Official Edgar Rice Burroughs Tribute and Weekly Webzine Site
Since 1996 ~ Over 15,000 Webpages in Archive
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BIO TIMELINE 1940-1950 Compiled by Bill Hillman |
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Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., Tarzana, California Letters ~ Journals ~ Memorabilia ~ Interviews ~ Newspapers |
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www.ERBzine.com/war Note: More detailed timelines of events for the ERB War Years 1940-1945 are featured in ERBzine 1020: ERB WWII Time Line: 1940-1942 ERBzine 1021: ERB WWII Time Line: 1943-1945 ILLUSTRATED TIMELINES: 1940 Illo Timeline ~ 1941 Illo Timeline ~ 1942 Illo Timeline ~ 1943 Illo Timeline ~ 1944 Illo Timeline ~ 1945 Illo Timeline |
| 1940s: ERB writes a Tarzan parody play called
"Tarzan's Good Deed Today."
1940s: Whitman Better Little Books publish many adaptations of ERB's books: John Carter of Mars, Tarzan the Untamed, Tarzan the Terrible, Tarzan and the Golden Lion, Tarzan and the Ant Men, Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle, Tarzan and the Lost Empire, Tarzan in the Land of the Giant Apes, etc. Many are reprints of Tarzan comic strips and John Coleman Burroughs does some of the art. * Murder mystery puzzle, "The Gang Murder," is possibly written. 1940: ERB's When "Tarzan" Went To Harvard appears in Harvard Review, Anniversary Issue January: Ed and Florence are taking bridge lessons. January 2: The death of Robert D. Lay, old childhood friend and classmate at Michigan Military Academy. Mr. Lay was born in Chicago. he was graduated from the Michigan Military academy in 1894 and started his business career as an office boy for the Knickerbocker Ice company. (ERB worked as a bill collector for this company in the summer of 1895) January 3: Obituary: Funeral services for Robert Dwight Lay, an executive of the Hydrox company and former president of the National Life Insurance company, will be conducted at 2:30 p.m. today in the Graceland cemetery chapel. Mr. Lay died Monday night in the Passavant hospital. He was 64 years old. January 16 - March 22: Tarzan and the Madman is written. Thanks to son Jack, a Burroughs Dictaphone wax cylinder remains with Ed's voice dictating about 1,500 words from the novel. The book never appears in magazine but is published by Canaveral Press in 1964. January 18: "It has been a wonderful world we have lived in. In no other era could we have seen so many wonderful things come to pass. In no other couintry could we have found greater peace, security and happiness. Even the New Dealers haven't been able to ruin it entirely." January 21: Brother Harry (Henry Studley - born May 23, 1868) dies at the home of his daughter, Evelyn (Mrs. Carlton McKenzie) in Quincy, Michigan after being hospitalized for eight months with sclerosis of the spine. "As he was practically blind, almost entirely helpless, and his case hopeless, we all felt that his death was a release from an intolerable condition which he must have hated, though he never once complained. He was one of the finest men I ever knew. No one could have deserved such an affliction less than he. I recall that there was an old superstition in our home when I was a boy that if one friend or relative died there would be two more similar deaths following quite closely. Well, in this instance it was Harry, Bob Lay, and Joe Bray, former president of A.C. McClurg & Co., which published Tarzan of teh Apes and many other books of mine and a friend for a quarter of a century." January 31: ERB agrees to participate in a memorial to Zane Grey, whose works he says "will live forever as authentic records of days that are fast disappearing." He also considers Booth Tarkington as "our greatest novelist." February 20: "I saw a New York friend of mine at The Racquet Club in Palm Springs Sunday who is a collecotr of first and rare editions. He told me that firsts of Tarzan of the Apes were bringing $50 to $75 each according to the condition of the book. I didn't have one, but managed to buy one for $10 about a year ago. I doubt that the first printing was more tahn two or three thousand. I have the long-hand manuscript of the story, which should be worth something some day if there continue to be nuts who are interested in such things." March: The Terrible Tenderfoot (written as That Damned Dude back in 1930) appears in three parts in Thrilling Adventures magazine ($500 paid). March 15: Synthetic Men of Mars is published by ERB, Inc. ~ 315 pages ~ Print Run: 3,500 ~ Heins word count: 70,000 Illustrations are by John Coleman Burroughs. April: Tarzan and the Champion appears in Blue Book ($250) April 18: Florence, Lee and Caryl Lee, along with their maid and Packard sedan, sailed to Hawaii aboard the S.S. Matsonia. Ed was to follow on the 24th. April 24: Ed rented out the Beverly Hills home and left for Hawaii on the S.S. Monterey. Ed's royalites had taken a setback due to WWII and this move was designed to cut living expenses. April 24: The S.S. Matsonia docked with Florence and kids on board. April 25: The arrival of "Mrs. Tarzan" and children was reported in LaSelle Gilman's "Port and Off Port" column in the Honolulu Advertiser. April 29: Ed arrived in Hawaii on board the S.S. Monterey. taking a house at Kalama. NEWS CLIPPINGS announce the arrival. April 30: Ed's was reported in LaSelle Gilman's "Port and Off Port" column in the Honolulu Advertiser. He is quoted as saying he will be writing a series of books while on the islands and that he will make a special broadcast over KGU tonight at 6:30 o'clock introducing a new series of transcribed Tarzan dramatizations, the first of which will be heard over KGU tomorrow evening. May 1: Ed introduces the new Tarzan radio series debuting on Hawaii's station KGU. He said that his Mars stories would soon be on the air as well, adding that they would be guaranteed not to scare the listening public into believing Mars was attacking the Earth, as had been done by Orson Welles. May 4-5: Ed started writing again, writing an outline for a Venus story. Because of the war in Europe most of his foreign royalties from books, movies, magazines and strips were lost and money was tight. They rented a ramshackled beach house on Kailula Bay, Lanikai, Oahu for $125 a month. Ed's office was in the garage and he wrote here almost every day, turning out new novels of Venus, Mars, Pellucidar, and Tarzan. ERB's last visit from John Carter took place at Lanikai. May 4 - July 20: "Captured on Venus," the first of a new Carson Napier series, is written. May 7: Ed takes the family on a tour of Pearl Harbor where he is warmly welcomed by the military brass. May 13: "I sailed April 24th, the day that Florence and the children arrived here, and landed on the 29th. Had a reasonably pleasant trip. Me some nice young people form the mainland and some e Australians who were mighty good company. Won both nights that they played Keno and two nights at poker. Did very well for myself. We have a comfortable house smack on the ocean, with a nice white, sandy beach and good swimming. We can wade out for a hundred yards or more and then not be in deep water. No coral nor seaweed. There is good surf fishing here, but I haven't a pole nor hook. Duke Kahanamoku's brother told me that all I needed was a bamboo pole, a piece of string, a hook, and some fresh shrimp to catch more fish than we could use. I was especially warned by another Hawaiian not to have any bananas on the beach when I was going fishing; and that if Florence asked me where I was going, I should reply: 'I am going for a walk up in the mountains.' this is quite necessary, because the fish would hear me. It has rained every day since we arrived; and some days, like today, all day. A naive who came to see me today told me that in a storm like this it rains about an inch an hour. In a day, we get more than the entire annual rainfall of Los Angeles. Lanikai, the name of our postoffice, means Heavenly Sea; and Oahu, the name of the island, means Place of Assemblage, or seat of government, as it has been since King Kamehameha I conquered the islands. God! You should hear it rain. I have my office in one of two small rooms in the garage. I'll bet Florence is going nuts in the house, with the two kids shut up there. She doesn't like a rain that never lets up -- neither do I. If someone hadn't already done it, I could write "Rain." Am thinking of writing a play called Suicide on the Beach in the Rain, or Somep'n." May 23: Ed and Florence drive to the top of Mount Tantalus to observe a Honolulu blackout rehearsal. May 24: Ed sends the poem, "Mud in your Ai, or May 1940," to Hulbert. June: Murder in the Jungle is extensively revised by the editors of Thrilling Adventures and appears as Tarzan and the Jungle Murders ($300 - 2 cents a word). It was rejected by all of ERB's regular magazine publishers. June 7: "I hear plenty about the war here. The people are not so happy. An enemy from the West would probably try to mess up this island -- the largest military and naval establishment belonging to the US. Worse still, the food problem would be terrible. They don't raise enough to feed the population I am told. We live between two heavily fortified Points which an enemy would certainly bomb. They might miss and hit us. "Am not so happy with myself today. Went on a picnic yesterday with the Hallidays and Mitchells. Halliday is John Halliday the actor. I spent four hours on and in the water during the hottest part of the day, and although I tried to protect myself to some extent, I am badly burned and swelling. My hands and arms look like those of pithecanthropus erectus; and my head will, I fear, soon bear a startling resemblance to that of a man from some distant planet. We picnicked on Sand Island in Kaneohe Bay. I went over in Halliday's sampan and came back in Mitchell's speed boat. It was lots of fun, but not so funny today. Sand Island is a spit of sand. When we arrived it was about a quarter of a mile long and a few yards wide. Not a tree or spear of grass on it -- just white sand. Before we left the tide had come in and you could have covered the whole island with your front parlor rug. The swimming was fine and so were the highballs on Mitchell's boat -- a cabin job. A few days ago some swimmer s reported seeing five sharks at the island. We didn't see any, but that was not