Official Edgar Rice Burroughs Tribute and Weekly Webzine Site Since 1996 ~ Over 15,000 Webpages in Archive Volume 7873  |
ERB 100-Word Drabbles
JUNE VI Edition :: Days 1-15
by Robert Allen Lupton
Go to Days 16-30 at ERBzine 7873a
With Collations, Web Page Layout and ERBzine Illustrations and References by Bill Hillman
MANY TALENTS
June 1: On this day in 2001, Culture House Books published “Please Don’t Call Me Tarzan, the Life Story of Herman Brix / Bruce Bennett” by Mike Chapman. As Herman Brix, he played Tarzan in “The New Adventures of Tarzan” aka “Tarzan and the Green Goddess. Finding himself typecast, he changed his stage name to Bruce Bennett and went on to make about 50 films, including, “Treasure of the Sierra Madres,” “The Lone Ranger,’ “Fighting Devil Dogs,” “Sahara,” ‘Mildred Pierce,” and “Angels in the Outfield.”
Chapman also authored several books, many of them about amateur and professional wrestling, including: Toughest Men in Sports,’ and “Oklahoma Shooter,” the Danny Hodge Story.” Brix was a many of many skills and accomplishments.
Details about the New Adventures of Tarzan: https://www.erbzine.com/mag5/0584.html
The drabble for today, “Many Talents, was taken from Brix’s obituary in the New York Times.Herman Brix was born on May 19, 1906, in Tacoma, Washington. He grew up playing sports, but also had the lead role in the school production of “The Pirates of Penzance.” MANY TALENTS
“There was always a fight between the music director and the athletic coaches as to who was going to get my time after school,” he told a high-school alumni publication.
Mr. Brix was for years the best shot-putter in the United States, and often in the world. At 96, he completed a 10,000 foot parachute jump.
Mr. Brix said his proudest accomplishment was his 67-year marriage to Jeanette Braddock.
NOCTURNAL
June 2: On this day in 1923, Argosy All-Story Weekly published the fifth and final installment of “The Moon Maid.” The cover by Harry Thomas Fisk illustrated the first installment of “The Turquoise Arrow” by Horace Howard Herr who wrote several railroad stories for the pulps.
Publishing details, numerous illustrations, reviews, and commentary about “The Moon Maid:” https://www.erbzine.com/mag7/0767.html
The 100 word drabble for today is “Nocturnal,” and it was inspired by the many worlds and stories of Edgar Rice Burroughs, especially The Moon Maid.”Matthew White, who edited some of the issues of Argosy All-Story Weekly, said, “Mr. Burroughs, you’ve written stories about Mars, the Moon, and the inside and outside of the Earth. What’s next?” NOCTURNAL
“Maybe Venus or Jupiter. Barsoom has two moons. There are other solar systems, you know. The possibilities are endless.”
“I’m thinking about the sun. Folks would love a solar saga.”
“Matt. It’s too hot on the sun.”
“I’ve given that a lot of thought. There’s no problem. The solar inhabitants only come out at night or during an eclipse.”“Thinking like that is going to eclipse your career.”
MY BARSOOMIAN PRINCESS
June 3: On this day in 1948, restaurateur, recording star, and publisher, Sue-On Hillman was born in China. At age two, a neighbor smuggled her to Hong Kong. Her mother was detained by the Chinese Government in Canton, China. Eight years later, she was reunited with her parents in Canada. Years later she and her husband owned and managed “Soo’s” a large restaurant in Brandon.
She and her husband, Bill Hillman, performed and recorded for about 60 years. Bars, concerts, television, and radio. Their first album was “The Western Union.” www.hillmanweb.com/albums
Sue-On and Bill cofounded the www.erbzine.com site, a gigantic tribute to Edgar Rice Burroughs. The two of them have been more than kind concerning my small contributions to the writer’s legacy.
There isn’t enough room to list the accomplishments of this amazing woman or even begin to do her justice in this article. For details, I’d suggest starting at: https://www.erbzine.com/mag5/0550.html
Happy Birthday, Sue-On. Rock on!
The 100 drabble for today is, “My Barsoomian Princess,” written by her husband, Bill Hillman. It’s taken from his tribute to Sue-On at https://www.hillmanweb.com/princess.html All of us thank Bill for marrying her. Burroughs’s fandom would be so much poorer without her.She fell in love with a local musician and they married when she turned 18. She and her husband attended university and performed nightly in Brandon nightspots long enough to garner five university degrees and to become high school teachers and university profs. She travelled and performed across two continents, bore three glorious children and excelled in cooking, gardening, crafts, karate, music, motherhood and as a person. This little-smuggled-waif-turned-beautiful-woman is the most amazing person I’ve ever met. She is an inspiration and a source of wonder to all have been touched by her aura. I’ve been touched. I married her. MY BARSOOMIAN PRINCESS
CONFUSION TO OUR ENEMIES
June 4: On this day in 1932, thee solution to the Inspector Muldoon mystery, The Red Tie Murder, was published in Rob Wagner’s Script, a weekly magazine.
