stories, which are uncollected, include:

• "The Descent into the Abyss" in Carter's anthology Weird Tales #2. Also in Robert M. Price (ed). The Book of Eibon (Chaosium, 2002). The story is a sort of rewrite of Smith's "The Seven Geases".
• "The Feaster from the Stars". In Crypt of Cthulhu No 26 (Hallowmas 1984). Also in Robert M. Price (ed) The Book of Eibon (Chaosium, 2002). Based on a plot idea by Smith found by Carter in Smith's holograph notes (one not printed in Smith's The Black Book of Clark Ashton Smith).
• "The Light from the Pole" in Carter (ed) Weird Tales #1.Also in Robert M. Price (ed) The Book of Eibon (Chaosium, 2002). Based on Smith's Commoriom myth-cycle, utilising an early draft of Smith's "The Coming of the White Worm".
• "The Secret in the Parchment". In Crypt of Cthulhu No 54 (Eastertide 1988). Also in Robert M. Price (ed) The Book of Eibon (Chaosium, 2002). Mingles material derived from Arthur Machen with Smith's Eibonic cyle.
• "The Scroll of Morloc". Fantastic (Oct 1975). Also in Carter's anthologies Year's Best Fantasy Stories No 2 (DAW 1976), pp. 143–157 ; and Lost Worlds, pp. 11–17. Also in Robert M. Price (ed) The Book of Eibon (Chaosium, 2002).
• "The Stairs in the Crypt". Fantastic 25, No 4 (Aug 1976), pp. 82–89. Also in Carter's anthologies Year's Best Fantasy Stories No 3 (DAW, 1977), pp. 129–40; and Lost Worlds, pp. 18–26and in Robert M. Price (ed) The Book of Eibon (Chaosium, 2002).The title comes from one of the stories said to have been written by Robert Blake in Lovecraft's The Haunter of the Dark. Carter also pays tribute to such Cthulhu Mythos stories as Henry Kuttner's "The Salem Horror" and E. Hoffman Price's collaboration with Lovecraft Through the Gates of the Silver Key.
• "The Utmost Abomination" Weird Tales Autumn or Fall 1973; also in Mike Ashley (ed), Weird Legacies, pp. 81–91 and in Robert M. Price (ed) The Book of Eibon (Chaosium, 2002).
• "The Vengeance of Yig" in Carter's anthology Weird Tales #4, pp. 275ff.
• "The Winfield Inheritance" in Carter's anthology Weird Tales No 3, pp. 275–311.
• "Zoth-Ommog" in Edward Berglund (ed) The Disciples of Cthulhu Cthulhu Mythos anthology, pp. 141–193. Note: a sequel to this tale has been written by Leigh Blackmore (see Xothic legend cycle).

For further info see Steve Behrends, "The Carter-Smith Collaborations" in Robert M. Price (ed). The Horror of it All: Encrusted Gems from the Crypt of Cthulhu.

Pastiches of H.P. Lovecraft[link]

Carter wrote many stories in the Cthulhu Mythos of H.P. Lovecraft. Many have been collected in Robert M. Price (ed) The Xothic Legend Cycle: The Complete Mythos Fiction of Lin Carter. Despite the title, there are many uncollected Mythos stories by Carter. These include:

• "Acolyte of the Flame". In Crypt of Cthulhu No 36 (Yuletide, 1985). Reprint in Robert M. Price (ed) The Book of Eibon (Chaosium, 2002). Price notes that both the Crypt and Chaosium versions are the "later" version of the story, and that an earlier version exists.
• " The Burrowers Beneath". In Cthulhu Cultus No 6 (1997) Title taken from one of the stories said to have been written by Robert Blake in Lovecraft's The Haunter of the Dark. Not to be confused with Brian Lumley's novel The Burrowers Beneath (see Chthonian (Cthulhu Mythos)) nor with the Robert Price story in Price's anthology The Book of Eibon (Chaosium, 2002).
• "The City of Pillars". First published in Carter's own magazine Kadath (1974). To be reprinted in Crypt of Cthulhu. (Purportedly a translation from The Necronomicon.
• "The Descent into the Abyss". In Carter's anthology Weird Tales #2. Also in Robert M. Price (ed) The Book of Eibon (Chaosium, 2002).
• "The Doom of Yakthoob". In The Arkham Collector No 10 (Summer 1971).(Purportedly a translation from The Necronomicon.
• "The Double Tower" in Year's Best Fantasy Stories #1 (DAW Books, 1975). Also in Robert M. Price (ed) The Book of Eibon (Chaosium, 2002).
• "Dreams in the House of Weir". In Carter (ed), Weird Tales" #4.
• "In the Vale of Pnath" in Gerald Page (ed) Nameless Places. (This story takes its title from Lovecraft, and some of its content from Lovecraft's Dreamlands series, while also featuring CA Smith's Book of Eibon.
• "The Offering" in Crypt of Cthulhu 1, No 7 (Lammas 1982). Based primarily on Out of the Aeons and "Bothon" ( a story collaboration between H.P. Lovecraft and Henry S. Whitehead).
• "Shaggai". In August Derleth (ed) Dark Things. The title is taken from one of the stories said to have been written by Robert Blake in Lovecraft's The Haunter of the Dark.
• "Something in the Moonlight" in Carter (ed) Weird Tales #1.
• "The Stone from Mnar: A Fragment from the Necronomicon". Scheduled to appear in "Crypt of Cthulhu".
• "The Thing Under Memphis". In Crypt of Cthulhu 3, No - (WN 22)(Roodmas 1984), 3-5.
• "Them From Outside". Scheduled to be printed in "Crypt of Cthulhu" as "Concerning Them from Outside".
• "The Thing in the Pit". In Carter's Lost Worlds. (Purportedly a translation from the Zanthu Tablets).

