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JOHN COLEMAN BURROUGHS

TRIBUTE SITE

J. C. B.
All of Edgar Rice Burroughs' children ~ Joan, Hulbert, and John Coleman ~ were fans of their father's writing, but only JCB actually added significantly to ERB's works  with new creative material, although Hulbert was very involved in ERB, Inc. business matters. Since Jack grew up in an atmosphere saturated by his father's famous creations, it is not surprising that one of his major influences was
J. Allen St. John, who illustrated most of the early ERB works. Nor is it surprising that his first excursions into the professional art world would be influenced by ERB themes.

At age 23, he was given the chance to illustrate his father's book, The Oakdale Affair and the Rider published on February 15, 1937. A few months earlier, Ed had written to St. John: "...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."  JCB was very dedicated to his art and threw himself completely into his work, striving hard to justify his father's faith in him. The cover and the two interior illustrations were a success and he matured rapidly as an artist.
He went on to illustrate all future ERB books published during the author's lifetime -
a total of over 125 illustrations.

1913: February 28: John Coleman Burroughs is born in Chicago to Edgar and Emma Burroughs
1913: Summer: Accompanies his family on a cross-country trip from Chicago to California
1913: December 8: Jane Ralston is born
1916: Survives a long, rigorous automobile camping tour
1919: Family moves to "Tarzana Ranch" in the San Fernando Valley, California
1919: Nearly dies of diptheria
1920: Jack, Hully and Joan are given lion cubs and monkeys for Christmas by a film company
1921: Jack and Hully contract mild cases of polio
1921: Jack and Hully enrolled in Page Military Academy but sensitive and timid Jack was
            taken out for home tutoring
1924: During an adventure trip to the High Sierras, Ed creates the famous "doodad" symbol for
            himself, Hully and Jack
1926: August: Family auto expedition to Grand Canyon
1926 -1930: Develops a skill for writing and art all through high school.
1926 - 1930: Develops a close, life-long friendship with Rochelle Hudson, who had become
            a movie starlet at 13
1928?: Sixteen-year-old  Jack drives Rochelle and her mother on a trip to Oklahoma City
1930: Graduates from Van Nuys High School after having attended Urban Military Academy and
            John Burroughs school
1930: John Coleman enrolls in Pomona College
1933: April: Family auto expedition to Death Valley
1934: Creates a sabre-tooth tiger model inspired by La Brea tar pit bones he had obtained from
            LA County Museum
1934: Graduates with honours from Pomona College (Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum lauda)
1934: Studies under Russian/American artist Nicolai Fechin (1881-1955)
1934: Follows his father's lead takes weekend flying lessons but plans disrupted by parents' divorce
1935?: Works with friend Bob Clampett of Warner Brothers to create a short
            John Carter animated test film
1936: ERB travels to Chicago and NY to try to launch Tarzantoons, Inc. to produce short and
            feature length animated films
1936 December 12: Marries Pomona classmate, Jane Ralston
1937 February 15: ERB publishes Oakdale Affair and the Rider using JCB DJ and two interiors
            (models Pierce and Ralston)
1937: Illustrates ERB's miniature book - Tarzan, Jr. - for Colleen Moore's
            Fairy Castle Collection in Chicago
1939 June: Thrilling Wonder Stories publishes novelette The Man Without A World by JCB
            and brother Hulbert Burroughs
1939 August - 1941 June: Created a John Carter of Mars strip for Dell's The Funnies comics
1940s: Produces a 32-page comics adaptation of David Innes of Pellucidar
            (12 pages appear in Hi-Spot Comics)
1940: Dell reprints the John Carter strips and a JCB cover in a Fast Action Book
1940: John Carter Big Little Book with story, cover and illustrations by JCB
1940 February: Thrilling Wonder Stories pulp magazine publishes novelette The Lightning Men
            by JCB and Hully
1940 July: Thrilling Mystery magazine publishes novelette Hybrid of Horror by
            JCB and Jane Ralston Burroughs
1941 January: Expanded re-working of the John Carter (Giant of Mars) BLB published in
            Amazing Stories under ERB's name
1941 September: Startling Stories publishes the novel: The Bottom of the World by JCB and Hully -
            7 JCB illustrations
1941: December 7: Debut of 69-week syndicated colour Sunday strip - wife Jane models, inks,
            letters and does backgrounds
1942 June 22: Son John Ralston is born
1944 June 21: Second son, Danton, is born.
1948 June 17: A third child, Dian, is born.
1950 March 27: Buries his father's ashes beside mother's remains under the ERB, Inc. Black Walnut Tree
1961: John and Jane Ralston are divorced
1961 December 16: Marries his second wife, Mary
1962?: The first symptoms of Parkinson's Disease are noticed
1967 March: JCB's last novel, Treasure of the Black Falcon, is published by Ballantine -
            written 20 years earlier
1972?: John and Mary are divorced
1979 February 22: John Coleman Burroughs dies
2002 January 12: Jane Ralston Burroughs dies

Jane Ralston Burroughs
December 8, 1913 - January 12, 2002

JANE RALSTON BURROUGHS TRIBUTE SITE