because we didn't look for them." June 12: LETTER to Joan. Ed talks about trying to swim in Hawaiian surf. Step-Daughter Caryl Lee has been stung twice by a Portugese Man-o-War. June 17: LETTER ~ ALTERNATE from Lanikai, Oahu, T.H. to kids at home. Writes of an unpleasant deep-sea fishing experience. June 25: Ed writes Bert Weston that Florence is discouraged with the cost-saving measures, as well as the condition of the house and its rats and scorpions. Ed relays a chain letter which contains a long list of famous names: Senator Heflin, Bernard Shaw, Henry Ford, Col. Lindberg, Dorothy Dix, John Barrymore, etc. June 29: "John Carter and the Giant of Mars" (a 20,000-word novelette mostly written by son Jack) is sent to Ziff-Davis (Amazing Stories). July 4: Florence is stung on the heel by a centipede at a fireworks celebration on the beach. July 10: In a letter to brother George, Ed again expresses his dislike for FDR and his hope that Willkie will win the impending election. July 16: Ed writes the 10 page, 5,700-word, "The Strange Adventure of Mr. Dinwiddie." It is marketed under the nom de plume, John Tyler McCulloch but it is never published. Ed maintains a daily writing schedule but has regular evening social affairs with friends - two of whom were actors John Halliday and Janet Gaynor. The evenings usually involved drinks followed by bridge. Ed's inner agonies, guilt and fears, as well as his increasing reliance on alcohol, are creating marriage tensions. Friends are starting to note that the two appear ill-mated. July 20: A short biography of ERB appears in Bob Davis' New York Sun column. Davis, retired from Munsey's and now living at Kailua, had interviewed Ed after a chance meeting on the island. July 24 - September 6: ERB writes "John Carter and the Pits of Horz," the first of series he plans to combine in a book tentatively titled "Frozen Men of Mars," "Llana of Gathol," or "The Horror Pits of Horz." August 28: The family moves to 2623 Halelena in Honolulu and a week later, Ed moves into an office at 1298 Kapiolani Boulevard. He is at the office from nine to four, preferring to keep his work separate from his homelife. September 3: ERB is interviewed on Radio Station KGMB. Ed probably wrote the excellent biographical script. The introduction claims that Ed was the first or one of the first people ever interviewed on radio. Ed's youthful appearance and personification of perennial youth is emphasized: . . . Ed is the height of Tarzan and just as active -- at age 59 he played tennis, ice skated, skiied . . . and will probably soon go surf boarding. The Tarzan influences of Romulus and Remus, and Kipling are discussed. Ed admits to fictionalizing Tarzan as such a person raised by apes would probably be quite disagreeable to have around and would probably suffer from athlete's foot, halitosis, BO and a multitude of junge diseases and bad habits. He discusses how his family's pronunciation of Tarzan differs from Webster's Dictionary and the movies (Tar-zen). He also discusses his publishing history and successes, saying that his biggest problem as an author is being typecast as a Tarzan and tall tales writer and being not able to sell other types of material. September 6: Ed completes a 20,000-word John Carter story. September 7-15: "Hodon and O-AA," the first of a new David Innes series of four is written. It is later titled "The Return to Pellucidar." He plans publish all four parts in a book titled Girl of Pellucidar. The full novel is not published until 1963 when it is issued as Savage Pellucidar by Canaveral Press. September 13: The Deputy Sheriff of Commanche County is published by ERB, Inc. (previous titles were That Damned Dude and The Terrible Tenderfoot) ~ 312 pages ~ Print Run: 3,500 ~ Word count estimate: 56,000. Illustrations are by John Colman Burroughs. Dedication is: "To Mary Lucas Pflueger," a close friend and member of a prominent Honolulu family. Because of wartime paper shortage, this is the last ERB book to appear until 1944. September 26: A dictaphone arrives at the office and Ed carries on writing at a feverish pace. Ed claimes to have coined the word "scientifiction" to categorize his writings. He has come to develop strong feelings of inferiority about ability as a writer. He shows deep resentment toward "literary" writers and anger toward his critics who have excluded him from literary circles. September 27 - October 2: "The Black Pirates of Barsoom," part 2 of the new Mars series is written. September 30: Mrs. Jane Morse is hired as a typist. October 9: "God but it's hot. Wrote 4000 words today." October 6-13: "Men of the Bronze Age," part 2 of the new Pellucidar series is written. October 15-22: "The Living Dead," part 2 of the new Venus series, is written. October 24-30: "Escape on Mars," part 3 of the new Mars series is written. October 24 - November 5: "Beyond the Farthest Star," the start of a new series on the planet Poloda is written. It is published in book form in the 1964 book, Tales of Three Planets, by Canaveral Press. October 27: LETTER from 1298 Kaplolani Boulevard, Honolulu to the children back home. Topics: Hully got rid of his puppies ~ Hawaiians are dog crazy ~ Edith Thorpe & Tom Bonynge ~ Samoan bus driver clipping ~ had lunch with fight promoter Al Karasic and three sports writers along with wrestler Prince Ilaki Ibn Ali Hassan, the Persian Whirlwind who is also an ERB fan and successful pulp writer. Ed has hired a Hawaiian/Chinese 10th grader to act as janitor in his office for $1.50 an hour. Ed has just taken Caryl Lee to a three ring circus -- loved the elephants. November 1: ERB runs into astronomical problems in his creation of the new "Canapa" solar system in the Poloda series. He begins correspondence with Professor J. S. Donaghho of Honolulu. November 6-10: "Tiger Girl," part 3 of the new Pellucidar series is written. November 17: In a letter to Irene Ettrick, a London fan, Ed expresses his concern over Japan's growing strength, on and off the islands. He believes that there will be war with Japan in a matter of weeks. He describes Oahu as an immense fortress. He sees the navy as being great but the army as being pitifully undermanned and under equipped. November 26 - December 13: Tarzan and the Castaways of the "New Tarzan Series" is written (37,000 words). November 18-22: "Invisible Men of Mars," part 4 of the new Mars series, is writtten. November 27: Rothmund sends word that feedback on Tarzan and the Jungle Murders and "The Giant of Mars" is bad - many fans do not believe that ERB has written them. December: Ed and Florence move to the Niumalu Hotel. December 17: ERB starts writing "Tangor Returns," the second in the Poloda series, as a 20,695-word novelette. |
| * Jungle Girl is released as a 15-part
Republic serial starring Frances Gifford. Ed's friend Rochelle Hudson had
hoped to get the role.
* Tarzan's Secret Treasure with Weissmuller and O'Sullivan is released by MGM January: "John Carter and the Giant of Mars" appears in Amazing Stories under ERB's name (the magazine hit the stands on November 10, 1940.) A controversy soon follows as to authorship over this story which was actually written by John Coleman Burroughs. Hulbert later explains that "Giant" was originally written as a Whitman Better Little Book and later expanded into novelette form - although ERB might have had some input from Honolulu, Jack (perhaps with input from Whitman editors) did most of the work on it. January 3: LETTER home to Joan. January 5-8: The 3,300-word story, "Misogynists Preferred" is written under the pen name John Tyler McCulloch. It is rejected in February by Esquire, New Yorker, Romantic Story and Hillman Periodicals. It is not published until 2001 in the compilation: Forgotten Tales of Love and Murder. January 13: LETTER ~ ALTERNATE home to Joan from 1298 Kapiolani Boulevard Honolulu T H. Talk of: Clipper Mail ~ death of Bill Terhune ~ Ralph becoming president of the Chamber of Commerce ~ Joan's occasional work in film ~ hope that Jim got his appointment as flying instructor. January 15: ERB writes the poem, "The Skunk in Defeat," and later "A War-Job Striker To A Soldier." January 24: LETTERhome to Joan from The Head Janitor M.A.S. (Mutual Admiration Society) at 1298 Kapiolani Boulevard. Ed is becoming impatient with critics -- he half-seriously considers saying: "Well, you homely looking abortion, if you had the brains of a cross-eyed titmouse you'd keep your fool mouth shut instead of knocking inspired literature that has entertained a hundred million people for over a quarter of a century !!!" He announces that he has started another goofy Venus story: Wizard of Venus -- "...with apologies to Merlin, the Arthurian legend, and Mark Twain." He wishes Hulbert would do something with his singing. January 23 - October 7: "Wizard of Venus," the first of a planned new Venus series, is written. All magazine submissions are rejected. January 27: LETTER home to Joan. He wonders how Tom Scully got the money to build a beautiful 10-room house on Mulholland Drive when he still owes Ed $10,000. Louise and Hubert Harmon drop by regularly. March: "Captured on Venus" appears in Fantastic Adventures as "Slaves of the Fish Men" ($472). March: "The City of Mummies" ("John Carter and the Pits of Horz") appears in Amazing Stories. March 6: LETTER home to Joan. Ed is interested in the house the Pierces are building. "Florence and the children are sailing for the mainland on the 14th. I found it possible to get them back at this time, and as it is almost impossible to get such reservations as we can afford, we seized this opportunity. The possibility of war with Japan made it doubly advisable" He has written to George about Edna's accident. March 14: The end of the marriage - Florence and the children sailed on the Lurline at noon. Ed had to borrow the money for their fares. March 20: Ed writes Bert Weston of having met long-standing fan, pulp writer, and professional wrestler, Prince Ilaki Ibn Ali Hassan. He says Florence left the islands because of the increasing Japanese threat. March 27: LETTER ~ ALTERNATE home to Joan. Ed couldn't recognize their actor friend Rex Lease in The Lone Star Raiders and he wonders if Joan was in Deanna Durbin's Spring Parade. He writes that he really enjoyed My Little Chickadee with W.C. Fields and Mae West and wishes he could see more good comedies. He is proud of the familiy pictures sent