See also Xothic legend cycle. For further info see Robert M. Price "The Staement of Lin Carter", Crypt of Cthulhu 1, No 2 (Yuletide 1981), 11-19.

Pastiches of Lord Dunsany[link]

Carter's Simrana stories pay tribute to the fantasy of Lord Dunsany. Examples include:

• "The Whelming of Oom" in The Young Magicians.

Unfinished projects[link]

Carter is known to have left a number of projects unfinished. A number of his stand-alone books contained obvious hooks for sequels that were never written. He regularly announced plans for future works that never came to fruition, and several of his series were abandoned due to lack of publisher or reader interest or to his deteriorating health. Among these are his "Thongor" series, to which he intended to add two books dealing with the hero's youth; only a scattering of short stories intended for the volumes appeared. His "Gondwane" epic, which he began with the final book and afterwards added several more covering the beginning of the saga, lacks its middle volumes, his publisher having canceled the series before he managed to fill the gap between. Similarly, his projected Atlantis trilogy was canceled after the first book, and his five-volume "Chronicles of Kylix" ended with three volumes published and parts of another.

The most intriguing of these unfinished projects is Carter's self-proclaimed magnum opus, an epic literary fantasy entitled Khymyrium, or, to give it its full title, Khymyrium: The City of the Hundred Kings, from the Coming of Aviathar the Lion to the Passing of Spheridion the Doomed. It was intended to take the genre in a new direction by resurrecting the fantastic medieval chronicle history of the sort exemplified by Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae and Saxo Grammaticus's Gesta Danorum. It was also to present a new invented system of magic called "enstarment", which from Carter's description somewhat resembles the system of magical luck investment later devised by Emma Bull and Will Shetterly for their "Liavek" series of shared world anthologies. Carter claimed to have begun the work about 1959, and published at least three excerpts from it as separate short stories during his lifetime – "Azlon" in The Young Magicians (1969), "The Mantichore" in Beyond the Gates of Dream (also 1969) and "The Sword of Power" in New Worlds for Old (1971). A fourth episode was published posthumously in Fungi #17, a 1998 fanzine. His most comprehensive account of the project appeared in Imaginary Worlds: the Art of Fantasy in 1973. While he continued to make claims for its excellence throughout his lifetime, the complete novel never appeared.

Career as editor and critic[link]

While his fiction was often derivative, Carter was influential as a critic of contemporary fantasy and a pioneering historian of the genre. His book reviews and surveys of the year's best fantasy fiction appeared regularly in Castle of Frankenstein, continuing after that magazine's 1975 demise in The Year's Best Fantasy Stories. His early studies of the works of J. R. R. Tolkien (Tolkien: A Look Behind "The Lord of the Rings") and H. P. Lovecraft (Lovecraft: A Look Behind the Cthulhu Mythos) were followed up by the wide-ranging Imaginary Worlds: the Art of Fantasy, a study tracing the emergence and development of modern fantasy from the late nineteenth century novels of William Morris through the 1970s. Peter Beagle faulted Carter's scholarship, saying "He gets so many facts embarrassingly wrong, so many attributions misquoted, that the entire commentary is essentially worthless."^[4]

His greatest influence in the field may have been as an editor for Ballantine Books from 1969–1974, when Carter brought several obscure yet important books of fantasy back into print under the "Adult Fantasy" line. Authors whose works he revived included Dunsany, Morris, Smith, James Branch Cabell, Hope Mirrlees, and Evangeline Walton. David G. Hartwell praised the series, saying it brought "into mass editions nearly all the adult fantasy stories and novels worth reading."^[5] He also helped new authors break into the field, such as Katherine Kurtz, Joy Chant, and Sanders Anne Laubenthal.

Carter was a fantasy anthologist of note, editing a number of new anthologies of classic and contemporary fantasy for Ballantine and other publishers. He also edited several anthology series, including the Flashing Swords! series from 1973–1981, the first six volumes of The Year's Best Fantasy Stories for DAW Books from 1975–1980, and an anthology format revival of the classic fantasy magazine Weird Tales from 1981-1983.

Together with SAGA he sponsored the Gandalf Award, an early fantasy equivalent to science fiction's Hugo Award, for the recognition of outstanding merit in authors and works of fantasy. It was given annually by the World Science Fiction Society from 1974 to 1981, but went into abeyance with the collapse of Carter’s health in the 1980s. Its primary purpose continues to be fulfilled by the initially rival World Fantasy Awards, first presented in 1975.

Posthumous revival[link]

Wildside Press began an extensive program returning much of Carter's fiction to print in 1999. Most of its Carter titles are now themselves out of print.

Bibliography[link]

Science fiction[link]

Hautley Quicksilver[link]

• The Thief of Thoth (1968)
• The Purloined Planet (1969)

The History of the Great Imperium[link]

• Outworlder (1971)
• The Man Without a Planet (1966)
• Star Rogue (1970)

Callisto[link]

1. Jandar of Callisto (1972)
2. Black Legion of Callisto (1972)
   Callisto Volume 1 (2000 - omnibus including Jandar of Callisto and Black Legion of Callisto)
3. Sky Pirates of Callisto (1973)
4. Mad Empress of Callisto (1975)
5. Mind Wizards of Callisto (1975)
6. Lankar of Callisto (1975)
7. Ylana of Callisto (1977)
8. Renegade of Callisto (1978)

The Green Star[link]

1. Under the Green Star (1972)
2. When the Green Star Calls (1973)
3. By the Light of the Green Star (DAW Books, 1974)
4. As the Green Star Rises (1975)
5. In the Green Star's Glow (1976)

