I set my foot upon the stack of Edgar Rice Burroughs paperbacks that have fueled my summer – 6 Tarzan books, 8 from the John Carter of Mars series, all 3 of the Caspak novels, and a Burroughs lark titled “The Cave Girl” – raise my eyes to the full moon, and give vent to the wild, uncanny challenge of the bull ape!
Collectively, these will supply so much pulp and grist for a conversation with Scott Tracy Griffin, on the next “Roy’s Tie Dye Sci Fi Corner.”
A veritable fount of Burroughsiana, Griffin is the author of two lavishly-illustrated, delightfully informative tomes, “Tarzan: The Centennial Celebration” and “Tarzan on Film.”
Of course, Burroughs’ imagination roamed far beyond the jungle habitat of Tarzan of the Apes – one of the most famous literary creations of all time – to explore lost continents, the hollow earth, neighboring planets, and beyond the farthest star. Nobody knew how to build fantastic worlds over the course of a series quite like Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Ray Bradbury, a lifelong fan, called him “probably the most influential writer in the entire history of the world.” There’s no question he was one of the most popular writers in the first half of the 20th century.
He was also a pioneer of merchandizing, so that his creations came to dominate print, movies, radio, and related memorabilia. In fact, Burrough’s ape man became the first pop cultural icon to achieve global recognition. Not bad for a frustrated adventurer and failed businessman who didn’t publish his first story until the age of 35!
We hope that you’ll swing on by for a wild time with Scott Tracy Griffin, on Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner. Don your loincloths in the comments section, as we livestream on Facebook, THIS SUNDAY NIGHT AT 7:00 EDT!
https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner
Five-minute intro to Burroughs that does a good job of placing him in context of his world
Opera singer Lloyd Thomas Leech, one of those who claimed to have recorded the M-G-M Tarzan yell, singing Leoncavallo’s “Mattinata”
Animated demo of John Carter for a projected 1936 film
Tarzan at tax time
Carol Burnett on “The Jack Benny Program” (Tarzan parody begins about 11 minutes in)
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