by Joan. March 27: Ed, tormented over Florence and finances, has a slight stroke in his sleep. Spring: Ed starts writing I Am A Barbarian. April 2: Ed suggests that Jack and Ralph send something to Frank Shonfeld of the British Army who has written them numerous times.... something to "give him a thrill." April 8: Ed's diary entries indicate that he has fallen into deep depression and complete withdrawal. In letters to the family around this time he begs that they never doubt his love for his children nor believe that he ever doubted their devotion for him. He feels he may have been a lousy father. He never really liked kids until he had his own... he found them interesting from a scientific point of view. He jokingly notes that his hopes raised for the future of the children when he saw them chase each other around with heavy furniture and even start to steal nickels. He thought they just might have a future as gangsters. April 17: LETTER home to Joan. Ed wishes he could get back to California to see the new Pierce house: "I am reminded of a scene of ruin painted on the curtain of the old Hooley's Theater in Chicago, beneath which appeared: 'So fleet the works of men, back to their earth again ancient and holy things fade like a dream'". Much of the world is at war: ". . .contemplate the horrors of war, but not fearfully, as I realize that some two hundred thousand armed men, the United States fleet, and a swell air corps are gathered all about to protect me." April 19: Ed sends Rothmund instructions to be followed after his death. May 3: Ed decides to swear off drinking. He has lost 11 pounds in the last month. May 5: The Honolulu Star-Bulletin prints a scathing letter from ERB in which he blasts the Hawaii Legislature. In a follow up letter he outlines a plan in which an intelligence test could be administered to potential leaders to better help the voters choose the best people for the job of governing. May 17: Ed notes in his diary that his article concerning the Legislature was viewed favourably in the governor's office. May 30: LETTER received from son, Jack who signs it "your hair-non-apparent." June: "Black Pirates of Barsoom" appears in Amazing Stories. Also included in the issue is the 750-word article, "An Autobiographical Sketch." June 2: Ed's old bladder obstruction problems are returning. June 3: LETTER home to Joan. "Every boat for the mainland is crowded, and reservations are almost impossible to get. Soon there will be no one left here but the Army, the Navy, and me (or I; take your choice)." June 5: Ed checks into hospital for treatment for his bladder problem. July: "The Fire Goddess" appears in Fantastic Adventures. ($405.60) July: "Uncle Miner and Other Relatives" (22,800 words) is written in and out of hospitals. He signs the preface, "Joe Louis." The wildly imaginative story is rejected by New Yorker on August 28, 1941 and is never published. July 2: Ed leaves Queen's Hospital prematurely after treatment with sulfathhiozal. A recurrence of the illness forces him to return later in July and August. The doctor suggests that he start drinking again - the results are not satisfactory. July 21: LETTER ~ ALTERNATE letter home to Joan from 1298 Kapiolani Boulevard, Honolulu T H. Back at the office after long hospital and recovery period. He suggests that Jim Pierce apply for a job on the islands flying for the inter-island Navigation Company. July 23: The Star Bulletin reports that Florence has filed for divorce. Legal matters are delegated to Rothmund. July 23: (AP Los Angeles News Release}: Edgar Rice Burroughs, 67, creator of Tarzan and author of many books and magazine stories, is being sued for divorce by his 36-year-old wife, the former Florence Gilbert of the screen. Her complaint charges Burroughs has assigned all his assets to Burroughs, Inc., and has conveyed half the stock to his former wilfe. Emma Centennia Hulbert Burroughs, the mother of his three children. July 31: LETTER from son, Jack. He expressed his concern over Ed's divorce and wishes him happiness -- Ed is planning to build a house in Tarzana. Jack's model, Johnny Davis, has returned to Texas to join the Army Air Corps and JCB is advertising for a new John Carter model to pose for Sunday pages project. ". . .read your masterpiece entitled Uncle Miner and Other Relatives. I have not yet received your letter explaining why and how it was written, although I presume you were under the influence of either narcotics or heredity at the time. STOP. GO. It is very amusing and full of good laughs." August: "Yellow Men of Mars" appears in Amazing Stories. August 1: Ed submits a letter from longtime fan, Frank Shonfield, who is now in the English Army, to Life Magazine. It is rejected. August 12: Ed instructs his children to elect Rothmund president of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. and to look after him financially. August 23 - September 6: Tarzan and the Castaways appears as a three-part serial in Argosy. It is revised and retitled "The Quest of Tarzan" ($450). August 26: LETTER home to Joan. Ed is thrilled that Hulbert is coming to visit. "I don't think the doctor has been graduated yet who can kill me. Many of them have tried. Some were experts. Anyway, I haven't been in a hospital since August 10th. You should have seen my Korean nurse!" . . . "So Mike went to Mexico! Do you remember your first trip there? You were August 27: Ed writes to Jack that he is delighted to hear of Carlin's reaction to his John Carter Sunday page. He feels that Jack will at last come into better money and recognition and be freed from the menial work he's been saddled with. September 2: LETTER home to Joan. Ed is excitedly awaiting Hulbert's arrival on Sunday. September 7: Hulbert arrives to join his father. Ed returns to the hospital for short stays in September and October. September 24: LETTER home to Joan. Ed and Hully are enjoying their work and play times together on the island. "It reminds me of my own father and me; he was always embarrassing me. If the Lake Street "L" car was crowded, he would hit people on the legs with his cane to make them move over. I tried to pretend that I was not with him. I know just how Hulbert feels.". . . "Am sorry Mike was embarrassed because his gang wouldn't believe that his grandfather had spent a wasted life writing Tarzan stories. Under separate cover I am sending him proof that will lay 'em low." October: A 2,400-word article, "Fall of a Democracy," is completed. Magazine submissions are turned down and it is never published. October: "Invisible Men of Mars" appears in Amazing Stories. (All four of these Mars novelettes appear in the 1948-ERB, Inc. book, Llana of Gathol. October: George's wife Edna dies. She had been committed to a mental institution in August. George invited old friend Lew Sweetser to share the Fontana home. October 11: LETTER home to Joan. Ed and Hully drove over to Hanauna Bay to swim. He had listened to the Louis/Nova prize fight (Sept. 29) and was disgusted with the challenger. "I am fed up with prize fights. I wouldn't pay two bucks to see the best of them." October 20: Hulbert reports to Rothmund that he has talked his father out of drinking so heavily and that his health is much improved. October 30: LETTER home to Joan. Ed and Hully are having some grand old discussions ~ concerning Grand Opera "Hulbert said that I was a 'musical moron.' It is the first time I was ever accused of being musical . . . I agreed with Schopenhauer that 'the amount of noise a man can endure is in inverse ratio to his intelligence' . . .Such insulting remarks always follow our discussions of the Roosevelt family. . . . " October 25 - November 20: "The Skeleton Men of Jupiter," the first of a planned new John Carter series, is written. It is rejected by Blue Book but appears in Amazing, February, 1943. November: "The Living Dead" appears in Fantastic Adventures. ($400.60) November: I Am A Barbarian is completed. It is rejected by McCall's Red Book and Blue Book as being: "...too gruesome and downbeat a story for us to consider at this time, can't you give us something a little cheerier?" December 1: LETTER home to Joan. Ed has quit smoking and drinking and is down to 183 pounds. He is preparing three Christmas packages for the kids. He's forwarding another letter from Sgt Shonfeld for ERB, Inc. files . . . sick of receiving them. December 2: A new Carson of Venus story is started but is soon abandoned because of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. December 3: LETTER letter home to Joan. Gearing up for Christmas and playing paddle tennis with Hully every day. December 5: LETTER home to Joan. Cold weather. He is interested in Jim's proposed Aviation business: "I may take it up again myself - if I get rich." . . . "Hulbert joins me in love to you all, and a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!" December 7 - 7:55 a.m.: ERB's EYE WITNESS ACCOUNT.The Japanese attack Pearl Harbor. The old military man is finally in the right place at the right time. Ed and Hulbert watch the attack from the hotel tennis court, at first thinking it a military practice exercise. Ed, Hulbert, and friend Anton Rost volunteer for sentry duty with Patrol 2, Company A, 1st Battalion, stationed on the wharf warehouse at Honolulu Tuna Packers Ltd. Later Ed is assigned to guard and then to escort "enemy aliens" (Japanese) to the Immigration Station. The march almost kills him. December 7: John Carter of Mars illustrated by John Coleman Burroughs appears as a Sunday feature for United Feature Syndicate. Wartime paper shortage forces its demise in the spring of 1943. December 13: Ed's first of a series of "Laugh It Off" ALTERNATE ~ columns appears in the Honolulu Advertiser and Star-Bulletin. He was asked to write this by a military acquaintance at General Headquarters. Ed is extremely proud of his new role of War Correspondent. December 23: Hulbert expresses his pride in his father in a letter to Joan. December 24: Hulbert asks Rothmund to try to persuade ERB to return to the mainland as he is reluctant to enlist until his father has left. December?: In the 2,800-word article "Came the War" Ed describes his and Hulbert's activities during and after the Japanese attack. |
| * ERB contributes a one-page article for a series
titled "Famous Living Americans and Their Homes," which is
being featured by Perfect Home magazine. It is rejected.