The Mysteries of Mars[link]

• The Valley Where Time Stood Still (1974)
• The City Outside the World (1977)
• Down to a Sunless Sea (1984)
• The Man Who Loved Mars (1973)

Zarkon-Lord of the Unknown[link]

1. The Nemesis of Evil (1975)
2. Invisible Death (1975)
3. The Volcano Ogre (1976)
4. The Earth-Shaker (Doubleday, 1982)
5. Horror Wears Blue (1987)

Zanthodon[link]

1. Journey to the Underground World (DAW Books, 1979)
2. Zanthodon (DAW Books, 1980)
3. Hurok of the Stone Age (DAW Books, 1981)
4. Darya of the Bronze Age (DAW Books, 1981)
5. Eric of Zanthodon (DAW Books, 1982)

Other novels[link]

• Destination Saturn (1967) (with Donald Wollheim writing as David Grinnell)
• The Flame of Iridar (1967)
• Time War (1974)
• Tower at the Edge of Time (1968)
• Tower of the Medusa (1969)

Fantasy[link]

Thongor of Valkarth[link]

1. The Wizard of Lemuria (1965; revised/expanded as Thongor and The Wizard of Lemuria (1969)). In his introduction to the revised edition, "A Word from the Author", Carter reveals that the revisions consist of restoring certain passages cut by the editor from the first edition, conforming certain portions of the book to details described in later books of the series, and adding a few thousand words of new material.
2. Thongor of Lemuria (1966; revised/expanded as Thongor and the Dragon City (1970))
3. Thongor Against the Gods (1967)
4. Thongor in the City of Magicians (1968)
5. Thongor at the End of Time (1968)
6. Thongor Fights the Pirates of Tarakus (1970)

Note: Carter's literary executor Robert M. Price has written two Thongor stories, "Witch of Lemuria" [1] and "Mind Lords of Lemuria" [2].

In 1978 a Thongor movie was in production for release in 1979. It was titled Thongor in the Valley of Demons; however the movie was never produced.

Conan[link]

• Conan (1967) (with Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp)
• Conan of the Isles (1968) (with L. Sprague de Camp)
• Conan the Wanderer (1968) (with Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp) [O/N+ Conan the Adventurer (Howard & de Camp) + Conan the Buccaneer (Carter & de Camp);= The Conan Chronicles 2 (1990)]
• Conan of Cimmeria (1969) (with Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp) [O/2N+ Conan the Freebooter (Howard & de Camp);= The Conan Chronicles (1989)]
• Conan the Buccaneer (1971) (with L. Sprague de Camp)
• Conan of Aquilonia (1977) (with L. Sprague de Camp)
• Conan the Swordsman (1978) (with L. Sprague de Camp and Björn Nyberg)
• Conan the Liberator (1979) (with L. Sprague de Camp)
• Conan the Barbarian (1982) (with L. Sprague de Camp)
• Sagas of Conan (2004) (with L. Sprague de Camp and Björn Nyberg)

The Chronicles of Kylix[link]

• The Quest of Kadji (1971)
• Amalric (unpublished in complete form)
  • "The Higher Heresies of Oolimar" (1973)
  • "The Curious Custom of the Turjan Seraad" (1976)
• The Wizard of Zao (1978)
• Kellory the Warlock (1984)

Gondwane[link]

• The Warrior of World's End (1974)
• The Enchantress of World's End (1975)
• The Immortal of World's End (1976)
• The Barbarian of World's End (1977)
• The Pirate of World's End (1978)
• Giant of World's End (1969)

Terra Magica[link]

1. Kesrick (1982)
2. Dragonrouge (1984)
3. Mandricardo (1987)
4. Callipygia (1988)

Oz[link]

Published posthumously by Tails of the Cowardly Lion and Friends

• The Tired Tailor of Oz (2001)
• The Merry Mountaineer of Oz (collection of four complete Oz novels: The Awful Ogre of Ogodown, High Times on Tip Top Mountain, The Wooden Soldier of Oz, No Joy in Mudville) (2004)

Other novels[link]

• The Black Star (1973)
• Found Wanting (1985)
• Lost World of Time (1969)
• The Star Magicians (1966)
• Tara of the Twilight (1979)

Collections[link]

• King Kull (1967) (Robert E. Howard)
• Beyond the Gates of Dream (Nordon Publications/Leisure Books, 1969)ISBN 0-8439-1082-8
• Lost Worlds (DAW Books, 1980)
• The Xothic Legend Cycle: The Complete Mythos Fiction of Lin Carter (Chaosium, 1997)
• Lin Carter's Anton Zarnak, Supernatural Sleuth. Edited by and with intro "The Many Incarnations of Anton Zarnak" by Robert M. Price. (Marietta Publishing, 2000). Collects Carter's three stories of this occult detective character together with stories of Zarnak by other authors including Price, Joseph S. Pulver, Pierre Comtois, C.J. Henderson, John L. French and James Chambers.

Poetry[link]

• Sandalwood and Jade: Poems of the Exotic and the Strange (St Petersburg, FL:Sign of the Centaur Press, 1951; 100 copies).
• Galleon of Dream: Poems of Fantasy and Wonder (NY: Sign of the Centaur Press, 1955; 200 copies)
• A Letter to Judith (New York, 1959; 500 copies).
• Dreams from R'lyeh (Arkham, 1975). Note: The Sonnet sequence "Dreams from R'lyeh" from this volume has been reprinted in The Xothic Legend Cycle: The Complete Mythos Fiction of Lin Carter
• "Shadow Song" in Kotan September 1948, Vol. 1, No. 1. Edited by Gordon Mack, Jr.

