The First and Only Weekly Online Fanzine Devoted to the Life and Works of Edgar Rice Burroughs

The Many Worlds of "The master of imaginative fantasy adventure... ...the creator of Tarzan and... ...the 'grandfather of science-fiction'"

1. This week's mystery photo contest

EDDIE GILBERT DIES

Bob Zeuschner reports from California that: "Eddie Gilbert, the brother-in-law of ERB, passed away in the hospital two weeks ago (June 27, 2000) "Eddie was a wonderful and intelligent man who loved to reminisce about his relationship with ERB, and loved to share his great collection of books with fellow fans. He also had lots of great stories about the many movie stars who bought books at his bookshop on Hollywood and Vine over the decades. "The Burroughs Bulletin published an interview with Eddie several years ago, and will publish one more piece by Eddie in an upcoming issue. Our heartfelt sympathies go out to his wife Claire and his family. Eddie and Clair would have celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary this year." Eddie was Guest of Honour at the Tarzana Dum-Dum 99 where his warmth and his sharing of many ERB anecdotes will be long-remembered by Burroughs fans. Tributes will follow in later issues.

3. COLLECTORS ITEMS
 

Under the Moons of Mars  A History and Anthology of  "The Scientific Romance" in the Munsey Magazines,  1912-1920. Edited and with a History by Sam Moscowitz 1970 ~ Holt, Rinehardt and Winston Stories include  Under the Moons of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs,  The Moon Pool by A. Merritt,  The Mad Planet by Murray Leinster,  and others.

        April 18 1942 Joan darling:
Just a line to acknowledge your Clipper letter of March 25, received
April 17.  As I wrote you on the 15th, there is not much to add.

Hulbert was in again yesterday, and we had a good visit and a couple
of sets of tennis.  He looks and feels fine.  Major General Woodruff,
who lives at the Niumelu, wants him to apply for transfer to an officers
school; but Hulbert says he would rather be an enlisted man here than
an officer on the mainland.  Hulbert's weight was down to 161 1/2 yester-
day.  And was he pleased!

Lots of love to you all,
(sig)Papa

NOTE from the WebJed:
See many more ERB letters in ERBzine 0440: Lost Words of ERB
and visit our
LOST WORDS OF ERB:
A Hypertexted Guide to ERB's Obscure Articles & Poetry in ERBzine 0219

5. The ERB / Karloff Connection Mystery

In his 1915 novel, H.R.H The Rider, Edgar Rice Burroughs named a character Prince Boris of Karlova. English-born actor had changed his name from William Henry Pratt to Boris Karloff 1910 or 11 when he left Vancouver for LA.

ERB and Karloff had certainly met during the filming of Tarzan & the Golden Lion in 1927 when the actor played the character Owaza. ERB even gave Karloff an autographed copy of the book. But could ERB have heard of Boris Karloff in 1915? Is there any chance they met before 1915 in Southern California?

ERB had moved to California (San Diego and LA) in September 1913 and returned to Chicago in March 1914. Coincidentally, The Man Without A Soul (Monster Men), a novel about a scientist who creates human creatures in his lab was published in November 1913 in All-Story pulp magazine. While in California, ERB spent much of his time researching the new film medium and writing movie treatments, including The Lad and the Lion. After returning to Chicaco ERB continued his efforts to crack the Hollywood market during 1915 by submitting summaries movie treatments: The Man Without a Soul, Ben - King of Beasts, His Majesty the Janitor, For the Fool's Mother (The Prospector), The Lion Hunter, and The Zealots, as well as many of his novels. His attempts were unsuccessful. It was during 1915, October 25 - December 5, that he wrote H.R.H. the Rider (38,000 words).

ERB certainly had ties to Hollywood at that time but as far as I know, the Karloff connection is a still mystery waiting to be solved.

6.MYSTERY SOLVED: ...NORMAN BEAN!
While perusing the electronic stacks of the Amazon.com bookstore, I came across this fascinating book by ERB fan and researcher, Dr. Bob Zeuschner:
Classical Ethics: East and West Ethics from a Comparative Perspective
... obviously a worthy addition to any ERB collection.

Classical Ethics : East and West Ethics from a Comparative Perspective  by Robert B. Zeuschner  Paperback - 336 pages (June 23, 2000)  McGraw Hill Text; ISBN: 0070728380  Amazon Price: $21.24 Book Description: This anthology combines selections from major classical Western philosophical ethical systems (primarily Greek and Judeo-Christian) and, in equal depth, selections from three non-Western ethical traditions (Indian Buddhist, Chinese Confucian, and Chinese Taoist) in a multi-cultural historical framework.

While at Amazon, check out some of Bob's other works, including:
Edgar Rice Burroughs : The Exhaustive Scholar's and Collector's Descriptive Bibliography of American Periodical, Hardcover, Paperback, and Reprint Editions by Robert B. Zeuschner (Hardcover - November 1996)
Amazon Price: $46.50 / Average Customer Review:  5 Stars

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7. CONGRATS ON A GREAT DUM-DUM 2000 GUYS:
Unfortunately we were unable to attend this year's Dum so we have no photos to share. However, if any attendees would like to share their photographic memories of the event, we certainly have a place to display them in ERBzin-e.