January: Beyond the Farthest Star, part 1 of the Poloda series, appears in Blue Book ($400). The sequel, Tangor Returns, is apparently never submitted but appears in print 24 years later. January 10: LETTER home to Joan. Ed wishes to come home but thinks he and Hully will be on the islands for the duration. Discussing his newspaper column he says: "There already are two other alleged humorists writing for the same page of the paper. One of us would be one too many." Tennis has brought his weight down to 175 pounds. January 18: Hulbert enlists as a photographer in the Army Air Corps. January 28: The "Laugh It Off" column is discontinued. Ed is seeking a more active war role. He is quite active in the civilian Businessmen's Military Training Corps as public relations officer and as a drill instructor. January 28: LETTER home to Joan. There have been no letters from home and Ed feels isolated. "I have quit writing my silly column and am going to work with Jack Halliday and others on a radio program for KGMB. . ." . . . "I hope that Jack does not enlist and is not drafted." Hully's address is now: Pvt. Hulbert Burroughs, c/o G-2, H.Q,. H.A.F., Hickam Field, Honolulu. February: The Return to Pellucidar ("Hodon and O-AA") appears in Amazing Stories. February 2: I Am A Barbarian is submitted to Red Book. It is rejected and does not appear until 1967 when it is published by ERB Inc. February 20: LETTER home to Joan. The Pierces are planning on selling their home -- Ed can't buy it because: "war has cut down the corporation's income and taxes are mounting." Ed is touring military defences with other journalists and is authorized for a flight in a Flying Fortress -- hopes to spot a Jap sub. Hully under Chuck Shelton is considered top photographer of HAF. February 21: Ed, as a member of the BMTC, goes to the pistol range to qualify to carry a Colt 45. March: Men of the Bronze Age appears in Amazing Stories. March 9: Ed complains to Senator Hiram Johnson of the peril facing California as a result of the weak defences at Hawaii. March 9: LETTER home to son-in-law, Jim Pierce. Despite family objections, Ed supports Jim's pending move to Nogales to operate a flying business. "You are not such a very long way from where I once chased Apaches and, fortunately, did not catch up with them. It was on the Gila near Duncan. I helped load a trainload of Mexican cattle at Nogales for Sweetzer & Burroughs of Yale, Idaho. Lew Sweetzer had gone down into Mexico and bought an entire brand. What they delivered at Nogales were about the size of jackrabbits; but by that time Lew was up in Montana, and Harry had to accept what was delivered." Ed is busy as Public Relations Officer of BMTC "the guard regiment composed of some 1200 Caucasian citizens, I write publicity for the local papers. I have a BMTC sergeant photographer detailed to take pictures for me. I have also been detailed to drill all regimental recruits - a job I like." March 18: ERB sends a letter of protest to Colonel Bourland over the treatment of the BMTC by the military. March 23: Ed receives the documents of the final property settlement with Florence. * Ed writes Washington to try to have Hulbert's ROTC commission re-instated. He is currently holding the rank of corporal. * Tiger Girl appears in Amazing Stories. April 1: Ed completes the first of a series of radio programs which CBS plans to air weekly on the mainland. April 14: Ed is promoted to major in the BMTC and his friends throw party for him. Hulbert takes photos of both of them, in and out of uniform. April 15: LETTER home to Joan. Ed reports he is now a major in the BMTC, which "is commencing to take splendid shape." Ed talks of food shortages and his weight is now down to 168 pounds. Ed laments that he hasn't seen Joan for eight years: "I think that if I ever see you and Jack again, I shall start bawling - that is how badly I long to see you." April 18: LETTER ~ ALTERNATE letter home to Joan. Major General Woodruff, who lives at the Niumelu, wants Hulbert to apply for transfer to an officers school. April 27: Ashton Dearholt dies. April 30: ERB goes on a tour of inspection island defences with Major Frank Steere, Hawaiian Provost Marshall. May 1 & 4: LETTER home to Joan. Ed reflects that since he had arrived in Hawaii two years ago for "a short stay" that his life "has been radically changed; and it finds me happy and contented, in good physical condition, and still with three of the finest children any man ever had." Ed has been on strenuous drills in the mountains with the BMTC. May 4: The Honolulu Advertiser reports the finalizing of the Burroughs divorce. May 19: "Oahu: Singapore or Wake?" article is printed in the Honolulu Adviser. Ed expresses his impatience with the limited participation of the BMTC and civilian apathy. May 20: LETTER ~ ALTERNATE home to Joan. Ed sends photos of his friends taken by Hully: Cecile Burnside is the wife of a submarine commander, Jean Armor's husband is a lieutenant on a cruiser, "Duke" Willey, a BMTC major, is manager of the Remington-Rand branch on the island. June 11: Ed moves to a nicer and cooler room but has to spend hours blacking it out properly. June 12: Hulbert receives his commission as 2nd Lieutenant. TELEGRAM: LOSANGELES CALIF NFT JUNE 12 1942 ~ EDGAR BURROUGHS ~ TARZANA CALIF ~ ADVISE FAMILY HULBERT COMMISSIONED 2ND LIEUTENANT YESTERDAY ~ EDGAR BURROUGHS ~ HONOLULU ~ 809 AM. June 12: LETTER home to Joan. Ed has experienced one of his greatest lifetime thrills: "when I ran into Hulbert on the Niumalu Hotel grounds and saw that he was wearing an officer's overseas cap and the gold bars of a 2nd Lieutenant. I damn near cried." Ed notes that Hulbert used to be something of a pacifist but "Now he would like to go out and shoot Japs before breakfast every morning." Everyone on the post is elated over the Midway victory. June 22: Birth of baby, John, to Jack and Jane. June 24: LETTER ~ ALTERNATE letter home to Jack and Jane. He likes the name John Ralston they have chosen for baby. Ed had read a recent article that attributed ERB's success to his name. He tried to attend first morning showing of the new Tarzan picture "Tarzan Find a Treasure or somepn" but the lines were too long. July 3: Ed thanks Jack for his swell letter, replete with the usual grand sense of humour. He appreciated the snaps of Joan's new house and notes that Joanne has become a lovely young lady and he even recognized John Ralston in the pictures. He laments the terrible mail service and confesses that it seems like 100 years since he has seen Jack and the family. He suggests that Jack use his Tarzana office rather than moving constantly trying as he himself had been forced to do over the years. He can stay there until "the Japs come and push you out." Ed shares a "military secret" in a letter to Jack. He writes how pleased he is that his grandson has been named John as it is his favorite "he-name." .He explains, for the first time, his fascination with the name John. A 12-year-old tough guy used to bully the younger Eddie during his walks to Brown School in Chicago. Eddie was scared stiff and wanted to grow up to be just as tough and to be named John... rather than Edgar. ". . . at the age of eight or nine, I used to meet a tough guy by the name of John on my way to Brown school. He was about twelve, and I was scared as hell of him. Up to now it has been a military secret." July 13: "Don't Let 'em Kid You, Joe" - News Bulletin appears in the Honolulu Advertiser * Tarzan's New York Adventure with Weissmuller and O'Sullivan is released by MGM. July 18: LETTER home to Joan. Ed congratulates her on her Victory Garden: "You will doubtless recall some of my futile efforts to make Tarzana Ranch self-supporting." Ed is still giving all his time to the BMTC with occasional nights of poker at the Niumalu. August 4: Ed gives an afternoon talk to officers of an Anti Aircraft artillery regiment relative to possible co-ordination of BMTC and AA units in event of an emergency. "Met two negro AA majors. I saw no distinction shown between white and black. White officers told me that these men were tops." August 5: LETTER~ ALTERNATE ~ ALTERNATE ~ ALTERNATE home to Joan. "Sunday, I was guest speaker at a dinner given by the Schofield Barracks Quarterbacks Club at the Chun Hoon residence." Ed reads in the Honolulu Advertiser that Florence is to remarry. Ed has been invited by a Lt. Col. to spend Saturday with his tank group and another Col. has invited him out to an AA target practice. Hulbert recently came over and they played tennis and saw The Man Who Came to Dinner. September: Ed socializes with many officers of the Signal Corps, Intelligence, Anti-Aircraft Brigade, etc. Ed enters into a battle of wits with the Signal Corps. Each tries to baffle the other with coded messages - "undecipherable ciphers." September 7: Hulbert is posted to Air Force bases in the South Pacific as a documentary and combat photographer. He comes under intense fire at Guadalcanal. September 10: Ed resigns in frustration over the limited role of the BMTC but is lured back when offered the position of liaison officer. September 11: LETTER ~ ALTERNATE home to Joan. Ed brags that Hulbert is away on a major assignment and he enjoys showing his photo album to his visitors: "This is my daughter and these are my grandchildren; and here is my other son and my daughter-in-law. My daughter used to be leading woman in a stock company and my son is an artist - he illustrates all my books, etc., etc," Ed has met a new friend, 1st Lt. Phil Bird of Oklahoma: a twenty-five year old artillery officer who takes him to military locations all over the island. September 30: Ed hosts one of many radio shows for BMTC - this one features many of his military friends as guests. October: Ed writes Caryl Lee suggesting that she keep the Burroughs name now that her mother has remarried. October 21: "Whatsoever A Man Soweth" appears in Honolulu Advertiser October 31: LETTER ~ ALTERNATE home to Joan. Ed sends copies of the Honolulu paper relating some of Hulbert's experiences at Guadalcanal: "The plane he was in was under anti-aircraft fire from land batteries over Buka and from thirty-eight Jap warships over Shortland harbor. It had running fights with Zeros, two of them, with a total of about twenty-five Zeros participating. The plane was hit with machine guns and one shell which failed to explode, but remained in the plane. After they got back to Guadalcanal, they were bombed from the air, shelled by shore batteries, and by Jap warships all the rest of the day and all night. The latter dropped 14" shells, among others. They took off the next morning while the shore battery was shelling the field. Some experience!" Ed has received his correspondent's credentials from the War Department. He is waiting for the UP bureau chief to send him on assignment. "All my life I have wanted to be a war correspondent - to really see things first hand and write about them. After all, I am a professional writer; Not a professional soldier." November 2: Ed sends a thank-you letter to George Carlin who has sent United Press correspondent's credentials. November 13: ERB completes an article reporting on a year of martial law in the Islands. December 1: ERB contributes "Somewhere on Oahu" - News Bulletin - N.Y. World December 4: Hulbert is promoted to 1st Lieutenant. While visiting Ed for the night they were invited to a party at the Niumalu. One of the guests was "Major General Willis H. Hale, Hully's Big Boss - a very swell person. He touched Hully's gold bars, and said, 'You can take those off. I promoted you this morning.' So we all drank high-balls to the event, and General Hale wrote in my autograph book, 'On the day of Hully's promotion.'" December 4: Ed receives orders to depart the next morning in his role as war correspondent. December 4 - January 19, 1943: ERB begins the first in a series of war diaries: happenings in New Caledonia and Australia. December 5: Ed is flown to Canton Island and on to New Caledonia where he meets naval lieutenant Hal Thompson - Rochelle Hudson's husband. December 24: ERB arrives in Sydney, Australia. |
| * Sol Lesser resumes RKO production of the Tarzan
films with
Tarzan
Triumphs and Tarzan's
Desert Mystery. Johnny Weissmuller stars.