Boardgames[link]

• Royal Armies of the Hyborian Age: A Wargamers' Guide to the Age of Conan (with Scott Bizar). Fantasy Games Unlimited, 1975. Illustrated by Roy Krenkel.
• Flash Gordon & the Warriors of Mongo (with Scott Bizar). Fantasy Games Unlimited, 1977. Illustrated by Alex Raymond.

Non-fiction[link]

• Tolkien: A Look Behind "The Lord of the Rings" (1969) (Ballantine)
• Lovecraft: A Look Behind the Cthulhu Mythos (1972) (Ballantine)
• Imaginary Worlds: the Art of Fantasy (1973) (Ballantine Adult Fantasy)
• Middle-earth: The World of Tolkien Illustrated (text by Carter, paintings by David Wenzel, 1977)

Anthologies edited[link]

Ballantine Adult Fantasy series[link]

• Dragons, Elves, and Heroes (1969)
• The Young Magicians (1969)
• Golden Cities, Far (1970)
• New Worlds for Old (1971)
• The Spawn of Cthulhu (1971) French ed. as Les Adorateurs de Cthulhu, Champs-Élysées (Masque fantastique 12), 1979.
• Discoveries in Fantasy (1972)
• Great Short Novels of Adult Fantasy I (1972)
• Great Short Novels of Adult Fantasy Volume II (1972)

Flashing Swords![link]

• Flashing Swords! #1 (1973)
• Flashing Swords! #2 (1973)
• Flashing Swords! #3: Warriors and Wizards (1976)
• Flashing Swords! #4: Barbarians and Black Magicians (1977)
• Flashing Swords! #5: Demons and Daggers (1977). Dell Books, 191 ISBN 0-440-12590-1

Weird Tales[link]

• Weird Tales #1 (Zebra Books, 1981)
• Weird Tales #2 (Zebra Books, 1981)
• Weird Tales #3 (Zebra Books, 1981)
• Weird Tales #4 (Zebra Books, 1983)

The Year's Best Fantasy Stories[link]

• The Year's Best Fantasy Stories (DAW Books, 1975)
• The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 2 (DAW Books, 1976)
• The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 3 (DAW Books, 1977)
• The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 4 (DAW Books, 1978)
• The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 5 (DAW Books1980)
• The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 6 (DAW Books, 1980)

Other anthologies[link]

• The Magic of Atlantis (1970)
• Kingdoms of Sorcery (1976)
• Realms of Wizardry (1976)

Awards[link]

Nova Award, 1972.

References[link]

• Carter, Lin (1973). Imaginary Worlds: the Art of Fantasy. Ballantine Books. 
• Servello, Stephen J. (2005). Apostle of Letters: The Life and Works of Lin Carter. Wild Cat Books. 

1. ^ Price, Robert (2008). Crypt of Cthulhu. Kevin L. O'Brien. http://crypt-of-cthulhu.com/. 
2. ^ Lin Carter, A Word from the Author, in Thongor and the Wizard of Lemuria (revised version of The Wizard of Lemuria), NY: Berkley Medallion Books, 1969, p.(6).
3. ^ Lin Carter, A Word from the Author, in Thongor and the Wizard of Lemuria (revised version of The Wizard of Lemuria), NY: Berkley Medallion Books, 1969, p.(5).
4. ^ "Introduction", The Secret History of Fantasy, Peter S. Beagle (ed), Tachyon Press 2010.
5. ^ "The Making of the American Fantasy Genre", in The Secret History of Fantasy, Peter S. Beagle (ed), Tachyon Press 2010.

• Crypt of Cthulhu magazine. Four issues of this Lovecraftian fanzine edited by Robert M. Price, all published in Upper Montclair, N.J., were devoted to Lin Carter as special issues:
  • No. 36 (v. 5, no. 2), Yuletide 1985
  • No. 54 (v. 7, no. 4), Eastertide 1988 [Lin Carter memorial issue, titled The Fishers from Outside; Carter died on Feb. 7, 1988, just as this issue had been typeset and laid out. The back cover carries an unsigned obituary]
  • No. 69 (v. 9, no. 2), Yuletide 1989
  • No. 70 (v. 9, no. 3), Candlemas 1990 [titled The Necronomicon: Book One: The Episodes]

External links[link]

• Lin Carter at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• In Memoriam Lin Carter 1930-1988, a tribute site by Ken St. Andre
• Barbarians of Lemuria, a free role-playing game set in the world of Carter's Thongor series.
• [3] tribute site displaying many Lin Carter book covers
• "Why Lin Carter's Name keeps Coming Up" by David Bruce Bozarth, [4]
• "My Life with Lin Carter" by Noel Vreeland Carter, [5]
• Information on Thongor of Lemuria as a character in Marvel Comics adaptations [6]
• "An Unnatural History of Thongor's Lemuria" by Den Valdron [7]

Jeremy Lin

Lin in his first game for the Knicks, following a game against his former team the Golden State Warriors on December 28, 2011
No. 17 – New York Knicks
Point guard
Personal information
Born	(1988-08-23) August 23, 1988 (age 23) Los Angeles, California
Nationality	American
High school	Palo Alto HS (Palo Alto, California)
Listed height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight	200 lb (91 kg)
Career information
College	Harvard (2006–2010)
NBA Draft	2010 / Undrafted
Pro career	2010–present
Career history
2010–2011	Golden State Warriors
2010–2011	→Reno Bighorns (D-League)
2011	Dongguan Leopards (China)
2011–present	New York Knicks
2012	→Erie BayHawks (D-League)
Career highlights and awards
NBA BBVA Rising Star (2012) ABA Club Championship MVP (2011) 2× All-Ivy League First Team (2009, 2010) All-Ivy League Second Team (2008) CIF Division II champion (2006) 2× SCVAL MVP (2005, 2006)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Jeremy Shu-How Lin^[1] (born August 23, 1988) is an American professional basketball player with the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After receiving no athletic scholarship offers out of high school and being undrafted out of college, the 2010 Harvard University graduate reached a partially guaranteed contract deal later that year with his hometown Golden State Warriors.

