He boxed, fought, and acted more like a man than most men do today. Hell he was at one time a boxing promoter and fught on and off for years.
As to his love life how many men have had movies based on their love affairs? Oh I can think of one "The Whole Wide World" based on Howard's.
So he never married? and yes he stayed and cared for his Mother who was dying of Tuberculoisis. Wow he was such a wuss of a man.
Read Dark Valley Destiny. The guy was clearly out of his mind. But I mean that in the best possible way. Really. His weirdness allowed him to create these entire, fully-imagined worlds.
Again, his love life was weird. His mother kept him away from girls and girls away from him. I believe the one woman he actually dated (Price?)didn't last long.