Early: ERB writes the article, "What Are We Going to Do about it?" in which he expresses doubts over the loyalty of the thousands of Japanese on the Islands. By fall he regrets some of the comments and prepares to write another article. January 10: ERB returns to New Caledonia and checks into the Grand Hotel du Pacifique where he was glad to see old friend, navy Lt. Hal Thompson, husband of family friend Rochelle Hudson. January 19 - March 19: ERB writes Diary #2: See ERB WWII Time Line: 1943-1945. He follows a field artillery training excercise at the battalion's camp in Dumbea Valley. To get there he has to travel by horse and mule through jungle-covered mountainous terrain. He also visits a military hospital where he revels in the heroic stories of the wounded enlisted men. His free time is spent socializing in various officers clubs. January 14: (AP News Release from Headquarters Seventh Air Force in the South Pacific) Guadalcanal Shelling Worst Experience for Air General Brig. Gen. Laverne G. Saunders, who led six bombing raids on Japanese shops and bases in the Solomon Islands, and met fighter opposition in each raid, believes a day and night shelling was the worst experience he had in more than five months in that area. "At 1 AM all hell broke loose! Two enemy battleships and some cruisers began working us over. Let Burroughs tell you about that." Lieut. Hulbert Burroughs of Los Angeles, son of the writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, laughed and said, "That night I jumped into the garbage dump." January 20: LETTER home to Joan from Edgar Rice Burroughs c/o G-2 First Island Command, Somewhere in South Pacific APO 502. January 30: ERB is ordered to return to Pearl Harbor on the damaged destroyer, USS Shaw, via Suva in the Fiji Islands, and Tutuila and Pago Pago in the American Samoas. February: "Skeleton Men of Jupiter" appears in Amazing Stories ($400). February 24 - March 30: A comic detective story, "More Fun! More People Killed!" (20,727 words) is begun aboard the USS Shaw and is finished on shore. March 2: ERB arrives at Pearl Harbor on the Shaw. March 5: LETTER ~ ALTERNATE home to Joan. Ed writes of his great month-long experience on the destroyer, USS Shaw. Sat at the captain's table, up and down ladders, sub chasing, dropping depth charges, etc. March 20 - April 5: ERB writes Diary #3. April - June 8: ERB gives a detailed account of the trip on the Shaw in a 60-page story, "The Diary of a Confused Old Man or Buck Burroughs Rides Again." April 4: Ed writes a letter (unsent) to Senator Johnson which is highly critical of the treatment he has received from the Navy - they had refused to recognize his army or correspondent credentials. He goes on to recommend the unification of all the American forces into a single United States Armed Force. April 6: LETTER home to Joan. Ed relates many of his experiences from over the last few weeks. April 9: LETTER home to Mike. Ed relates his experiences on Suva, a town on the Island of Vita Levu, the largest of the Fiji group. April 10: LETTER ~ ALTERNATE home to Joan. Ed has sent home souvenirs. April 10: LETTER home to Jack and Jane: Ed describes souvenirs of his trip to the South that he has sent: shell beads gathered and strung by native Fijians ~ sea horse is cut from the shell of a tortoise ~ worthless French currency notes: five franc note of the Bank of Indo-China, fifty centimes note of the Fighting French ~ white metal George V Fijian penny and a George VI brassy one ~ paper penny notes because US soldiers had collected all the coins as souvenirs. May 15: LETTER home to Joan. Talks of going to battery dances and problems in getting his stories run in mainland papers -- bumped by the flood of war news. August 4: Caryl writes that she is attending the private Marlborough School for Girls. She persists in using the last name Burroughs - against her mother's wishes. She fought the adoption by Florence's new husband, Dr. Chase. August 5: LETTER home to Joan. Ed gives some financial advice: "Buy nothing for which you cannot pay cash." Most of his spare time has been spent reading: Encyclopedia Britannica ~ a brief history of the Pharaohs ~ the autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini ~ Pope Alexander VI and his bastard son, Caesare Borgia. October 2: LETTER home to Joan. Ed is listening to the California-USC game. His recent eye injury recovered within a week. October 3: Ed took some recently met officers over to Mildred Rathbone and Leila Langford's cottage for bourbon on the lanai. October 4: LETTER home to Joan. Ed describes his experience of being the invited guest speaker for the dedication of a library at an Army post on the Windward Side. He has just received a letter from brother George who has just turned 77 and has kept the services of Edna's nurse after she died. Ed wishes, "Were I a praying person, I should pray daily that we may all be re-united soon." November 2: LETTER ~ ALTERNATE home to Joan. Ed advises that the family should support Ralph in every way as he has been intensely loyal and dedicated to serving the Burroughs family and corporation for many years. He encourages Joan to write to his friend Capt Phil Bird. December 28: LETTER home to Joan. Talk of mutual acquaintances. December 29: LETTER home to Joan. Ed laments the war deaths of so many of his acquaintances. |
| * An essay by Altrocchi, "The Ancestors of Tarzan,"
is published in the book Sleuthing the Stacks, Harvard University
Press.
January 15: ERB again writes Caryl Lee to encourage her to use the Burroughs name. He sent her many letters and presents over the years. January 16: LETTER home to Michael Pierce, 1st Lieut. Michael Pierce, Bel-Air Rangers, Bel-Air, Los Angeles, California. Ed describes the intense jungle training activities of troops he has visited. February 16: ERB notes that his pride and joy are his autograph books in which he has obtained signatures of 572 persons. He has written no fiction since March 1943. February 16: LETTER home to Michael Pierce. February 24: Ed takes a friend of Jack and Jane, Lt. Walter H. Wieman, MC, USNR, to the Outrigger Canoe Club for lunch. February 26: LETTER ~ [ALTERNATE ~ ALTERNATE] home to Jack. March 10 - February 1, 1945: ERB writes Diary #4 - Tarawa-Kwajalein. March 20: Through the efforts of Brigadier General Truman H. Landon, ERB flies from Honolulu to Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands, and on to Eniwetok in the Marshalls. He experiences life in the field and goes on bombing missions. He even meets Hulbert, now a captain, on Kwajalein Island. March 27: Hully arrives on the atoll but they are too busy to visit much. March 30: LETTER ~ ALTERNATE home to Joan from "An Atoll in the Central Pacific". Ed has had some great experiences . . . even flying on bombing missions on Landon's new B-24 Liberator. April 24: Ed returns to Honolulu on a hospital plane after having completed a 7,000 mile mission and soon resumes his "Laugh It Off" columns for The Honolulu Star Bulletin, The Honolulu Advertiser and Hawaii: A Magazine of News and Comment. April 27: LETTER ~ ALTERNATE home to Jack. He advises Jack to enlist in the Army or Navy rather than to wait for the draft as there would be a better chance of becoming an officer. He has ordered Ralph to take a raise of $100 a month. "Am hoping to hear soon of my new grandchild." (Danton) "Wish some nice girl would hook Hully, but I am commencing to believe that he will never marry." April 28: LETTER ~ ALTERNATE home to Mike Pierce. Ed describes his last mission: "I flew about 7,000 miles this time - in C-47s, C-54s, and B-24s.". . . "I have flown about 15,000 miles since the war began, all over water. I am never air-sick, nor do high altitudes affect me unpleasantly; but I still hate flying." May 1: Land of Terror is published by ERB, Inc. Burroughs books finally arrive ~ 319 pages ~ Print Run: 3,500 ~ Approximate word count: 60,000 ~ Ed has been asking Ralph for shipment for two years. May 4: Captain Hulbert returns to the island. The Blackout is called off - after 879 nights. Because of the multi-racial situation the 10 PM curfew stays in effect. May 5: LETTER to Australian friend Thelma Terry whom he met while in Sydney during Xmas leave 1942/1943. He writes that he is just back from some island hopping -- twelve islands in six atolls. "Got as far as Eniwetok. Had a wonderful time. Passed over several Jap held islands, from which they threw everything they had at us - which was not much. Was in a heavy bomber that dropped 500 pounders on them -- a beautiful sight. On two different atolls I bumped into my son, who is in the Army Air Force. He was recently promoted to captain." He asks if she knows the British officer, Lieut. Lieth, G.E.I.D.F. May 19-24: A 1,787-word horror story, "Uncle Bill," was written. George Luther? of Hawaii Magazine drops by to invite Ed to friends' home. June 7: Dinner with Frank Capra, Phil, et al at the Roundhouse. Ed returns to the hotel to find that his director's chair has been swiped. July 7: LETTER to Thelma Terry: He sees son, Hulbert occasionally when he is not off on a mission. "He was in Sydney early in 1942 with Gen. Emmons. I doubt that the will get there again, as his outfit operates in the Central Pacific." Ed asks her if she can find a replacement for a brass war correspondent insignia (available only in Australia) that he lost at Kwajalein. He sends a tracing of it for identification. June 8: Ed spends time doing research at the library. Met with Netherland officials. He writes till after 5 PM -- nice to work again. Ed dines with Mary Pflueger, Admiral Halsey, Landon, Duke Wiley, Mildred Rathbone, Hully and other friends at the Outrigger and watch a floor show of Hawaiian entertainers. The pass around a Chinese coin retrieved from a sunken ship. Brother George died at