Lin seldom played in his rookie season and was assigned to the NBA Development League (D-League) three times. He was waived by the Warriors and the Houston Rockets the following preseason before joining the Knicks early in the 2011–12 season. He was again assigned to the D-League and continued to play sparingly. In February 2012, he unexpectedly led a winning streak by New York while being promoted to the starting lineup, which generated a global following known as Linsanity. Lin is one of the few Asian Americans in NBA history, and the first American of Chinese or Taiwanese descent to play in the league.^[2] He is known for his public expression of the Christian faith.^[3]

Early life[link]

Lin was born in Los Angeles, and raised in a Christian family in the San Francisco Bay Area city of Palo Alto.^{[4][5][note 1]} His parents, Lin Gie-Ming and Shirley Lin, emigrated from Taiwan to the United States in the mid-1970s, first settling in Virginia, and later residing in Indiana, where they both attended universities.^[8][9][10] They are dual nationals of both Taiwan and the U.S.^[11] Lin's paternal family comes from Beidou, Changhua, in Taiwan (his father's distant ancestors immigrated to Taiwan from Zhangpu County, Fujian, in mainland China, in 1707),^[11][12][13] while his maternal grandmother immigrated to Southern Taiwan in the late 1940s from Pinghu, Zhejiang in mainland China.^[11][14][15]

Lin's parents are both 5 feet 6 inches (1.68 m) tall.^[16] His maternal grandmother's family was tall, and her father was over 6 feet (1.8 m).^[15] Lin has an older brother, Josh, and a younger brother, Joseph.^[10] Gie-Ming taught his sons to play basketball at the local YMCA.^[17] Shirley helped form a National Junior Basketball program in Palo Alto where Lin played. She worked with coaches to ensure his playing did not affect academics. She was criticized by her friends for letting Lin play so much basketball, but she allowed him to play the game he enjoyed.^[18]

High school career[link]

In his senior year in 2005–2006, Lin captained Palo Alto High School to a 32–1 record and upset nationally ranked Mater Dei, 51–47, for the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Division II state title.^[19][20] He was named first-team All-State and Northern California Division II Player of the Year, ending his senior year averaging 15.1 points, 7.1 assists, 6.2 rebounds and 5.0 steals.^[19]

College career[link]

Recruiting process[link]

Lin sent his résumé and a DVD of highlights of his high school basketball career to all the Ivy League schools, University of California, Berkeley, and his dream schools Stanford and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).^[21][22][9] The Pac-10 schools wanted him to walk-on, rather than be actively recruited or offered a sports scholarship. Harvard and Brown were the only teams that guaranteed him a spot on their basketball teams, but Ivy League schools do not offer athletic scholarships.^[23] Rex Walters, University of San Francisco men's basketball coach and a retired NBA player, said NCAA limits on coaches' recruiting visits had an impact on Lin's chances. "Most colleges start recruiting a guy in the first five minutes they see him because he runs really fast, jumps really high, does the quick, easy thing to evaluate," Walters said. Lin added, "I just think in order for someone to understand my game, they have to watch me more than once, because I’m not going to do anything that’s extra flashy or freakishly athletic."^[24]

In July 2005, then-Harvard assistant coach Bill Holden saw that Lin was 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m), which fit the physical attributes he was seeking, and he had a 4.2 grade point average in high school, which fit Harvard's academic standards. However, Holden was not initially impressed with Lin's on-court abilities, and told Lin's high school basketball coach, Peter Diepenbrock, that Lin was a "Division III player". Later that week, Holden saw Lin playing in a much more competitive game, driving to the basket at every opportunity with the "instincts of a killer". Lin became a top-priority for Holden.^[25] Harvard coaches feared that Stanford, close to Lin's home,^{[note 2]} would offer Lin a scholarship, but it did not, and Lin chose to attend Harvard.^[26] "I wasn't sitting there saying all these Division I coaches were knuckleheads," Diepenbrock said. "There were legitimate questions about Jeremy."^[27] Joe Lacob, incoming Warriors' owner and Stanford booster, said Stanford's failure to recruit Lin "was really stupid. The kid was right across the street. [If] you can't recognize that, you've got a problem."^[28] Kerry Keating, the UCLA assistant who offered Lin the opportunity to walk-on, said in hindsight that Lin would probably have ended up starting at point guard for UCLA.^[29]

Harvard[link]

After failing to receive any athletic scholarship offers, Lin attended Harvard.

