MY FRIEND DAN
by Bill Hillman
A WORD document of this text, suitable for print-out
may be found at:
www.ERBzine.com/dantonburroughs/My_Friend_Danton.doc
Danton's enthusiasm and dedication
to preserving the Burroughs family legacy has touched so many. He was the
grandson of Edgar Rice Burroughs and through his leadership in ERB, Inc.,
as well as his personal contacts, he was a major force in keeping ERB's
work alive and promoting the achievements of the Burroughs family. His
loss has left a major void in ERB fandom. In my case it is more than this
because he was like a brother I never had. We spent many hours together
-- in Tarzana, at conventions, and through telephone and e-mail contact.
He even entrusted me with his personal credit card. I feel a need to share
some of the memories I have of Danton Burroughs.
He made his last weekly call from
the ERB, Inc. warehouse on the Monday of the week of his death and he had
a great time describing some new treasures he had found. He set them aside
for his secretary, Cathy, to send over for the Websites. We also brainstormed
many ideas that might be useful in maintaining the company's high profile
and successes. He was very excited about his new position in the company
and the new company direction and the ideas and energy that incoming president
Jim Sullos was bringing to the company.
I spoke with him again late Wednesday
night. He was devastated . . very depressed. Not only over
the loss of his priceless antique watch and marbles collections, but more
so over the loss of so much of his dad's and ERB's memorabilia and artwork
that were housed in that room. He felt, and rightfully so, that the Burroughs
legacy was entrusted to his keeping . . . and this disaster seemed to prove
how vulnerable and fleeting such a legacy could be.
He asked if I could fly down to
help him sort out the mess and start cataloging what was left. This disaster
had driven home how little time he had and what a massive amount of work
still had to be done to display the ERB legacy effectively without dribbling
it out to dealers and collectors, etc. I'm very afraid of what might become
of his priceless ERB heirlooms as well as objects he spent a lifetime collecting.
There is really very little "junk"
in his vast collections. Scattered all through the house, outhouses, grounds,
warehouse, office and numerous storage lockers are priceless ERB and Burroughs
family antiques and archival material. Fortunately, daughters Dejah and
Llana Jane have taken much interest lately and have an idea of the scope
and worth of his collection. Wife Linda too, has become more involved since
over the last year, Danton had taken material over to her every Friday,
which she diligently scanned and e-mailed to me for his Websites. I've
already done countless xeroxes, scans, photos, etc. on my frequent trips
to Tarzana . . . but time has always been a factor and what I was able
to accomplish seems to be really just a drop in the bucket.
One of the hardest things I've ever
done was to tell him there was no way I could join him at this time.
I was just starting teaching classes for Spring Term at the university
and there was no one to take over the classes. I told him to hold on as
I would be there at the end of June. I had already given the university
notice of my retirement so I could spent more time on such projects. Sadly
he could not hold on.
Dan's longtime friend, John Westervelt,
drove up to the house during our late Wednesday phone chat around 11:30
pm our time. I urged him to try to persuade Dan to move out of the
smokey house for the night since he had slept very little the night before
due to stress and smoke inhalation. He was determined, however, to watch
over his surviving treasures. He must have died sometime after midnight
a few hours later -- I guess I was one of the last persons to have spoken
with him.
I was about to surprise him with
the launch of a new Edgar
Rice Burroughs Tribute Site. I regret that I couldn't have spent more
time with him on computer, so he could access the Internet more readily
to get a better idea of what our teamwork had accomplished and to
keep up with the weekly releases. He much preferred voice or face-to-face
contact and felt computer communication was far too impersonal.
So, can't help at this time but
look back and jot down a few memories . . . it is cathartic:
Our first contact many years ago
was through his attorneys, who in their diligence to guard the ERB and
Tarzan trademarks and copyrights, had investigated my various Web sites
devoted to the Burroughs legend. They and Dan apparently liked what they
saw as eventually they enlisted me to serve as Editor and Webmaster of
their official Websites.
I first met Dan in person in 1999
during the Tarzana ECOF convention. Participants were invited to the Burroughs
estate on Thursday night, but since we were late in getting to Tarzana,
Sue-On and I chose instead to dine with Mary Burroughs -- a marvelous lady,
who in her role as stepmother, had helped raise Dan and siblings after
marrying John Coleman Burroughs. We consider Mary and her daughter Stacy
to be among our dearest friends. The highlight of the following day was
a visit to the Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. offices on Ventura where we finally
met Danton in person. Since I had been a Burroughs fan for almost all of
my life, this was a dream come true. We had first visited the offices back
in 1970 when Hulbert Burroughs went out of his way to make this young couple
from Canada feel welcome. He led us on a tour of the offices and warehouse
and invited us back next day to meet Joan Burroughs Pierce and her husband
Jim.