Burroughs wrote nine Inspector Muldoon mysteries, four of which were published in script magazine. One mystery was not completed and the other eight were published in ERBzine.com and the collection, Forgotten Tales of Love and Murder,” published by my old friends from New Orleans, Pat Adkins and John Guidry in 2000.
Muldoon used an interrogation technique later made famous by Columbo. He asked seemingly innocent and unrelated questions that confused the suspects, but helped him form a complete picture of the crime and determine guilt. Burroughs, though unnamed, appears in the stories as a companion to the Inspector.
Information about the murder mysteries and the complete text of all of them is available at:
https://www.erbzine.com/mag64/6409.html
The fictional drabble today is “Confusion to our Enemies,” inspired by the Inspector Muldoon stories.Ed scratched his head. “Inspector, he’s a good man. I don’t think he’d kill anyone.” CONFUSION TO OUR ENEMIES
“Who knows what evil lies in the hearts of men?”
“I’m sure I don’t, but I think Street and Smith have that line copyrighted.”
“Nevertheless, he wore a red tie after Labor Day.”
“I think that saying is about white shoes and it’s a small meaningless point.”
“You see, but you don’t observe. To a great mind, nothing is little. What do you think about that?”“Quoting Sherlock Holmes out of context. I think that if Arthur Conon Doyle was still alive, he’d shoot himself.”
SOUL AND HEART'S INSPIRATION
June 5: On this day in 2018, the first of these ‘On This Day” posts about the intertwined worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs appeared. This is the 2180th post and article. See them ALL at: https://www.ERBzine.com/lupton On this day.
Twelve years ago on this day in 2012, author and Edgar Rice Burroughs fan, Ray Bradbury died in Los Angeles, California. Bradbury’s, one of the world’s premiere writers, often credited Edgar Rice Burroughs for inspiration. As a side note, Bradbury wrote several of his short stories on typewriters rented for ten cents an hour. That’s commitment. He said in those days he wrote one story a week. He thought about the story over the weekend and wrote it on Monday. Then he rewrote it once a day for the next four days. He said if you write a story a week, you write 50 stories a year and then something to the effect that it’s impossible to write that many bad stories. Alas, if only that were true.
The drabble for today, “Soul and Heart’s Inspiration,” is quoted from comments made by Ray Bradbury about Edgar Rice Burroughs.Burroughs is the most influential writer in the history of the world. By giving romance and adventure to a whole generation, Burroughs caused them to decide to become special. That's what we have to do for everyone, give the gift of life with our books. Say to a girl or boy at age ten: Hey, life is fun! Grow tall! I've talked to more biochemists and more astronomers and technologists in various fields, who, when they were ten years old, fell in love with John Carter and Tarzan and decided to become something romantic. Burroughs put us on the moon! SOUL AND HEART'S INSPIRATION
THE SCOPE OF EVOLUTION
June 6: On this day in 1925, Edgar Rice Burroughs completed his Scopes Trial report for the International Press Bureau and Universal Service. The article was published on July 5, 1925. It was titled “Evolution Held Undeniable – Nature’s Law, Says Author.
Read the article at: https://www.erbzine.com/mag14/1441.html
The 100 drabble for today, “The Scope of Evolution,” was written by Edgar Rice Burroughs and it is excerpted from that article.It really does not make much difference what Mr. Scopes thinks about evolution, or what Mr. Bryan thinks about it. THE SCOPE OF EVOLUTION
They cannot change it by thinking, or talking, or by doing anything else. If we are not religious, then we must accept evolution as an obvious fact. If we are religious, then we must either accept the theory of evolution or admit that there is a power greater than that of God. Why must we admit that? Because if we are intelligent we must realize that we are constantly surrounded and influenced by manifestations of this universal law of nature.
MY JOURNEY THROUGH TIME
June 7: On this day in 2024, Three Cousins Publishing, an imprint of West Mesa Press, announced the opening of submissions for “The Trouble With Time,” its 2024 anthology. Visit https://www.facebook.com/West-Mesa-Press-100054216802897/ for details.