A Harvard coach remembered Lin in his freshman season as "the [physically] weakest guy on the team",^[30] but in his sophomore season (2007–08), Lin averaged 12.6 points and was named All-Ivy League Second Team.^[19] By his junior year during the 2008–09 season, he was the only NCAA Division I men's basketball player who ranked in the top ten in his conference for scoring (17.8), rebounding (5.5), assists (4.3), steals (2.4), blocked shots (0.6), field goal percentage (0.502), free throw percentage (0.744), and three-point shot percentage (0.400),^[17] and was a consensus selection for All-Ivy League First Team. He had 27 points, 8 assists, and 6 rebounds in an 82–70 win over 17th-ranked Boston College, three days after the Eagles defeated No. 1 North Carolina.^[19][31]

In his senior year (2009–10), Lin averaged 16.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 2.4 steals and 1.1 blocks, and was again a unanimous selection for All-Ivy League First Team. He was one of 30 midseason candidates for the John R. Wooden Award^[32] and one of 11 finalists for the Bob Cousy Award.^[33] He was also invited to the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament.^[34] Fran Fraschilla of ESPN picked Lin among the 12 most versatile players in college basketball.^[31] He gained national attention for his performance against the 12th ranked Connecticut Huskies, against whom he scored a career-high tying 30 points and grabbed nine rebounds on the road.^[35] After the game, Hall of Fame Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun said of Lin: "I've seen a lot of teams come through here, and he could play for any of them. He's got great, great composure on the court. He knows how to play."^[17]

For the season, Harvard set numerous program records including wins (21), non-conference wins (11), home wins (11) and road/neutral wins (10).^[36] Lin finished his career as the first player in the history of the Ivy League to record at least 1,450 points (1,483), 450 rebounds (487), 400 assists (406) and 200 steals (225).^[19] He graduated from Harvard in 2010 with a degree in economics and a 3.1 grade-point average.^[37]

Professional career[link]

Undrafted[link]

At the Portsmouth Invitational, Lin first met the sports agent Roger Montgomery and later gave Montgomery a commitment. To Montgomery's disappointment, Lin went undrafted in the 2010 NBA Draft.^[38] The NBA had not drafted an Ivy League player since Jerome Allen of Penn in the second round in 1995. The last Ivy League player to play in the NBA was Yale's Chris Dudley in 2003, while the last Harvard player was Ed Smith in 1954.^[39][9] Eight teams had invited Lin to predraft workouts. Diepenbrock said that NBA tryouts do not play five on five. Lin acknowledged that the workouts were "one on one or two on two or three on three, and that’s not where I excel. I've never played basketball like that."^[24] Scouts saw what The New York Times later described as "a smart passer with a flawed jump shot and a thin frame, who might not have the strength and athleticism to defend, create his own shot or finish at the rim in the N.B.A."^[30] Lin joined the Dallas Mavericks for mini-camp as well as their NBA Summer League team in Las Vegas.^[40] Donnie Nelson of the Mavericks was the only General Manager that offered him an invitation to play in the Summer League. "Donnie took care of me," said Lin. "He has a different type of vision than most people do."^[23]

In five Summer League games, while playing both guard positions, Lin averaged 9.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.2 steals in 18.6 minutes per game and shot a team leading 54.5% from the floor.^[41][42] He outplayed first overall pick John Wall;^[30] Lin scored 13 points to Wall's 21, but did so on 6-for-12 shooting in 28 minutes. Wall was 4-for-19 in 33 minutes.^[43] While Wall received the biggest cheer for any player during introductions, the crowd turned on Wall and was cheering for Lin by the end of the game.^[44] Lin received offers to sign from the Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, and an unnamed Eastern Conference team. In addition to the original three teams, the Golden State Warriors also offered Lin a contract.^[45]

Golden State Warriors (2010–2011)[link]

Lin at Warriors practice in 2010

On July 21, 2010, Lin signed a two-year deal with his hometown Warriors, his favorite team growing up. Lin's deal was partially guaranteed for 2010–11, and the Warriors held a team option for the second season.^[46] The deal included a first-year salary of close to $500,000 with more than half of it guaranteed.^[47] Lin said the counteroffers from the three other teams were higher, but he wanted to play for the Warriors.^[48] Lin's agent Roger Montgomery negotiated the deal with the Warriors.^[38] Lin also signed a three-year guaranteed contract with Nike.^[49] His jersey was already on sale before his first NBA game.^[50]

The Warriors held a press conference for Lin after his signing, with national media in attendance. "It was surprising to see that ... for an undrafted rookie," said then-Warriors coach Keith Smart.^[51] "The San Jose Mercury News wrote that Lin "had something of a cult following" after his signing.^[52] The San Francisco Bay Area, with its large Asian-American population, celebrated his arrival.^[2] He became the first American of Chinese or Taiwanese descent to play in the NBA.^[2][53][54] Lin received the loudest ovation of the night in the Warriors' home exhibition opener at Oracle Arena when he entered the game in the fourth quarter.^[55] The crowd had started chanting for him in the third quarter and cheered whenever he touched the ball. "That really touched me. It's something I'll remember forever," Lin said.^[56] During the first month of the season, Oracle Arena fans continued to root for Lin to play in the end of games and cheered every time he touched the ball.^[57] He drew the crowd's attention on the road as well. Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com attributed the attention Lin received out of town to the unique angle of "an Asian-American rising to rare basketball prominence".^[5] ESPN.com NBA editor Matt Wong wrote after a game in New York, "Lin checked into the game to loud applause, presumably from the many Asian-Americans in attendance."^[58] Still, Lin played more relaxed at home. "There's a lot of pressure on him at home, with all of the applause for just checking into the game, so I'm sure that cranks his nerves up a little bit," said teammate Stephen Curry. "You can tell on the road he plays a lot better, because he can just go out there, play and have fun."^[57]

