ROBERT: The second issue of Reverberate was released at the recent Arizona ECOF and focuses on Burroughs’ western stories that are set in Arizona, (i.e. The Bandit from Hell’s Bend; The Deputy Sheriff of Comanche County; The War Chief; and Apache Devil.) Do you have a favorite from those stories?

TRACY: My favorite Burroughs Western is The War Chief, which I feel is probably his second-best novel, after Tarzan ofs the Apes. He did extensive research for the tale, and it shows in the plentiful details about Chiricahua Apache culture that he incorporated in his desire to share the native perspective on the Indian Wars. It gives the story authenticity. The sequel, Apache Devil, is also quite good, but devotes much of the page count to Shoz-Dijiji’s romance with Wichita Billings and other fictitious plot devices. I enjoy the two “cowboy” novels, but I believe his Apache novels are stronger and more entertaining.

We received an overwhelmingly positive response to the first issue and are confident REVERBERATE #2 will be as well received. We broadened our contributor base with #2; writers Alan Hanson and Patrick H. Quilter join author Gary A. Buckingham and me in investigating Burroughs’ Western stories.

ROBERT: It’s widely believed that the “Tharks” from John Carter’s Barsoom stories are based on the Apache tribes ERB encountered during his time in the cavalry. What are your thoughts on this connection?

TRACY: Definitely—I’ve always been a proponent of that theory. The green men of Mars are a mounted, martial society that survive by raiding other communities in a harsh desert environment. Burroughs wrote what he knew, and he was fascinated with the Apache, whom he considered among our planet’s ultimate survivalists.

ROBERT: It had to be a thrill for you to introduce Burroughs’ great-granddaughters (Llana Jane Burroughs and Kathy (Kate) Bonnaud) at the Willcox ERB monument ceremony? How surreal was that experience?

TRACY: It was definitely something I never could have conceived when reading Burroughs’ novels as a child. I was friends with Llana Jane’s late father, Danton, and it’s been a pleasure seeing her mature into the leadership role he always dreamed she would take. I’ve only recently become acquainted with Kate Bonnaud and her sisters, and I’m glad to see her taking the reins. And, though she didn’t participate in the monument ceremony, Dejah Burroughs (Llana’s sister) is yet another asset.  I hope we see the company prosper under a new era of Burroughs family control.