Fontana, California. June 9: George's close friend, Lew Sweetser, dies. He and George Burroughs are cremated together. June 10: LETTER home to Baby Danton Burroughs - Jack and Jane's newborn. June 10 - September 11: Tarzan and the "Foreign Legion" is written. Its idea of Tarzan fighting the Japanese was suggested by George Carlin of United Feature Syndicate. It is rejected by the pulps, but is published in book form on August 22, 1947 by ERB, Inc. June 21: Another son, Danton, is born to Jack and Jane. Ed celebrates the birth of his grandson with Frank Capra at the Outrigger. June 22: LETTER ~ ALTERNATE home to Baby Danton Burroughs to be read June 21, 1965. At his luncheon Ed dines with a French colonel (the Governor of Tahiti), an American colonel (Capra), Capt. Phil Bird, and Capt. Lawrence and they all toast Ed's new grandson, Danton. In the evening at Fort Shafter, a colonel, a lieutenant colonel, two majors, and four wahinis stand and toast the newborn. Ed admits to constantly bragging about his grandchildren. June 23: LETTER IMAGE home to Joan. He describes the souvenirs he had sent previouslly to Joan and Jane's kids. "The Jap bill and photo were for Mike. The soldier who found them in a Jap barracks bag when we took Kwajalein gave them to me." The cowrie shell necklace was given him by the soldier who made it on Kwajalein. "I tried to get the silver or gold chains that the boys use in stringing these, but there were none left in Honolulu. Our servicemen had bought them all. The loose shells I got on Apamama. . . . Tell Mike that the knife was given me by a 7th AAF Bomber Command Flight Surgeon on Kwajalein." June 30: In a 1,500-word article, "Our Japanese Problem," which appeared in Hawaii magazine, ERB offers a much more sympathetic opinion of Japanese loyalty on the Islands. July 28: Dysentry August 7: LETTER ~ ALTERNATE letter home to daughter-in-law, Jane Ralston Burroughs wondering about the origin of baby Danton's name. August 9: Card game at Mildred's - lose 25 cents. Writes more entries in his notebook. September: In his article, "What Price Tolerance," printed in Hawaii magazine, ERB demands automatic citizenship for alien parents of any man who has served honourably in the armed forces. September 1: Birthday: Sensing that friends are going to throw a birthday party, he asks Hulbert to invite him out to Hickam for dinner and the night. Hully prepares a meal for Ed and three other officers: steak with onions, french fried potatoes, corn, tomatoes, raisin rolls! September 6: LETTER ~ LETTER [ ALTERNATE ~ ALTERNATE ] home to Joan and son, Jack. Discusses what to do with his mother's ashes and Joan's visit to Chicago. September 15: Jack removes Mary Evaline's ashes from the Pierce Brother Crematorium where they have been stored for over 20 years. September 16: LETTER ~ ALTERNATE home to Jane Ralston. Ed talks of spending time with Jack Benny and Carole Landis earlier in the week September 16: Ed goes to Hickam Field to try to see Hulbert. September 16: LETTER home to Jane. September 17: Ed drives over the Pali to Kaneohe to attend a party at actor John Halliday's house. September 18: Ed has supper with Hulbert at Hickam. September 19: LETTER ~ ALTERNATE home to son, Jack. Congratulates him on getting a job at Universal. "Wish you were working for Sol Lesser. There is a nice guy and he likes your dear old father." September 23: LETTER ~ ALTERNATE ~ ALTERNATE home to Joan. Ed reports that he has kept a card index of people he has met or have signed his autograph books -- 2000 people since December 1942. September 23: LETTER ~ ALTERNATE home to Jack. Ed thanks him for sending photos of the kids: "tell Danton to take his fingers out of his mouth and try putting his feet in." October 2-26: "Savage Pellucidar," part 4 of the new Pelludicar series, is written. All four parts are published under the book title Savage Pellucidar in 1963. The dedication at that time is: "To my first grandson - James Michael Pierce.". . . Phil Bird continues to be a true friend: "Phil Bird is a captain on the staff of my very good friend Colonel Kendall J. Fielder. I hope that some day you can meet both of them". October 13: LETTER ~ ALTERNATE ~ ALTERNATE home to Jack. ". . .one hundred and eleven (111) years ago your Grandfather Burroughs was born in Warren, Massachusetts, October 13 1833. He died thirteen days before you were born." October 14: The family bury ERB's mother's ashes at the south side of the walnut tree in the front yard of the Burroughs offices in Tarzana. November 2: LETTER home to Joan with Hawaiian dollar bills for Joan, Joanne and Mike. November 5: Emma Centennia Burroughs dies of a stroke at 12:52 p.m., after her losing battle with depression and alcoholism. November 7: Ed receives news of Emma's death via radiogram and immediately phones Hully. Ed views her death as an escape from an agonized life. November 17: Ed and Hulbert board a plane for the States to settle Emma's affairs and to sell her house. November 19: Ed and Hulbert are met at the Los Angeles airport by Joan, Jack, Jane and little Johnnie. They stop at Joan's house to see Joan II and then drive on to Ed's office in Tarzana. Ed meets with Ralph Rothmund. He opens a case of Scotch, takes a bottle and they drive to Emma's home at 10452 Bellagio Road in Bel-Air for a drink. Jack and Ed drive over to neighbour friends in Bel-Air for another drink and back to Emma's house to sample bourbon. They delay dinner and the angry maids quit and walk out. He writes: "We had a lovely dinner and a grand time." November 26: Ed meets George and Dorothy Dahlberg at Joan's. Ed goes home with the Dahlberg's to spend the night with his new friends. This is the start of a close relationship with the Dahlbergs -- especially Dorothy. November 29: Ed sells Emma's Ballagio Road house to Helen M. and Mac Neel Pierce for $25,000. Ed stays, before returning to Hawaii, on to take inventory and box up Emma's and ERB, Inc. property. December 2: Ed, Joan, Hulbert and Mary Lee (a lady friend of Hully) are invited to dinner at the Dahlberg's. Joan stays overnight while Ed goes home at 3 a.m. Soon he is seeing Dorothy every day -- many of their meetings are at The Silver Maple Leaf on Ventura or at Joan's house. December 25: Ed spends his first Christmas in 11 years with his family. He later meets with Florence and her new husband, Dr. Alfred Chase, and Caryl Lee. December 27: Joan drives Ed to the Hollywood Hospital, where he is admitted for a hernia operation. December 29: Ed's hernia operation is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. Two nurses, Miss Margaret Grant and Miss Alicia Burns make his journal entries for the next week. Ed spends a month in convalescence. December 31: George Dahlberg visits Ed in hospital to wish him a "Happy New Year." Dorothy brings him a trick glass of bourbon which doesn't pour -- Ed amuses himself fooling visitors and hospital staff with it. Dorothy and Joan visit him regularly throughout his hospital stay. |
|
1945
| * Sol Lesser's Tarzan and the Amazons
is released on RKO. Johnny Weissmuller stars. Rothmund writes a letter
critical of Tarzan being portrayed as being too smiling, laughing and overtalkative.
* "Laughs at Sea" - News Bulletin appears in the Honolulu Advertiser January 4: The Dahlbergs visit Ed again in hospital. January 6: Ed's stitches are removed. January 8: Ed returns to writing his own journal entries. Ed has a kidney x-ray and a breakfast of ham steak and eggs. Ralph Rothmund picks him up at 1:30 p.m. and drives him to the Dahlbergs to see Dorothy and Joan. He goes to bed immediately after dinner. January 9: Ed has breadfast with Dorothy at 9 a.m. He spends the rest of the day writing "Thank You" letters. January 10: Joan comes over for dinner and Ed turns in early. Joan and Dorothy go to the Tropics while George Dahlberg goes out alone. January 10: LETTER from Tarzana to Thelma Terry: "My son got a 30 days leave in November and the Army gave me 45 days travel orders and shipped us both to the Mainland on the same plane. I spent the first Christmas in eleven years with my three children, with four grandchildren thrown in. It was a wonderful Christmas for me. Then I had to have an abdominal operation, and the Army gave me a thirty day extension for convalescence. I expect to be back in Honolulu about February 1st." January 21: Hulbert leaves LA to return to Hickam Field. January 23: Ed has his second sitting for a portrait painting by John Coleman Burroughs. January 24: Ed and George Dahlberg both sit for portraits by Jack. January 29: Joan, Joan II, Mike, Jack, Jane, and Dorothy and George Dahlberg take Ed to Glendale to see him off on The Lark for San Francisco to return to Hawaii and his war correspondent duties. February 3: ERB returns to Hawaii - Hulbert arrives ten days later. * ERB following his return to Hawaii, resumes writing his "Laugh It Off" column in Hawaii: A Magazine of News and Comment - 10 cents per copy. February 5: LETTER ~ [ALTERNATE ~ ALTERNATE ~ ALTERNATE ~ ALTERNATE] home to Joan. Ed returns to the Niumalu to find it being painted with all his belongings piled in the middle of the room Phil Bird takes him to the Visiting Officer's Quarters. February 14: LETTER ~ ALTERNATE home to Joan. Ed is reading his 1934 diary: "1934 was the year that Hully and Jack and I learned to fly, and Hully cracked up, and Jim Granger was killed in a crack-up. That wrote finis to my flying, but I hadn't remembered that I had over 30 hours of solo flights" . . . "Boris Karloff is here and wants to meet me." Ed plans to see him in Arsenic and Old Lace. He is reading Ernie Pyle's Brave Men. February 17: "Tarzan Creator Thrilled to Ride in Bomber" - News Bulletin appears in the Honolulu Bulletin. February 21: LETTER ~ ALTERNATE letter home to Joan, Jack and Ralph. Lists books he is sending home for the family to