The 1999 visit was the first of
many trips I have made to Tarzana, and I have fond memories of the hours
spent exploring the treasures in the ERB, Inc. warehouse with Dan: scanning
letters, documents, and photos and taking videos and photographs of larger
pieces of memorabilia. We tried to determine a definite line between what
I could release on Websites and what was to be kept private.
Each Tarzana visit also included
day-long sessions at the ERB, Inc. office photocopier as I attempted to
make copies of the piles of material that Dan kept pulling from his files.
Material I couldn't get to was often sent later via mail or e-mail by his
hard-working secretaries, Cathy Wilbanks and Janet Mann.
Even more exciting were the visits
to Danton's residence and grounds -- always an incredible experience as
he was the most dedicated and most eclectic collector I have ever known.
People who know me have always accused me of being a packrat and inveterate
collector, but the scope of Dan's achievements dwarf anything I have done
one-thousand fold. No matter how many times one roams across his corral
area, past the storage houses, and up the myriad trails that interlink
the many forested tiers leading to and around the house, there are always
new artifacts and treasure troves to discover. These private grounds are
more exciting than many theme parks I've visited.
The residence is a marvel - almost
Victorian in style with every room on the main and upper storey completely
filled with artifacts, memorabilia, art, books and collectibles of all
sorts. The large main floor room is ringed with juke boxes stocked with
old blues, jazz, and rock 'n' roll 78s. Dan took great pleasure in turning
each of them on so that the room was dancing with lights and the music
he loved - even including songs from numerous Tarzan records in his collection.
Outside of Johnny Weissmuller, Danton had one of the most exciting and
authentic Tarzan victory cries -- he was even commissioned to do the yell
for the Filmation Television animated Tarzan series and has startled many
passers-by at ERB conventions in the past. Mixed in among the jukeboxes
and displayed throughout the entire house are pinball machines, attorney
cases, lamps, trunks, posters, musical instruments, ornaments, photos,
paintings, suitcases, and artifacts of every nature. Of course the highlight
of this gargantuan collection is the Burroughs Family Archive.
Danton shared his grandfather's
love of collecting and documenting the Burroughs family legacy. He had
inherited historical artifacts from a long line of Burroughs ancestors,
including his great grandfather, Major George Burroughs, who had served
in the Union Army in the US Civil War, and even had letters of commendation
from President Lincoln. Edgar Rice Burroughs spent much of his life tracking
down and preserving family histories and artifacts. He meticulously filed
copies of all his correspondence, writing notes, business documents, and
almost everything that crossed his path during his lifetime. He was also
an avid photographer and filmmaker. There is a paper and artifact trail
following all his lifetime achievements: cowboy, miner, driver of Chicago's
first electric horseless carriage around the grounds of the 1893 Columbian
Exposition, military academy student and then professor, US cavalry trooper,
stationery & photo store owner, artist, railroad policeman, managing
head of a large Sears-Roebuck department, producer of the first million
dollar film, creator of literary icons that have been spun off to all media,
WWI militia major, merchandiser, pilot, witness to the Pearl Harbor attack,
and the oldest war correspondent in WWII. A full record of all these achievements
and more was part of the archive entrusted to Danton.
Another important part of the archive
was the memorabilia he had inherited from his dad, artist/writer, John
Coleman Burroughs and from his aunt Joan and uncle Hulbert Burroughs. He
had lent material to biographers, to various museums, and to universities
such as those displayed in the McWhorter Memorial Collection at the University
of Louisville, but the bulk of it remained in Danton's care. Some idea
of the magnitude of the archive may be had by studying the giant Porges
biography and perusing my 10,000+ Webpages and Webzines on the Internet.
We had great fun opening and viewing the contents of the suitcases, drawers,
trunks, book cases, boxes, storage houses, hidden rooms, etc. which represented
150 years of Burroughs family history.
