Did You Know? Tarzan of the Apes

First off, a very Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! I hope everyone is having a great day/evening! This week's Did You Know? focuses on Tarzan of the Apes and Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Did you know?

• Jane's full name is Jane Porter?
• Jane's father's name is Archimedes Q. Porter? He was on an expidition to find buried treasure when he met Tarzan.
• Tarzan is able to speak more than 12 animal and human languages?
• Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote 26 Tarzan books?
• Tarzan was the son of a British Lord and Lady? I wonder why so many of these types of characters are always members of the aristocracy.
• Edgar Rice Burroughs was a prolific author, writing numerous science fiction and fantasy novels in addition to his Tarzan series?
• Burroughs enlisted with the 7th Cavalry in 1895, and was discharged 1897 after it was discovered he had a heart condition?
• He held a number of low paying jobs, including selling pencil sharpeners, before beginning to submit stories to pulp fiction magazines?
• Tarzana, the name of Burroughs' California ranch, was adopted by residents of the area for their new town in 1927? Today, Tarzana, California is home to over 28,000 people.
• In 1923, Burroughs set up his own company and printed his own books until the 1930's? Now that's the way to self publish!

Monday Interview Series: Tarzan

This week's interview is with everybody's favorite swinger, Tarzan the Ape Man. Due to his aversion to "civilization," we had to journey to darkest Africa to get some face time with the Lord of the Jungle.



Greg:  Hello, thanks for inviting us, Tarzan. Nice jungle you've got here.

Tarzan:  Thank you. Sorry, we didn't have time to clean up much. We didn't expect you so soon. The vines need trimming and we haven't emptied Cheetah's litter box in a week. I'm so embarrassed.

Greg:  No worries. We came by jet, much better than those long ocean voyages. Anyway, tell us a little bit about your childhood.

Tarzan:  Not much to tell. Can't remember very much. I was only a baby when my parents and I were marooned here. Mother died soon after. My father was killed by Kerchak, leader of the Mangani ape tribe. The tribe adopted me, or rather Kala, my ape mother did.

Greg:  Fascinating. How did you, a human, manage to survive among the apes?

Tarzan:  They took care of me. Kala raised me. I learned much; ape ways and ape speech. I learned to climb, swing from vines like an ape. I grew strong, fought many in the jungle. I learned to speak with apes, monkeys, elephants, lions, tigers, cheetahs, many animals in the jungle.

Greg:  You're remarkably well spoken for someone raised by apes.

Tarzan:  I learn man speech from humans who come to the jungle, and I've been to big man cities, to civilization. Many strange things I saw there, and many languages I learned. I did not like it. Smelly, dirty places. Crowded, polluted. All animals slaves there, and many people, too.

I wanted to leave, but Jane wanted me to stay. It was her home. I wanted her to be happy, but I was not happy, and that made Jane unhappy. In civilization, no one is happy. Tarzan left, and Jane agreed to go, too.

Greg:  How did you meet Jane?