read (1st shipment): "Gem of the Prairie - an informal history of the Chicago underworld. Interesting. ~ I Love You I Love You - Bemelmans ~ Invitation to Experiment - Ira M Freeman Ph D. ~ The Devil's Dictionary - Ambrose Pierce ~ Night Shift - Maritta Wolf ~ Billy Mitchell. Founder of Our Air Force. Swell." February 22: LETTER to Thelma Terry: "November 17th I shoved off for California. My son Hulbert was on the same plane with me, having a 30 day leave. I had 45 days. Then he was given a 20 day special assignment at an air field in Southern California, which was later extended. I was given a 30 day extension to undergo an abdominal operation; so we were both home a long time - over two and a half months. Hulbert had not been home for more than three years, I for nearly five. I had two grandsons I had never seen, and I spent the first Christmas in eleven years with my children - three of them and four grandchildren. We had a wonderful time." February 23: Ed writes the first of 24 love letters written to Dorothy Dahlberg between now and October 4, 1945. February 27: LETTER ~ ALTERNATE home to Jack. Wishes Jack Happy Birthday for Tomorrow. He is sending him a book of sketches by John Kelly, the "outstanding artist of the Islands." March 3: LETTER ~ [ALTERNATE ~ ALTERNATE]home to Joan expressing concern over the trouble between Joan's friend Dorothy and her husband, George Dahlberg and worries about the effect of a broken home on their child, Dick. Ed and Dorothy are becoming very close. March 12: LETTER ~ ALTERNATE home to Joan. March 24: LETTER letter home to grandson Mike Pierce. March 29: LETTER home to Joan. Ed makes a list of his daily party experiences from March 19 to present. April 9: Jack sends a letter to Hulbert suggesting that they find ways to keep Ed from returning to California as he believes his father is considering marriage. April 13: LETTER to Dorothy Dahlberg. Obviously a romance is blooming. April 14: "Laugh It Off" expresses strong praise for a Democrat, President Truman. He also criticizes the omissions and errors found in Encyclopaedia Britannica in its information on Indians and General Christmas. April 18: LETTER to Thelma Terry: Comments on the drought and meat shortage in Australia. Ed remembers the wonderful meat he had in Sydney every day: A grilled steak for breakfast, lamb for lunch, roast beef and Yorkshire pudding for dinner, and occasionally steak and kidney pie. Comments on the liquor situation: Supply was boundless in California but in Hawaii he can get only one bottle a week, although it can be bought by the drink in bars. Local liquor is inferior and mainland liquor is hard to get. Ed later reports that he can draw the same liqor ration as an officer, so he does all right. He sends his regards to the Mr. Young, the manager of Usher's in Sydney. April 20: LETTER ~ ALTERNATE home to Joan. "Sol Lesser's son. Bud, a Marine Corps captain, took me out to Camp Catlin for dinner. . ." April 25: LETTER to Dorothy Dahlberg. Ed expresses his love and desire to return home to California. April 28: LETTER from Hulbert to Ralph Rothmund expressing concern over possiblity of ERB marrying Dorothy Dahlberg. May 2: LETTER Ed continues a long distance relationship with DD (Dorothy Dahlberg) whom he dated during his stay on the mainland. He eventually sends her at least thirty tender letters. She writes of her deep affection for him and of her relief at finally ending her marriage with G. and has moved out on her own. Ed is impressed by hearing of DD's kid sister's knowledge of the instruments in the cockpit of a Liberator. He grouses over the disapproval that J., H. and R are all displaying over his relationship with DD and the lack of control he seems to have over his own destiny. He has no plans for the future as other people seem to have them. He doesn't know when he will return to the mainland and thinks he may be shipped to the Philippines. He tries to convince the family that both he and DD have had enough of marriage and only want to share each other's company. Ed is pleased with Jack having been reclassified A-1 which will mean he will be sent to basic training before he is sent over... it will help him take of his excess weight. May 4: LETTER to Dorothy Dahlberg. Talk of George Dahlberg's surprise over DD's filing for divorce and Ed's family's concern over a possible marriage. May 7: LETTER from Ralph Rothmund in Tarzana to Hulbert Burroughs in Hawaii, concerning potential problems of Ed taking back stock to take over the company with a possible marriage in mind. May 10: LETTER home to Mike Pierce. Talk of scouts, VE Day and Mike looking after the dog, Tuffy. May 25: Ed's thoughts of marriage are put on hold as he is accepted as a navy correspondent. He leaves Pearl Harbor on the U.S.S. Cahaba, a fleet oiler. He writes of fleet procedures, being shot at by a sniper at Ulithi Atoll, a kamikaze attack, and flying in a plane piloted by Lieutenant Tyrone Power. (External Site: Tyrone Powers' Wartime Letters) May 27: LETTER ~ ALTERNATE home to Joan from "Somewhere in the Pacific" aboard the U.S.S. Cahaba. Mentions he is sending a letter to "D" Dorothy Dahlberg, at Joan's address. June 10: LETTER ~ ALTERNATE home to Joan from "In Port Somewhere" while aboard the USS Cahaba. June 23: LETTER home to Joan ~ "At anchor in a harbor in the East China Sea" while aboard the USS Cahaba. July 2: LETTER home to Joan from "A Harbor" while aboard the USS Cahaba. July 5: "Tanker Like Accident About to Happen" - News Bulletin appears in the Honolulu Advertiser July 14: LETTER home to Joan from "Somewhere" while aboard the USS Cahaba. July 15: ERB returns to Honolulu, having travelled 5,000 miles by air and 11,000 miles by ship. July 19: LETTER to Thelma Terry: Comments on wartime shortages and government bungling: "The Germans, the Italians, and the Japs evolved a scientific method of government - and look at the damn things now. I guess that we are happy to have our own, bungling and all." Mid-summer weather has been hot on the islands . . . "But I was in hotter places while I was away - Ulithi was one of them. The Micronesians and the Melanesians can have all those coral atolls as far as I am concerned. I was sure glad to get back here, although I really had a wonderful trip. Was out with the Navy this time. Survived air raids in a harbor and got shot at by a Jap sniper on shore. My son, an AAF officer, was made a major while I was away. I think that I was more thrilled than he. He has come up from buck private." July 21: LETTER home to Joan from office in Hawaii. July and August: The articles chronicling his experiences appear in the Advertiser. July 23: ERB experiences Angina Pectoris pain. August 10: Hulbert relays news from Hickam Field that the war is over. August 14: ERB celebrates the end of the war with friends and Hubert who brings his fiancée Marian Thrasher. Ed is arrested after a parking lot altercation with another motorist. August 15: LETTER home to grandson Mike Pierce. August 22: ERB who first considered the parking lot incident a joke, is embarrassed by it all and avoids the reporters Fall: Hulbert is ordered to the mainland and receives his discharge. Marion follows to arrange a marriage. September 13: Ed's plans to return to the US are upset by a series of angina attacks and he is confined to bed for more than a month. September 23: LETTER home to Joan. Letter is written from his sick bed. "Through Phil's courtesy, Pfc Donard Hawks is taking dictation, as the doctor will not let me exert myself in any way." LETTERS from Pfc. Donard Hawks ~ Hawks PHOTO ~ Hawks PHOTO 2 October 23: LETTER ~ ALTERNATE home to Joan. Ed's relationship with DD appears to have cooled. Ed is making plans for his return home. October 28: Ed boards a plane for the mainland. October 29: Ed is greeted at Hamilton Field by Jack and Lt. Middleton. October 29: LETTER from Tarzana to Thelma Terry: A short letter. Ed reports that he is home to stay. November 4. Ed is house hunting. Houses are scarce and high priced. November 29: LETTER to Mrs. Charles Westendarp of New Jersey relating family news. December 2: Rubimore takes over the Sunday Tarzan strip. Christmas: Ed receives a card from old friend, Ham (Lt. Col. Hamner Freeman). December 26: Ed moves into his new home at 5465 Zelzah Avenue, Encino. He paid $14,000 for a two-bedroom house on 1/2 acre. Still weak from his overexertions in the Pacific, Ed now spends much of his time resting. |
| January 9: LETTERto
Thelma Terry: "My son, Hulbert, who was a major in the Air Force came
back on terminal leave just before I returned, and is now a civilian. With
my three children, their spouses, and my four grandchildren all living
within a few minutes drive of one another and me in the San Fernando Valley
we are all very happy." . . . "I have been a semi-invalid for some time.
Had a heart attack while out in the Philippine Sea in July and then another
quite bad one in September in Honolulu. Was horizontal for six weeks up
to the time the Army flew me back to the Mainland. Yesterday X-rays revealed
the fact that I had a badly abscessed tooth, which I had out immediately;
and doggone if I don't feel a hundred per cent better today. Maybe that
was the cause of all my trouble. Am having fun fixing up a little house
I bought not far from my office. Had to buy a place or sit on the curbstone,
as there were no places to rent; and building was out of the question,
what with material and labor shortages and the outrageous cost. Contractors
are asking as high as $12.00 a square foot to build, and it takes forever
to get anything done. Am having a one room servants' quarters built with
a small storeroom, which will take three months to complete. Have a housekeeper
( who goes home nights), and when the servant's room is completed I shall
try to get a combination butler-gardner.