Another wonderful memory I have
is our safari to one of Dan's storage lockers down in the valley. We hitched
an open trailer to his truck and entered the gated yard which contained
the lockers. He hadn't been there for many years and had lost the key,
so John Westervelt, who had accompanied us, used a huge bolt cutter to
cut through the locks to the storage room. We spent hours sorting through
treasure after treasure: Ed's 16mm projector, his chair, a Roman-style
bust of ERB, suitcases, and boxes. But, the bulk of the contents were from
his dad's collection: paintings, propaganda art for Douglas Aircraft WWII
booklets, photos, letters, scripts, storyboard art for movie companies,
journals, a box of his Black Falcon books from Ballantine with cover art,
etc. As Dan carried the items out of the locker to the trailer, I laid
them on the tailgate of the trailer and took hundreds of photos -- many
of which have found their way to the Websites. Panic set in when scattered
raindrops started to appear on our cargo. We did a hurried packing and
sped up to Tarzana Ranch where we unloaded everything into the attached
garage shed. Sadly some of these items were stolen sometime later by an
unscrupulous acquaintance . . . and even more tragic, what remained of
the Tarzana Ranch property had to be sold within a few years to cover legal
bills resulting from frivolous and malicious law suits. These were just
two more incidents in a long line of unfair set-backs and injustices that
he faced throughout his life, which would have completely soured anyone
of lesser character.
A sad memory that comes to mind
centres on the death of Dan's mother, Jane Ralston Burroughs. She had worked
closely with Dan's father, Jack, helping with his art projects by posing,
drawing/painting backgrounds, and printing -- they even collaborated on
writing SF stories for pulp zines. Dan's father had died back in the '70s
from Parkinson's. We had been planning to compile an illustrated bio on
his mom, but she died before Dan could follow through on the project. At
the time, I was on a 4-month assignment for my university, teaching a remote
class in Pukatawagan, an isolated First Nations reserve in Northern Manitoba,
and was hard to reach. When we finally made phone contact, he was very
broken up over the loss. I could certainly sympathize, having lost my own
mother a few months previously.
Much happier memories were the graduations
in 2001 and 2002 of Danton and Linda's beautiful daughters, Dejah Ralston
and Llana Jane. The proud father sent photos and invitations which I immediately
posted in ERBzine, our weekly webzine. This was done in sort of a roundabout
way since I had to upload the files via northern satellite transmission.
It wasn't till a few years later that I was able to actually meet both
his daughters and wife Linda. The depth of his commitment to the Burroughs
family legacy is evident even in the naming of the girls. Dejah and Llana
were Barsoomian princesses, and Jane Ralston, of course, was Dan's beloved
mother's name.
Dan's longtime friend, Professor
(retired) John Westervelt, has a famous collection of antique autos. It
was a thrill to ride with him along Ventura and around the Tarzana streets
as he somehow maneuvered a gigantic old Packard convertible without aid
of power steering. Ed Burroughs owned numerous grand old Packards throughout
his life -- some of them of this vintage. It wasn't hard to mentally drift
back 80 years and imagine I was riding with "The Master" as people stared
and waved and honked horns as we passed along the very streets on which
ERB had so often driven decades before. This experience triggered
an idea for a project which I completed sometime later -- an illustrated
time-shift docu-novel in which Danton is whisked back through time to Tarzana
Ranch in 1921.
One of Danton's favourite eateries
was Charley G's -- in fact, they paid tribute to him by placing a bronze
plaque in the sidewalk outside their entrance commemorating ERB and his
life and works. We dined there many times with friends, family, media people,
researchers, publishers, promoters, business associates, et al. The manager
always welcomed Dan warmly and had a special table for his party. Steak,
pizza and pasta were usually his foods of choice. Sue-On often took Dan's
calls, and they had a sincere fondness for each other. Since one of Sue-On's
main obsessions is cooking exotic dishes, they often talked food, and although
Dan had simple tastes in food, he was most interested in doing a Burroughs
Family cookbook under her editorship. He had many of Emma's and Ed's favourite
recipes on file . . . just one more project that we never got to.
We attended a number of ERB conventions
together -- one of the most memorable was the 2003 Dum-Dum hosted by George
McWhorter in Louisville. It was a complete surprise when George announced
that I was to be presented with the ERB Lifetime Achievement Award. The
event took on even greater significance when Danton rose to present me
with the plaque. Although flabbergasted, I was thrilled and proud to look
out at the smiling faces of fellow ERB fans, and especially those at the
Burroughs table where Sue-On was sitting with Mary and Stacy.
It was at this convention that Danton
was slated to appear at the University of Louisville Ekstrom Auditorium
to give a slide and video presentation of ERB art, family photos, early
home movies and wartime combat footage taken by his uncle Hully. Because
of his advancing Parkinson's problems, Dan felt he wasn't up to giving
a long talk so, at the last minute, he turned the duties over to me. Providing
a commentary was quite a challenge since I hadn't previewed the material,
nor had I any notes to follow. Through the years, Dan and I had often expressed
our mutual interest and consuming admiration for ERB, the man -- a passion
that probably overshadowed our appreciation of his fictional works. Luckily,
I was able to draw upon this background for the impromptu presentation
and somehow muddled through.
