What If Lovecraft Had Lived into the '60s?

In our reality, H.P. Lovecraft died on March 15, 1937 at the age of 46. While it would be a stretch to say that he died "young," he certainly died younger than most men of his era. For example, Clark Ashton Smith, who was born less than three years after Lovecraft, died in 1961 at the age of 68. With a better diet and better access to medical care, it's not at all improbable to imagine HPL living into his 60s or even 70s – long enough for him to see World War II, the end of the Great Depression, and the monumental technological and social changes of the ensuing decades. If he had lived, what might Lovecraft have written and what impact might it have had?

I have no answers of my own to this question, but, back in 1978, at the 38th World Science Fiction Convention in Phoenix, Arizona, several notable science fiction and fantasy writers and commentators held a panel on the very topic. Led by Dirk W. Mosig, the panel also included Donald R. Burleson, J. Vernon Shea, Fritz Leiber, and S.T. Joshi. If you're interested and have the time, you can listen to the panel, which consists of six half-hour audio files. 

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4
• Part 5
• Part 6 

The files are surprisingly clear, given how old they are, and the discussion is interesting. Fritz Leiber's comments are, in my opinion, among the most notable, especially in light of the fact that Lovecraft read an early draft of the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser story, "The Adept's Gambit," As I said, if you have the time, it's well worth your time.