April 17: LETTERto Thelma Terry: Comments on the recent seismic wave that hit the Hawaiian islands that damaged the Niamalu Hotel where he had lived for five years and demolished the beach homes of some of his friends. May 2: ERB starts "Xonthron" but nothing remains of this mysterious work. June 27: LETTER to Thelma Terry: Comments on the ongoing shortages of food and building supplies and how ironic it is that America feeds the world but cannot supply its own needs. He is proud of his garden: blackberries, Golden Bantam corn, cucumbers, peaches, pears, figs, grapes, oranges, and lemons. Much of his produce he plans to freeze in his new deep-freeze unit. Ed mentions that he has never met Clark Gable but admires the man and his work. He also likes Greer Garson. Ed is saddened by the suicide of actor friend, Charlie Butterworth. "He was unquestionably soused when he ran his car into a light pole, for he was usually soused. It was too bad, for he gave so much pleasure to so many people." Ed's marriage advice to Thelma: "I certainly hope that you marry a Yank. I think we make pretty good husbands - we are such suckers." July: "Tarzan" by J. D. van der Merwe of Duivels-Kloof, Transvaal, South Africa, appears in Britain's Wide World magazine. "A South African hunter's account of a decidedly hectic experience." August: The affectionate correspondence between Ed and Caryl Lee continues. She asks for a horse. September 1: Ed celebrates his 71st birthday at a party at Joan's. As with most of their family gatherings they show old movies and Laurel and Hardy comedies. September 7: ERB starts a new Tarzan novel. He completes 15,000 words before abandoning the project, probably because of poor health. He has angina, arteriosclerosis, and Parkinson's. The novel is finished 1995 as Tarzan: The Lost Adventure. It was revised and finished by Joe R. Lansdale and published by Dark Horse. September 25: ERB views Sol Lesser's RKO film Tarzan and the Leopard Woman starring Johnny Weissmuller. October 13: Following tradition, Ed observes his father's 113th birthday. October 15: Escape on Venus is published by ERB Inc. The dedication is: "To Brigadier General Kendall J. Fielder." Fielder is an Intelligence Officer (G-2), U.S. Army at Fort Shafter, Honolulu. October 15: LETTERto Thelma Terry: Ed comments "I haven't any (a view) from my present home, other than my backyard. My first home out here was on a knoll in the mouth of a canyon. It overlooked the entire San Fernando valley and gave a view of several hundred miles of mountains surrounding - the Coast Range and the Sierra Nevada. But we soon discovered that we seldom viewed our view. Stupid, what?" Ed is proud of the great invention -- the deep-freeze -- which his Nisei gardener is stocking with corn and other produce from the garden. The gardener's wife, Mitzi, has just made dill pickles from the cucumbers. Truman has just released the ceilings of meat supplies. Ed is showing 16mm feature films to the family every Saturday evening. Comments on the political situation: "Things are really a mess here, thanks to the New Dealers and the Communists. There is a shortage of about everything but political oratory. But if we elect a Republican House and Senate next month things will be different - I hope. Fantastic as it may seem, I wouldn't be surprised if we ended up with a revolution." October 16: Ed writes to Caryl Lee that he is too ill to drive over to pick her up. October 20: Ed is visited by four fans: "A Mr. Evans and his daughter, Mr. Ackerman, and 'Tigrina', a pretty blonde." November 11: After many requests, Ed refuses to buy a horse for Caryl Lee, stating that if her parents wanted her to have one, they would be better able to buy one than he. November 20: Michael Mills comes to discuss the "reprinting of 27 Burroughs books to be priced at $1 or $1.25." * Ed stops drinking. December: ERB submits "Night of Terror," to a variety of magazines. It is really just a retitled version of the old 1943 "More Fun! More People Killed" story. It is rejected and remains unpublished. December 2: LETTER to Thelma Terry: Ed sents Christmas and New Year's greetings to his friend in Sydney. December 27: Ed informs Louise Rogers of the death of his heart doctor - Dr. John Carden who himself has died of angina. |
| * Ed replaces his wartime Buick brought back from
Honolulu with a new convertible Roadmaster coupe. The government demands
excess profits taxes of $25,000 for 1943 and 1944.
* Whitman puts out two Tarzan "one-shots" taken from the newspaper strips: Tarzan and the Devil Ogre and Tarzan and the Fires of Tohr. * Sol Lesser's Tarzan and the Huntress is released on RKO. Johnny Weissmuller stars. January: Ed is finally well enough to drive to Caryl Lee's school to pick her up. His diary is full of entries over the years showing his pleasure at her having come for visits. February 3: LETTER to Thelma Terry: Comments on how much he enjoys the home-grown fruits and vegetables and flowers produced by the Nisei couple who do the gardening and household chores for him. February 14: Ed continues correspondence with long-time English fan, Frank Shonfeld. The have corresponded since the '20s. April 26: Ed sends an inquiry to the Los Angeles Examiner who reported ERB as being deceased in their review of Tarzan and the Huntress. March 31: LETTER letter to Jack at Adolphus Hotel, Dallas, Texas. Ed and Joan hope to meet Jack in Oklahoma City in three or four days, where they are heading to visit Phil Bird. "(P.S. Joan called Mrs. Ralston yesterday and got a good report on Danton. The rest of us, also, are all well.)" May 6: LETTER to Thelma Terry: Political comments: "I cannot understand how people vote for these so-called labor parties. It seems to me that they have been a failure wherever tried. Our Congress is trying to pass labor legislation that will prevent union leaders from running rough-shod over the people and even the Government." June 22: Rothmund expresses doubts to Western Printing and Lithographing Co. that ERB is ready to write the planned 25-cent pocket book, "My Life with Tarzan." June 30: Rothmund notes that the Tarzan comic strips are reached an all-time low in popularity. ERB replies that he is appalled at the quality of the strip and notes the great success of Dell's new 52-page Tarzan comic. July 3: Ed buys an RCA television set. The first TV show he sees is a LA-Hollywood baseball game from Wrigley Field. Much of his time from now on is spent watching boxing, wrestling and baseball. August 4: ERB receives a letter from Brigadier General Truman Landon at the War College in Washington. The General thanks him for the dedication in Tarzan and the 'Foreign Legion' and praises him for his fine work. He makes a few technical criticisms. August 22: Tarzan and 'The Foreign Legion' is published by ERB, Inc. The dedication is: "To Brigadier General Turman H. Landon". Landon is the Commanding General of the Bomber Command of the 7th Air Force stationed at Hickam Field near Honolulu, Oahu. In the book ERB pokes fun at another wartime friend, Colonel Kendall J. Fielder, picturing him dressed up as a witch doctor. September 1: In an effort to revive the Tarzan newspaper strips, ERB moves in to supervise. Burne Hogarth, artist on the Tarzan Sunday page, is assigned the daily strip, replacing Rex Maxon. Rob Thompson, a Tarzan radio script writer in the '30s, takes over continuity. October 19: ERB returns to writing. He reports writing a six weeks story in one week - perhaps he is indicating a newspaper strip. November 14: Ed turns down an invitation to visit Sol Lesser in Palm Springs, citing health reasons. December 10: ERB spends the entire day correcting Llana of Gathol page proofs. |
| * The International Mark Twain Society elects
ERB a Knight of Mark Twain because of his "outstanding contribution to
American literature."
February 12: Ed contracts "Virus X" and is treated with penicillin and sulfa. February 14: Ed quits the prescribed medicine due to side effects and turns to Bourbon. This marks a return to drinking. March 26: Llana of Gathol comprised of the Amazing Story novelettes published back in 1941 is published in book form by ERB, Inc. It is the last ERB book illustrated by John Coleman Burroughs. The dedication is: "To John Philip Bird." Bird was stationed at Fort Shafter, Honolulu as Public Relations Officer. April 9: The Los Angeles Times reports that ERB is at fault in a three-car accident on Ventura Boulevard outside the ERB offices. October 1: Ed experiences serious angina pains. When the nitro-glycerine doesn't work he turns to bourbon. Over the coming months there is a reliance on bourbon for all ills. November 2: Ed, a staunch Republican, votes for Dewey - as does his entire family, other than Joan and Jim. November 22: John Lehti takes over the daily Tarzan strip. |
| * In the last year of his life, ERB ERB rereads
all of his books "to see what I had said and how I'd said it."
March 14: Dr. Buell H. Sprague diagnoses Ed as having Parkinson's syndrome or paralysis agitans. The drug, Benedryl, is prescribed to alleviate symptoms. He is confined to a wheelchair. Plans for the construction of a larger home in Tarzana and all writing projects are scrapped. Son Jack contracts the disease 12 years later. May: United Features expresses displeasure with Thompson's continuity work on the Tarzan strips. August: The Cave Girl is published by Dell as a paperback. August: The article "Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc." appears in Writer's Digest. October 2: The Sunday Tarzan strip format is changed from tab to half-page. December 23: Fifty-seven-year-old nephew Studley Burroughs dies of an embolism following an operation for a hiatus hernia. December: Ed suffers a serious heart attack and is placed in an oxygen tent. |
| March 19: Ed dies after eating breakfast in bed
while reading the Sunday comics. He is cremated at the Chapel of the Pines
in Los Angeles.
March 20: (Obituaries) Death Claims Noted Author "Tarzan" Novelist Victim of Illness: Author Edgar Rice Burroughs, 74, creator of the noted fictional figure Tarzan, which has brought him millions in publication and film rights, died yesterday morning at 8:55 a.m. in his Encino home at 5565 Zelzah Ave. Edgar Rice Burroughs, whose own twist on the theory of evolution -- Tarzan -- brought riches that Darwin never dreamed of, is dead. OBITUARY: New York Times March 21 (AP ~ News Release Tarzana, Cal.)Business establishments in this San Fernando Valley community will close for one hour today during the funeral of Edgar Rice Burroughs, the town's founder and creator of the fabulous fictional character, Tarzan. The millionaire author died peacefully at his home Sunday. He was 74. A private funeral will be conducted today at the Tarzana hom eof a son, John Coleman Burroughs. Cremation will follow. March 27: Jack removes the ashes - they are buried beside his mother's beneath the black walnut tree in front of the ERB offices in Tarzana. Near the end he had said, "If there is a hereafter, I want to travel through space to visit the other planets." April 3: (News Release) Children Principal Beneficiaries of Burroughs Estate ~ Most of the estate of the late Edgar Rice Burroughs, famed author of Tarzan novels and short strips, is bequeathed to his three children by terms of his will, with petition for probate filed last week in Superior Court. May 12: Rothmund replaces Thompson, the continuity writer for the Tarzan strips. Burne Hogarth will take over both writing and illustration of the daily and Sunday Tarzan features. August 20: The appearance of the last Burne Hogarth illustrated Tarzan Sunday page. |
|
www.ERBzine.com/war Note: More detailed timelines of events for the ERB War Years 1940-1945 are featured in ERBzine 1020: ERB WWII Time Line: 1940-1942 ERBzine 1021: ERB WWII Time Line: 1943-1945 ILLUSTRATED TIMELINES: 1940 Illo Timeline ~ 1941 Illo Timeline ~ 1942 Illo Timeline ~ 1943 Illo Timeline ~ 1944 Illo Timeline ~ 1945 Illo Timeline |
1875-1950
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