Edgar Rice Burroughs was born on September 1, 1875 in Chicago, Illinois. His father was a businessman. He attended Phillips Academy and the Michigan Military Academy. After graduating in 1895 he enlisted with the 7th US Calvary in Fort Grant, Arizona; he was discharged in 1897 due to a heart problem. In 1899, Burroughs took a job with his father’s firm and the following year he married Emma Centennia Hulbert; the couple had three children. In 1911, he was working with a pencil sharpener wholesale business and began writing. Between 1915 and 1919, Burroughs built a ranch in California, he called it Tarzana. They surrounding area took that name after he subdivided the land and sold it for residential development.  In 1934, Burroughs divorced his wife and married Florence Gilbert Dearholt the next year. They were divorced in 1942.  At the time of the Pearl Harbour attack, Burroughs was living in Hawaii; he became a war correspondent.

Burrough’s first published story was “Under the Moons of Mars” which was serialized in The All-Story Magazine in 1912. Burroughs is known for writing many series’ of books such as Tarzan (for which his is best-known) and the Barsoom series .  His first Tarzan story, Tarzan of the Apes , was published in 1912. Burroughs wrote many, many novels and stories during his career. His genre’s included science fiction, western, adventure and historical fiction. Many of his stories were published in Argosy magazine. The Burroughs Crater on Mars is named after the author.

Edgar Rice Burroughs died on March 19, 1950 of a heart attack.