Edgar Rice Burroughs (Sept. 1, 1875 – Mar. 19, 1950), Chicago born author, best known for his creation of the jungle legend Tarzan and the heroic Mars adventurer John Carter.

By 1911, after seven years of low wages, he was working as a pencil sharpener wholesaler and began to write fiction. Aiming his work at pulp fiction magazines, his first story Under the Moons of Mars was serialized in 1912. He soon took up writing full-time and by the time Under the Moons of Mars had finished, he had completed two novels, including Tarzan of the Apes. Burroughs also wrote popular science fiction and fantasy stories involving Earthly adventurers transported to various planets (e.g., Barsoom, Burroughs' fictional name for Mars, and Amtor, his for Venus). Tarzan was a cultural sensation when introduced and remains one of the most successful fictional characters of all times.