John Coleman Burroughs (28 February 1913 – 22 February 1979) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complic ...

known for his illustrations of the works of his father,

Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American author, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best-known for creating the characters Tarzan and John Carter, ...

Life

John Burroughs was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, the son of Edgar Rice Burroughs, creator of

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...

, and of his first wife, Emma Centennia Hulbert. When he was six, the family moved to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

and settled on the estate they renamed Tarzana. John briefly attended Page Military Academy but couldn't adjust to the strict regimen and was removed in midyear and tutored at home (he had contracted a mild case of polio, and his parents were worried about his being exposed to the disease in public schools). He later attended the Los Angeles Coaching School,

Urban Military Academy Urban Military Academy was a boarding and day school in Hollywood, California, for boys between the ages of six and fifteen. It was founded in 1905 by Mary McDonnell on Melrose Avenue at Wilcox; it later moved to 11600 Sunset Boulevard. At the tim ...

, and

Van Nuys High School Van Nuys High School (VNHS) is a public high school in the Van Nuys district of Los Angeles, belonging to the Los Angeles Unified School District: District 2. The school is home to a Residential Program and three Magnet Programs—Math/Science, P ...

, where he wrote and illustrated stories, graduating in 1930. He then enrolled in

Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalists who wanted to recreate a "college of the New England type" in Southern California. In 1925, it became t ...

, graduating with honors in 1934. On 12 December 1936, he married Jane Ralston. They had three children, John Ralston Burroughs, Danton Burroughs, and Dian Burroughs. They were divorced in 1961. On 16 December 1961, John married his second wife, Mary, and they had two children together named Kim and Stacy. Kim later married Alan Siflinger and had two children named Travis Siflinger and Cassidy Siflinger. Travis went on to have a child with Stephanie Bolda named Parker Siflinger-Bolda. Cassidy eventually had a child named Bayla Siflinger. Mary and John divorced around 1972. John's creative powers were sapped by

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms beco ...

in his final years.

Career

John and his siblings Joan and Hulbert were all fans of their father's writing, but only John Coleman Burroughs added significantly to Edgar Rice Burroughs's works with new creative material.

In art

Growing up in an atmosphere saturated by his father's famous creations, John's first excursions into the professional art world were influenced by Edgar Rice Burroughs themes. At age 23, he was given the chance to illustrate his father's book, ''

The Oakdale Affair and the Rider ''The Oakdale Affair and The Rider'' is a collection of two short novels by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs. "The Oakdale Affair", a contemporary tale, was written in 1917 under the working title of "Bridge and the Oskaloosa Kid", and is a ...

'' published on 15 February 1937. A few months earlier, His father had written: "It has always been the ambition of my son, Jack, and myself that one day he would illustrate one of my books. He is doing very excellent work, and I am having him illustrate the Spring book for us." John went on to illustrate all future Edgar Rice Burroughs books published during the author's lifetime – a total of over 125 illustrations. He also illustrated the John Carter Sunday newspaper strip, a David Innes of

Pellucidar Pellucidar is a fictional Hollow Earth invented by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs for a series of action adventure stories. In a crossover event, Tarzan, who was also created by Burroughs, visits Pellucidar. The stories initially involv ...

comic book feature and numerous

Big Little Book The Big Little Books, first published during 1932 by the Whitman Publishing Company of Racine, Wisconsin, were small, compact books designed with a captioned illustration opposite each page of text. Other publishers, notably Saalfield, adopted t ...

covers. Burroughs was a photographer in the 1920s.

In writing

In addition to his artwork, John wrote a string of short stories with his brother Hulbert and his wife Jane Ralston, who also served as model for the heroines he drew. John's novel ''Treasure of the Black Falcon'' was published in 1967 by

Ballantine Books Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann in 1998 and remains p ...

. His later novel ''Danton Doring'', written with Dr.

John Eric Holmes John Eric Holmes (February 16, 1930 – March 20, 2010) was an American professor of neurology and writer of non-fiction, fantasy and science fiction. His writings appeared under his full name and under variants such as Eric Holmes and J. Eric ...

, remained unfinished.

Legacy

In June 2003, Danton Burroughs opened a storage locker that had been sealed since his father's death in 1979. The room was packed with items that John Coleman Burroughs had amassed throughout his very productive life: personal effects, letters, documents, books, photos, sketches, clothing, paintings, charcoals, artwork done for major Hollywood film studios, World War II propaganda art and handbook illustrations for

Douglas Aircraft Company The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer based in Southern California. It was founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas Sr. and later merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas; it then operated a ...

, etc. There were also a great many items passed on from John's father, Edgar Rice Burroughs, including the latter's military hat, favorite chair, film projector, a mold for creating a bust of Edgar Rice Burroughs, photo albums, business documents, journals, favorite books, etc. Photos of many of these items were taken as they were retrieved from the storage room. Danton has released material deemed of interest to Edgar Rice Burroughs fans on the JohnColemanBurroughs.com Website. On May 1, 2008, Danton Burroughs died of a heart attack following a fire in the family home in Tarzana, which destroyed a room containing memorabilia of his father John Coleman Burroughs and grandfather

. The cause of the fire is unknown.

Footnotes

References

The Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs
material by Bill Hillman and Danton Burroughs
John Coleman Burroughs site
by Danton Burroughs
Son Danton Burroughs' site with weekly Webzine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burroughs, John Coleman 1913 births 1979 deaths Artists from Chicago People from Tarzana, Los Angeles American illustrators American comics artists Edgar Rice Burroughs Pomona College alumni