ERB probably wouldn’t have submitted a time travel story, he really didn’t write anything that could be strictly defined as a time travel story. He wrote several works about extended life / eternal life and two of those skirt the issue of time travel – mentally, not physically. In “The Moon Maid,” the various incarnations of Julian share each other’s memories, past, present, and future. In “The Eternal Lover,” Victoria Custer makes a mental journey to her stone age persona to reunite with her eternal lover, Nu, son of Nu. It’s time travel after a fashion, maybe.
For information about The Eternal Lover see: https://www.erbzine.com/mag7/0759.html and Moon Maid see: https://www.erbzine.com/mag7/0767.htmlThe drabble for today is “My Journey Through Time,” a fictional response to the question, “Mr. Burroughs, why didn’t you write stories about time travel.":
Why write about time travel? I’ve ridden horse drawn carts and bicycles. My automobiles get faster every year. I’ve seen gas balloons, dirigibles, and flown over the ocean in gigantic airplanes. I’ve been aboard sailing ships, steam ships, and aircraft carriers. Warfare has gone from a repeating rifle to the atomic bomb. I read by candlelight and kerosene lamps. I have electric lights, a radio, and a television. People travel from California to New York faster than I could go shopping. All a man has to do to travel through time is live long enough! I am the time traveler. MY JOURNEY THROUGH TIME
DEATH BY CONSENSUS
June 8: On this day in 1930, ERB completed dictation of Tarzan and the Man Things, retitled Tarzan, Guard of the Jungle for the magazine serialization by Blue Book an published by Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc. as “Tarzan the Invincible.” Lawrence Herndon painted cover art for six of the seven Blue Book installments. Ed’s nephew, Studley Oldham Burroughs, painted the cover art for the first edition. More about TARZAN THE INVINCIBLE in ERBzine: credits , covers, art, etc. https://www.erbzine.com/mag7/0722.htmlThe novel features several communists from different countries, banded together to look the treasure vaults of Opar. The comrades are seeking funding to finance revolutions around the world. Tarzan and La resist the plot strongly. The communist safari is plagued by, among other things, the lack of a clear leader and things don’t go well for the invaders.
The one hundred word drabble for today is “Death by Consensus,” inspired by the novel, “Tarzan the Invincible.”La and Tarzan watched the safari from the edge of the jungle. La said, “Why are they screaming at each other. They’re making so much noise that they can’t hear the lions surrounding their camp.” DEATH BY CONSENSUS
Tarzan said, “No one is in charge. They argue about everything, which way to go, what to cook, where to dig the latrine.”
“Stupid. When everyone decides, no one decides. They’ll starve to death deciding what to cook. The biggest one should kill someone and then the others will obey him.”
‘Patience. They preach brotherhood and equality, but soon enough someone always becomes the brother-in-charge.”
DOWN UNDER
June 9: On this day in 1923, after a run of eleven weeks, Pluck Magazine in Great Britain concluded its serialization of “At the Earth’s Core.” The story of David Innes’ and Abner Perry’s journey in the iron mole to the hollow core of the Earth has been published in several editions and in many countries. It has been a feature film, a graphic novel, and the inspiration for beautiful fantasy art.
For more on the authorized AT THE EARTH'S CORE
For the movie with Doug McClure see the ERBzine feature at: https://www.erbzine.com/mag30/3031.html
and https://www.erbzine.com/mag30/3031a.html
and full information on the book at: https://www.erbzine.com/mag7/0741.html
READ the e-text edition at: https://www.erbzine.com/craft/p1aec.html
The text for the original Pulp release at: https://www.erbzine.com/craft/pulp/At_The_Earths_Core.html
The 100 word drabble for today is “Down Under,” a completely fictional conversation between Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert Davis, editor of All-Story Magazine.“Hello, Bob. I’ve sold the serialization rights for “At the Earth’s Core” to a weekly British magazine.” DOWN UNDER
“Good Pluck with that. I hope they aren’t going to use the illustrations I paid for.”
“No, they’ve commissioned new artwork. I’ve seen a mockup of one of the covers. There’s a soccer team photo along with my cover art.”“Excellent. Soccer stories sells magazines in Great Britain. Maybe you should consider writing a soccer story.”
“But, Bob, I don’t know the first thing about soccer.”
“I don’t see why that should stop you. You’ve never been to Mars or Africa, have you?”
WHAT WE MAKE IT
June 10: On this day in 1944, Edgar Rice Burroughs began writing “Tarzan and the Foreign Legion.” The novel was influenced by Burroughs’ experiences as a war correspondent during World War Two and by his friendship with the enlisted men and officers that he befriended during the war. The novel is unique in that it was never published in a magazine. Its first appearance was the first edition published by ERB Inc. in 1947 with art by John Coleman Burroughs. My copy survived the fire at the ERB office in 1955.