An event that I am sure was one
of the highlights of Danton's life was the 2006 New York City Broadway
premiere of Tarzan the Musical -- based on Disney's animated film feature
of a few years before. The lead-up to the actual performance was filled
with a whirlwind of parties, television interviews, and a chance explore
one of the world's most exciting cities. An experience Sue-On and I will
never forget is strolling down Broadway at the end of day with Danton,
wife Linda, daughter Dejah, and our New York contact, Bill Morse. It must
have been a dream come true for Danton. He treated us all to giant ice-cream
cones, which we ate while being jostled by throngs of NY denizens and tourists
-- all the while marvelling at the skyscraper-high Tarzan banners, neon
promotions and actual scenes from the musical displayed on the giant Times
Square video screens. Images and sounds of Tarzan seemed to be everywhere
-- the whole city was abuzz!
Opening night was by invitation
only and was held in the historic Richard Rodgers Theatre. The staging
was spectacular with music by rock legend Phil Collins. The after-show
party was in the cavernous ballroom of the luxurious Marriott Hotel, with
non-stop music, servings of food & beverage, and visiting cast members
and other celebrities -- most of which seemed to be centered on the Edgar
Rice Burroughs, Inc. table. Dan and other members at the table took a break
from these celebrations to go up to our room in time to catch the ABC Nightline
special on the Tarzan phenomenon, for which Danton had done an interview
earlier in the day. The whole experience was breathtaking for all involved.
Although the
European opening
a year later in the Netherlands was an even more gala event, there was
something sadly missing: Danton -- because of his health problems he just
wasn't up to the trip. Over the last year of his life, he just didn't feel
up to travel despite our coaxing. As a result, we attended the European
Tarzan
Musical premiere in the Netherlands and the 2007 Dum-Dum in Louisville
without him. He was greatly missed at both these events.
Through the years, the ERB Websites
have generated countless business queries and ERB fan mail. Most I am able
to answer directly, but the serious business letters have always been passed
on to Danton and the office. Out of this corrrespondence has come many
requests for photo and art scans, reviews, introductions, interviews, research
information, etc. -- all of which I've loved working on, and which I hope
took some of the pressures off Dan's workload.
Danton was frustrated to hear of
so much unauthorized material appearing on YouTube and other Internet download
sites. Especially vexing was the recent appearance of segments of the John
Carter of Mars animation project that Bob Clampett and John Coleman
Burroughs had created back in 1936. He was glad that we were able to run
features on his site showcasing the images of JCB's promotional booklet
for that project -- an oversize portfolio that we had photographed in the
Ventura warehouse. He was especially proud to see that the accomplishments
of his dad and mom -- John Coleman and Jane Ralston Burroughs, were finally
getting the recognition they deserved thanks to the material he supplied
for the Websites.
Dan's regular 1- to 2-hour phone
calls were always the highlight of the week. He enjoyed reading letters,
journals and documents he had re-discovered in the archive, while I furiously
made notes in my ERB journal. Longer items he would set aside for Cathy
to send to me later. In a recent call he described with great excitement,
his invitation to the Pixar Studios compound where he saw that his longtime
dream of a series of John Carter of Mars films was at last coming
to fruition. Ironically, the day he died he was also sworn in as Chairman
of the Board of ERB, Inc. He was tremendously proud of this -- and had
many ideas for keeping the Burroughs legacy alive and relevant into its
second century. It wasn't unusual for these calls to be interrupted
many times as he fielded business calls on another line. For the more serious
incoming calls, he would sign off, and call back in a few minutes. He made
a point of making these calls during my lunch hour for which I would rush
home from my university office. Often he would make follow-up calls after
I came home from classes. This got to be a way of life that I will miss
immensely.
Ironically, and maybe fittingly,
the last time I saw Danton was just around sunset in Tarzana on July 30,
2007. He had taken me to see the house at 5135 Avenida Oriente where he
had spent many happy times as a young boy with his family. The property
was undergoing much demolition and change. He pointed out the house and
yard where his dad had done so many of his paintings, and described in
detail how things used to be -- and the places where he and brother Johnny
and sister Dian had played and had imitated their illustrious grandfather's
fictional characters. It was a very bittersweet moment. I took many photos,
stayed as long as I could since I had to catch a 10:30 flight to Louisville
from LAX. Finally we hugged . . . said goodbyes . . . and my last
image of Danton was of him sitting alone in the sunset and reliving those
days of long ago.
