Edgar Rice Burroughs, the true Mastermind of Mars, or at least Barsoom, was a native of Chicago and was born in 1875. He tried his hand, unsuccessfully, at many businessess until he began writing at age 35. Of course his prolific pen assured his ultimate success as he wrote Tarzan of the Apes and A Princess of Mars, which were followed by several books in each series and ultimately a legacy of 91 books and many short stories and articles fostered by his unlimited imagination and creativity.. He wrote A Princess of Mars in 1912 originally as a six-part serial using the pseudonym Norman Bean and it was first published in All-Story Magazine from February through July, 1912. A total of eleven books were written and published as part of the Mars series which featured further adventures of John Carter, his son Carthoris, daughter Tara of Helium, Thuvia, and other Barsoomiam heroes and villains he introduced. He also wrote a series of books about Carson Napier, a Californian who was a lover but not a fighter like John Carter but, nevertheless, had a number of adventures on Venus after traveling there via rocket ship. Before his death in Tarzana, California in 1950 Edgar wrote enough material to result in sales of hundreds of millions of books in at least 32 languages and left a legacy of wonderful books which has stirred the imaginations of millions of readers throughout the world. Show less «