The book was published in paperback by Ballantine with two different covers, one by Richard Powers and one by Boris Vallejo. Jimmy Goodwin’s reference work, “Edgar Rice Burroughs: The Descriptive Bibliography of the Ace and Ballantine/Del Rey Paperback Books,” lists fourteen variants of the Ballantine Editions. A new edition, cover by Joe Jusko is available from ERB Inc.
Publishing details are located at: https://www.erbzine.com/mag7/0732.html
John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, a pilot and an officer, is shot down over Sumatra during WW2. On Sumatra, he learns that he can speak orangutan or that orangutans can speak Mangani.
The drabble for today is, “What We Make It,” inspired by the novel and human progress.Captain Jerry Lucas from Oklahoma said, “John, I didn’t know that you were Tarzan. Can you get us out of here?” WHAT WE MAKE IT
“Probably. A jungle is a jungle and I can talk to the orangutans. They’ll help me, but they’re worried about our weapons. They think grenades, guns, and even bayonets are evil.”
Lucas said, “What did you say.”
“In my experience, it isn’t things that are evil. A tree branch can be part of a house or a bludgeon. A knife can kill or it can chop potatoes. Nothing is evil until men find a way to make it so.”
YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT
June 11: On this day in 1945, “The Honolulu Star-Bulletin” published the article, “Tarzan’s Boss Meets King Ueg on Primitive South Sea Atoll.” The atoll was one of the four inhabited islands that make up Ulithi, part of the Caroline Islands in the Pacific. Most likely it was Falalop, the most accessible at the time by Navy Personnel in 1945.
The Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive in the islands, but the Spanish claimed them in 1528 and called them the Garbanzo Islands. Germany bought them in 1899. The Japanese peacefully occupied them in during WW1. In WW2 the United States constructed a large base and at different times during the war more than 700 vessels were at port. Ulithi was the staging point for the invasion of Okinawa. The United States continued to operate a base in the islands until 1962.
Edgar Rice Burroughs on Ulithi Atoll in ERBzine: https://www.erbzine.com/mag33/3369a.html and https://www.erbzine.com/mag33/3369.html
The drabble for today, “You Are What You Eat,” was inspired by Edgar Rice Burroughs's visit to the island, its culture, and the many counties that claimed control over the years.Edgar Rice Burroughs handed King Ueg a beer. “Beautiful place here.” YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT
“Ueg drained his beer. “Another one, please.”
Ed opened the beer with his church key. “Everyone looks well fed. What’s good to eat?”
“We have fish, papaya,, figs, coconut, wild rice, and feral pigs. Also beans.”
“Cook everything luau style?”
“No, we enjoy Japanese, German, and even Spanish cuisine. I haven’t tried American yet.”
“King, I’ve got a recipe for red beans and rice. What beans do you have? Kidney, navy, or pinto?”
“You don’t understand. Not beans, beings. Human beings. They’re especially good after marinating in papaya juice.”
OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN
June 12: On this day in 1942, Edgar Rice Burroughs learned that his son, Hulbert, had been commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant. Hulbert was widely considered to be one of the best combat photographers in the Pacific Theater.
Hulbert co-wrote “Man Without a World.” “The Bottom of The World,” and “The Lightning Men” with his brother, John Coleman Burroughs. He was vice president of ERB Inc. in the 1960s.
The fictional drabble of today is, “Officer and a Gentlemen,” inspired by Hulbert Burroughs during the war.Ed said, “Hulbert, I saw a photo of you giving orders to a squad. I thought you planned to stay out of the line of fire as a photographer.” OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN
“Yes, Dad. That was my plan, but you know, no plan survives contact with the enemy. The officer in charge was screaming contradictory orders. The men would have been firing on each other. I shook my head.
He shouted, “If you think you can do better, you’re welcome to try.”
“How’d that work out?”
“I thought I could so I tried. I calmed everyone down and repositioned the men. Everyone survived.”
ALL I KNOW
June 13: On this day in 1926, The “Philadelphia Evening Public Ledger” began serializing “The Moon Maid.” The Evening Public Ledger had previously serialized “The Beasts of Tarzan” and “At the Earth’s Core” among others. Two of the illustrations for the newspaper serialization are attached. I don’t know who the artist is.
