Tarzana Ranch

In the spring of  2004 I was fortunate enough to spend eight days at the historic Tarzana Ranch.

 Danton Burroughs, director of Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc. and grandson of famed author Edgar Rice Burroughs, enlisted me to oversee the property as it was prepared for sale. As a former teacher and aspiring writer, I was thrilled.

Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote over ninety books, despite beginning his professional writing career at age thirty-six. His imagination knew little boundary and his creative view of worlds (other than Earth) seemed to pave the way for other science-fiction writers. He will, of course, be forever closely associated with his creation of one of the most recognized literary characters – Tarzan of the Apes.

Once part of a 550-acre estate, the remaining portion of the ranch now sits atop a small hill overlooking the vast San Fernando Valley. The stately two story ranch house, which was formerly the writing quarters and theater room of Edgar Rice Burroughs, is surrounded by immense pines and other varieties of beautiful trees.

For a writer, the setting could not have been more perfect. On one particularly quiet and still evening, the rich history and palpable folklore inspired me to write this poem:

Larry Lingeman