Since
Danton's death, our phone and e-mail accounts have been flooded with messages
of condolence from all over the world, directed to Dan's family, ERB, Inc.
and ourselves. In addition to regular members of the various ERB-related
listservs (reported
at ERBlist) and blogs, we have received a barrage of calls and letters
from Burroughs family members, friends, business associates, media, ERB
scholars, researchers, dedicated fans, and even friends and neighbours
who helped the family clean-up the aftermath of the fire.
Some of the prominent ERB-community members who have phoned
or sent personal condolences include: Jim Sullos (president
of ERB, Inc.), George T. McWhorter (Burroughs Bibliophiles
& Burroughs Memorial Collection – University of Louisville), Camille
(Caz) Cazedessus (ERBdom), Frank Westwood (England's Fantastic
Worlds of ERB magazine),
Mary Burroughs (JCB's second wife), Stacy
Burroughs (Dan's step-sister),
Nanette Mark (JCB's caregiver),
Alex
Cornelius (Danton's attorney and family representative), Janet Mann
(ERB, Inc. secretary),
Sean Egan (London's SFX magazine),
Bob
Hall (Dan's antique collector friend), Larry Lingeman (a close
Tarzana friend), Col. Henry Franke (just returned from duty in Afghanistan
and about to resume major ERB projects), Jerry O'Hara (longtime
advisor to Danton),
Peter O'Keefe (friend, researcher and ERB/Tarzana
booster), Chris Olsen (friend), Bill Morse (NY friend and
legal advisor), Tracy Griffin (Hollywood actor and writer of major
ERB articles and documentaries),
Patrice Bonneyrat (PBS documentary
producer), Russell Edsinger (ERB ListServ moderator & performer),
Andy
Mangels (wonderwomanmuseum.com),
Ron de Laat (Netherlands Website
devoted to ERB), David Burton (artist),
Dick Spargur (publisher),
Jairo
Uparella (ERB researcher from Bogota, Columbia),
John Small
(journalist, columnist and broadcaster),
Phil Burger (author &
ERB researcher), Thomas Yeates (artist),
Mike Richardson
(writer, film producer and president of Dark Horse Comics & Entertainment),
Brian
Bohnett (author & publisher),
Jim van Hise (author, publisher,
collector), Dave Hoover (Tarzan artist and animator), Harry Knowles
(Ain’t It Cool News), Jerry Berns (longtime friend), Bob O'Malley
(Burroughs Bibliophile),
Joan Bledig (graphic designer & publisher),
Ken
Manson (journalist),
Chris Wrenn (friend), Robert Beerbohm
(SF personality & collector),
Laurence Dunn (president: Burroughs
Bibliophiles),
Georgia Pine (ERB fan), Bruce & Krista Meyer
(fans & writers),
Ward Orndoff
(collector & writer), Chuck
Pogue (Hollywood screenwriter),
Shawn Dueck (artist - Regina,
SK), J. G. Huckenpöhler (Burroughs Bibliophile),
Sandy Sivacoe
Quigley (school chum), Bob Burrows (Burroughs Bibliophile),
Dr.
S. Bradleigh Vinson (ERB Archivist ~ Burroughs Bibliophile),
Richard
Rose (old friend), Russie Ofria (friend),
Rick Benavides
(personal friend), Kathy Spain (Joan Burroughs Pierce's granddaughter),
Debbie
and David T Alexander (longtime friends from Tampa, FL), Steve Allsup
(ERB fan and writer),
Michael Tierney (friend and writer), Jim
Colovin (Animal Trainer for Film & Television), Kim (Burroughs)
Siflinger (step-sister),
Jerry Fecht (San Fernando Valley),
Michael
Pasqua (friend & ERB fan), Don Daro (longtime friend), Tom
Davis (Ridgewood Military Academy classmate), Steve Hurley (Reseda
High School school chum),
Rob Clampett (writer and son of Bob Clampett),
Steve
Ramada (Tarzana Cultural Center), Dave Fury (biographer),
Rick
Keeney (fan), Reimer Boller (author), Stephen Cassinelli
(Art collector/musician/songwriter), Richard Buck (ERB fan), Frank
Blisard (author), Robert Parker (Boyhood friend), Stephen
Korshak (Publisher/Art Collector), James A. Bergen Jr. (author
of the Price and Reference Guide to Books Written by Edgar Rice Burroughs,
etc.), Joan Blyth (longtime ERB fan) . . . to name a few.
. . . with more to come.
Send your messages of condolence to: Tarzan@westman.wave.ca
Read the Danton Burroughs Obituary in the LA Times:
HERE
This obituary is reprinted, along with the official
news release at: www.ERBzine.com/news
