it wasn’t war games that Burroughs heard—it was the Japanese sneak attack on the naval base at Pearl Harbor. A call went out to all able-bodied men, and though well past retirement age, Burroughs didn’t hesitate to volunteer. He performed a little guard duty, among other activities, then landed a gig writing a humorous column for the HONOLULU ADVERTISER. However, as the world plunged into war, Burroughs wanted to
do more. Specifically, he wanted to be where the action was, so he applied for credentials as a war correspondent for United Press. He was sixty-seven years old. For the next several months Burroughs traveled with the military throughout the Pacific, roughing it right along with the troops he accompanied. Unsurprisingly, he was often treated as a celebrity since almost everyone he met was quite familiar with Tarzan and Burroughs’ other creations. He signed numerous autographs and dined with the military elite, enjoying every minute of it. During his Pacific tour he filed an estimated 25 dispatches for United Press, but none saw print (Burroughs assumed they never got past War Department censors). After a brief respite, Burroughs returned to the war in 1944, visiting Tarawa and other locations. Burroughs’ health started to decline in the years following
the war and his literary output diminished considerably. Heart problems eventually kept him homebound, and in his final days his only visitors were his children and grandchildren. On March 19, 1950, a maid found Burroughs slumped over the morning newspaper. He had been reading the Tarzan comic strip when he passed away. “Burroughs’ writing does not rank with the likes of Hemingway, Faulkner or Steinbeck, but he has served as a profound inspiration for great writers,” says Stout. “His diverse following ranges from Gore Vidal to Ray Bradbury. In his critical essay on Burroughs, Vidal put forth that when it comes to describing action, Burroughs has no peer. So, if influence and inspiration are one’s key criteria for judging a writer, then the best works of Edgar Rice Burroughs have secured their own place in the realms of literary greatness.”
These images are ©ERB, Inc. and used by permission.
32 FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND • MAR/APR 2012
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