Lin noticed the expectations that followed him and warned, "I won't be an All-Star this year."^[59] He was appreciative of the support, especially from the Asian-American community, but he also preferred concentrating on his play without all the attention when he had not "proven anything to anybody."^[5] Smart saw that Lin was skilled at getting to the paint, but needed to learn to pass because, he said, Lin "couldn't shoot the ball at all". The coach also noticed that the player always arrived early for practice and left late. Lin studied and rehearsed Steve Nash and other top point guards' pick-and-roll plays.^[30] Frank Hughes of Sports Illustrated wrote that he talked with the occasional "seeds of self-doubt", which he said was not common to hear in the NBA. Hughes also found it rare when Lin compared himself to the Phoenix Suns' backup point guard Goran Dragić.^[60] "Neither of us is a freak athlete, but we're both effective and know how to play the game," Lin said.^[61] Lin and Curry, the 2009–10 runner-up Rookie of the Year, received more interview requests than any other Warrior. Team officials regularly denied requests for Lin to help him keep his focus. He was approached to be the subject of documentaries.^[5] Smart planned to take pressure off Lin since Lin had a tendency to be hard on himself and get frustrated,^[59] but the coach admitted that he once succumbed to the home crowd's wishes and put Lin into a game in the wrong situation.^[5]

Lin received little playing time during the season with two dominant ball-handling guards, Curry and Monta Ellis, starring for the Warriors.^[62] He initially competed with Charlie Bell and Reggie Williams, and later Acie Law, for playing time at backup point guard.^[63][64] Lin started the regular season on the Warriors' inactive list,^[65] but made his NBA debut the next game during the Warriors' Asian Heritage Night. He received a standing ovation when he entered the game in the final minutes.^[66][67] In the next game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Lin scored his first NBA basket, had three assists, and recorded four steals. He played 11 of his 16 minutes in the third quarter and committed five fouls but played a role in a 12–1 run by the Warriors in a 107–83 loss to the defending NBA champions.^[68][69] Lakers' guard Derek Fisher praised Lin for his energy and aggressiveness.^[70] At Toronto on November 8, the Raptors held Asian Heritage Night to coincide with Lin's visit with the Warriors. Over 20 members of Toronto's Chinese media covered the game.^[71][72] In a 89–117 road loss to the Lakers, Lin scored a (then) career-high 13 points in 18 minutes after scoring only seven total points in his first six games.^[73][74]

Three times during the season, Lin was assigned to the Warriors' D-League affiliate, the Reno Bighorns.^[75][76][77] Each time, he was later recalled by the Warriors.^[78][79][80] He competed in the NBA D-League Showcase and was named to the All-NBA D-League Showcase First Team on January 14, 2011. Lin helped lead the Bighorns to a 2–0 record at the Showcase with averages of 21.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 3.5 steals.^[81] Lin posted a season-high 27 points with the Bighorns on March 18.^[82] In 20 games he averaged 18 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.4 assists with Reno.^[30] Lin initially felt he was not good enough to play in the NBA, but he later realized he was learning and getting playing time in the D-League that he would not have received with the Warriors.^[83][84] Lin credited Bighorns coach Eric Musselman with "helping him regain [his] swagger."^[85] Musselman recalled that Lin was a good scorer for himself but was not yet skilled at "using the whole floor". He scored many offensive fouls, but Musselman believed Lin was as good as Gilbert Arenas in the dribble drive, an ability "you can't teach". The player continued to improve his pick-and-roll, how to handle double teams and traps, and improved his jump shot and, especially, his three pointer. Musselman also noticed that Lin, who as an NBA player received first-class airplane tickets, gave them to his teammates.^[30]

The Warriors saw Lin as a potential backup for Curry.^[30] Lacob said the team received more than one trade offer for Lin while he was in the D-League, but he was happy with Lin's progress as an undrafted free agent. "He's a minimum, inexpensive asset. You need to look at him as a developing asset. Is he going to be a superstar? No."^[86] He finished his rookie NBA season averaging 2.6 points on 38.9 percent shooting in 29 games.^[87]

2011 offseason[link]

Lin recovered from a patellar ligament injury to his knee during the 2011 NBA lockout.^[88] In September 2011, Lin played a few games for the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) club Dongguan Leopards at the ABA Club Championship in Guangzhou, China, where he was named the MVP of the tournament.^[89] Shanghai Sharks president and former NBA star Yao Ming also tried, unsuccessfully, to sign Lin for the upcoming CBA season;^[90] Lin explained^[91] that as someone still under contract with the Golden State Warriors, he could not play in the CBA as the league would only admit NBA free agents.^[92] A few days before the lockout was lifted on November 26, Lin had been close to signing with an undisclosed club in Italy.^[93]

Lin worked to improve his jump shot during the offseason by abandoning the shooting form he had used since the eighth grade. He also increased his strength, doubling the weight he could squat (from 110 pounds (50 kg) to 231 (105)) and almost tripling the number of pull-ups that he could do (from 12 to 30).^[88] He increased his body weight from 200 pounds (91 kg) to 212 (96)—including 15 pounds (6.8 kg) of muscle—added 3.5 inches (8.9 cm) to his standing vertical jump and 6 inches (15 cm) to his running vertical jump, and improved his lateral quickness by 32 percent.^[30][94] Due to the lockout, he never got a chance to workout for new Warriors coach Mark Jackson.^[95] On the first day of training camp on December 9, 2011, the Warriors waived Lin. He was a favorite of Lacob,^[96][97] but the Warriors were freeing up salary cap space to make an offer to restricted free agent center DeAndre Jordan;^[98][99] Lin was due to make nearly $800,000 that would have become fully guaranteed on February 10, 2012.^[2][100] The San Francisco Chronicle said Lin would have had trouble beating out rookie guard Charles Jenkins.^[101]

On December 12, 2011, Lin was claimed off waivers by the Houston Rockets.^[102] He played seven minutes in two preseason games with the Rockets, who already had Kyle Lowry, Goran Dragić and Jonny Flynn as point guards with guaranteed contracts.^[103][104] On December 24, before the start of the season, the Rockets waived Lin to clear payroll to sign center Samuel Dalembert.^[62][105]

New York Knicks (2011–present)[link]

Lin shoots over former Warriors teammate David Lee.

