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Edgar Rice Burroughs

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Edgar Rice Burroughs was a very busy American writer.

Bookplate of Edgar Rice Burroughs
Bookplate of Edgar Rice Burroughs

He wrote almost 80 novels about grand adventures. Many of his stories belong to the science fiction and fantasy genres. He is most famous for creating Tarzan, a character who lives in the jungle.

Letter from Edgar Rice Burroughs to Ruthven Deane 1922
Letter from Edgar Rice Burroughs to Ruthven Deane 1922

Tarzan became a massive cultural icon for many people. People enjoyed Tarzan through many different things. They read him in books and saw him in films. They also followed him in syndicated comic strips. Burroughs even sold special merchandise based on his famous character. He proved that fans wanted to see Tarzan in every way possible.

Writing stories was a way for Burroughs to share his imagination. He often wrote about people traveling to far-off places. One character is John Carter, who travels to a world called Barsoom. Barsoom is the name Burroughs used for the planet Mars. He also wrote about a world called Amtor, which is Venus.

Bookplate of Edgar Rice Burroughs
Bookplate of Edgar Rice Burroughs

Other stories took place on lost islands like Caspak. Some adventures even happened inside the Hollow Earth in his Pellucidar series. He used these settings to create exciting tales of adventure. These different worlds helped make his work very popular.

Burroughs had a very busy life before he became a full-time writer. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, on September 1, 1875. His father, George Tyler Burroughs, was a businessman and a veteran. Edgar worked many different jobs during his younger years. He worked as a cowboy on a ranch in Idaho. He also worked at a battery factory in Chicago. Later, he managed a gold dredge for a mining company. He even worked for the Oregon Short Line Railroad in Salt Lake City. He finally began writing fiction full-time around 1911.

His writing career brought him much success and fame. In 1912, his story "Under the Moons of Mars" was published. This story introduced the character John Carter. In 1919, Burroughs bought a large ranch near Los Angeles. He named this ranch "Tarzana" after his famous character. Eventually, a whole community grew around the ranch. The citizens chose to keep the name Tarzana for their town.

Letter from Edgar Rice Burroughs to Ruthven Deane 1922
Letter from Edgar Rice Burroughs to Ruthven Deane 1922

This shows how much his stories changed real places. Even a crater on Mars is named after him today.

Burroughs's life was full of many different experiences. He was a pilot who loved to fly planes. During World War II, he served as a war correspondent. This made him one of the oldest correspondents in the war. He lived in many places, including California and Hawaii. He had three children, including a son named John Coleman Burroughs. John became an illustrator for his father's books. Burroughs died in 1950 after a long career of writing. His work continues to inspire people who love adventure stories.

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