See full coverage of THE MOON MAID including much more newspaper, pulp, and foreign release art in ERBzine Plus e-text ~ Publishing credits ~ Reviews ~ ART: covers, interior, foreign: https://www.erbzine.com/mag7/0767.html and https://www.erbzine.com/mag2/0242.html
The 100 word fictional drabble for today is “All I Know,” and it was inspired by “The Moon Maid” and a comedian, philosopher, writer, and actor from Oklahoma, Will Rogers.“Mr. Rogers,” asked the reporter. “How are you liking Philadelphia?” ALL I KNOW
“It’s been the longest week of my life and I only arrived yesterday. Your newspaper is interesting. News must be slow to get here because you devoted several pages to a story about moon monsters what eat people.”“It’s just a story.”
“Well, all I know is what I read in the papers. Still eatin’ folks is poor form where I come from.”
“They’re from the moon and they behave differently”
“Saying that the moon made me do it ain’t no legal defense, even in Texas. I know, I checked.”
GRAMMATICALLY SPEAKING
June 14: On this day in 1930, Edgar Rice Burroughs began writing “That Damn Dude,” which would be serialized in “Thrilling Adventures” as “The Terrible Tenderfoot” and published in book form as “The Deputy Sheriff of Comanche County.”
The story was rejected by Collier’s Weekly, Saturday Evening Post, Liberty, Ladies Home Journal, Blue Book, Argosy (twice), College Humor, Short Stories. Five years later he re-submitted the manuscript to Liberty under the title "The Brass Heart" using the pseudonym John Mann. Liberty rejected it again.
Among other publications of the novel, Jimmy Goodwin’s 1922 Dum-Dum in San Antonio, Texas published a very limited edition of the book.
When published in Thrilling Adventures, the first installment had a cover by Arthur Mitchell. The first edition, published September 13, 1940, had a cover illustration by John Coleman Burroughs, one that I’ve always thought looks like John Wayne.
I first read the novel in ERB-dom, issues #71-#73, which reprinted “The Terrible Tenderfoot” from Thrilling Adventures Magazine.
More publishing details and an electronic version of the story are located at: https://www.erbzine.com/mag7/0777.html
The drabble for today, “Grammatically Speaking,” is entirely fictional and inspired by the novel. I could have written a longer version of this encounter, but I didn't want to drawl it out.Corey Blaine, owner of the TR Ranch, said, “Bruce Marvel seems like a sissy name. Besides you talk funny.” GRAMMATICALLY SPEAKING
Mr. Blaine, I think my name is marvelous and I speak perfect English unlike the garbled dialect of mispronunciations and grunts you’re speaking.”
“I think you’re poking fun of me.!”
“Excellent, I didn’t think you’d catch on so quickly. I think you’re making fun of the English language.”“Oh, yeah. Let’s step out in the street and settle this.”
“Fine, as the challenged party, I get to choose the weapons. I choose prepositions at ten paces or verb conjugations at twenty.”
IT SUITS ME
June 15: On this day in 1903, actor Charles Gemora, Tarzan the Mighty, Tarzan the Tiger, was born as Carlos Cruz Gemora in the Negros, Phillipines. Gemora was known as “The King of the Gorilla Men” for his many roles where he appeared in a gorilla suit. Besides the two Tarzan films listed previously, Gemora wore the gorilla suit in Bear Shooters (Our gang), The Unholy Three (Lon Chaney), Murders in the Rue Morgue (Bela Lugosi), The Chimp and Swiss Miss (Laurel and Hardy), At the Circus (Marx Brothers), Road to Zanzibar (Hope and Crosby), Africa Screams (Abbott and Costello, and White Witch Doctor (Robert Mitchum.
He acted in over 60 films and was a makeup artist for 59 films. He wore an ape costume in over 40 of those moves. In “Tarzan the Mighty,” he played Taug the gorilla and in “Tarzan the Tiger” his gorilla role was Taglat.
His first film role was, surprise, a gorilla in the film short, “Goose Flesh” in 1927 and his final role was as a gorilla in 1961s “Flight of the Lost Balloon.”
Details about the two Tarzan films may be found at: https://www.erbzine.com/mag5/0592.html and https://www.erbzine.com/mag5/0593.html
The 100 word drabble for the day, “It Suits Me,” was inspired by the career of Charles Gemora, The King of the Gorilla Men.“Mr. Gemora, if I’ve counted correctly, you played a gorilla in more than forty films.” IT SUITS ME
“Young Man, that sounds about right. I didn’t speak much English when I arrived from the Philippines.”“Did you speak Gorilla?”
“No, who was to know. No one else in Hollywood spoke gorilla either. The language was whatever I said it was.”“You played a gorilla for over thirty years.”
“Yep, I watched a lot of beautiful starlets make monkeys out of the richest, handsomest, smartest and most powerful men in the world. I figured I’d just suit up myself and save them the trouble.”