The New York Knicks claimed Lin off waivers on December 27 to be a backup behind Toney Douglas and Mike Bibby after an injury to guard Iman Shumpert; recently-signed guard Baron Davis was also injured and weeks away from playing.^{[62][99][106]} He becomes a restricted free agent at the end of the season.^[107] Because of the lockout coaches had little opportunity to see Lin's play, and placed him fourth on the point guard depth chart.^[30] Lin said he was "competing for a backup spot, and people see me as the 12th to 15th guy on the roster. It's a numbers game",^[52] and continued to arrive first at practice, leave last, intensely study game film, and work with coaches to improve his footwork and judgement.^[30] He made his season debut on the road against the Warriors, where he was warmly cheered in his return to Oracle Arena.^[108] On January 17, 2012, Lin was assigned to the Erie BayHawks of the D-League.^[109] On January 20, he had a triple-double with 28 points, 11 rebounds, and 12 assists in the BayHawks' 122–113 victory over the Maine Red Claws.^[110] Lin was recalled by the Knicks three days later,^[111] but so feared being cut again that he asked a chaplain at a pregame prayer service to pray for him.^[112] If released again, Lin considered playing in Europe, returning to the D-league, or taking a break with a non-basketball job.^[113]

On January 28, Davis suffered a setback that postponed his Knicks debut.^[107][114] Then New York considered releasing Lin before his contract became guaranteed on February 10 so they could sign a new player. However, after the Knicks squandered a fourth quarter lead in a February 3 loss to the Boston Celtics, coach Mike D'Antoni decided to give Lin a chance to play due to "desperation", according to experts. "He got lucky because we were playing so bad," said D'Antoni.^[114][115] Lin had played only 55 minutes through the Knicks' first 23 games, but he would unexpectedly lead a turnaround of an 8–15 team that had lost 11 of its last 13 games.^{[116][117][118]}

On February 4, against the New Jersey Nets and All-Star guard Deron Williams, Lin had 25 points, five rebounds, and seven assists—all career-highs—in a 99–92 Knicks victory. Teammate Carmelo Anthony suggested to coach Mike D'Antoni at halftime that Lin should play more in the second half. After the game, D'Antoni said Lin has a point-guard mentality and "a rhyme and a reason for what he is doing out there."^{[119][120][121]} In the subsequent game against the Utah Jazz, Lin made his first career start playing without stars Anthony, who left the game due to injury, and Amar'e Stoudemire, whose older brother had died. Lin had 28 points and eight assists in the Knicks' 99–88 win.^[122][123] Stoudemire and Anthony missed the next three and seven games, respectively.^[121][123] D'Antoni stated after the Jazz game that he intended to "rid[e Lin] like freakin' Secretariat."^[124] Basketball trainer David Thorpe said in hindsight that such a statement of confidence so soon by a coach was "incredibly rare", and likely gave Lin the confidence to continue to play aggressively despite making mistakes.^[115]

In a 107–93 win over the Washington Wizards, Lin played against John Wall and had 23 points and 10 assists, his first double-double.^[126] On February 10, Lin scored a new career-high 38 points and had seven assists, leading the Knicks in their 92–85 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. He outscored the Lakers' Kobe Bryant, who had 34 points.^{[127][128][129]} On February 11, Lin scored 20 points and had 8 assists in a narrow 100–98 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.^[130] Lin was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week after averaging 27.3 points, 8.3 assists and 2.0 steals in those four starts with the Knicks going undefeated.^[131]

On February 14, with less than a second remaining, Lin scored a game-winning three-pointer against the Toronto Raptors.^[123] The basket so amazed the Lakers, watching on TV, that veteran player Metta World Peace ran by reporters shouting "Linsanity! Linsanity!" and waving his hands above his head.^[132][133] Lin became the first NBA player to score at least 20 points and have seven assists in each of his first five starts.^[134] Lin scored 89, 109, and 136 points in his first three, four, and five career starts, respectively, all three of which are the most by any player since the merger between the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the NBA in 1976–77.^{[130][135][136]}

In the following game against the Sacramento Kings, Lin recorded 13 assists and led the Knicks back to .500.^[137] New York had a 7–0 record after Lin started receiving major playing time, 6–0 with him starting.^[138] The winning streak ended in an 89–85 loss to the New Orleans Hornets; Lin scored 26 points but had nine turnovers. His 45 turnovers in his first seven career starts were the most since individual turnovers began being tracked in 1977–78.^[139] On February 19 in a 104–97 win against the Mavericks, Lin scored 28 points and tallied career highs with 14 assists and five steals. USA Today wrote, "No matter what Dallas threw at Lin – double-teams, traps, blitzes, tall defenders ... smaller defenders ... stocky, thin – Lin found a way ... to a victory against the defending NBA champions."^[140]

In his 12 starts before the All-Star break, Lin averaged 22.5 points and 8.7 assists, and New York had a 9–3 record.^[141] He played in the Rising Stars Challenge during NBA All-Star Weekend.^[142] He was omitted from the original Rising Stars roster, but was added after his sudden rise to stardom.^[143] Some media outlets—including USA Today, Los Angeles Times, and CBSSports.com—stated that he deserved to play in the All-Star Game.^{[144][145][146]}

After the March 24 game against the Detroit Pistons, Lin complained about a sore knee, and an MRI later revealed a small meniscus tear in the left knee. The Knicks announced on March 31 that Lin opted to have knee surgery and would miss the rest of the regular season.^[147][148]

Career statistics[link]

College[link]

NBA[link]

Regular season