For purposes of this thread, let us pretend that every freaking word in Philip Jose Farmer’s Tarzan Alive! was the Thor’s-honest truth. This means that not only was Burroughs writing the fictionalized biography of a real person, but that person may well be alive even though he was born in the late 1800s, having taken a potion early last century that granted him eternal youth. Moreover, His main supporting cast–Jane, Korak, Miriam, even Jad-bal-ja–eventually got access to similar miracles.
I’d like to think he’s not doing martial arts with giant grasshoppers, but I know that’s a vain hope.
He’s probably not solving mysteries with a rejuvenated Sherlock Holmes, either.
More than likely he’s bankrolling political movements he approves of in Africa and helping to keep game preserves going and trying to stay out of the spotlight.
First he got Aids then Ebola from being too familiar with his ape friends, then he was severely injured when he got caught in one of many African civil wars but before he could succumb to any of those diseases or injuries he was killed by poachers. Somewhere someone has an umbrella stand made from Tarzan’s left leg.
Attending to his duties in the House of Lords. His quieter moments are spent painting bucolic jungle scenes, inspecting his respectably sized dagger collection, and corresponding with gorillas.
*He’s free as the breeze, He’s always at ease He lives in the jungle and hangs by his knees As he swings through the trees without a trapeze In his B.V.D.'s
He’s got a union card and he’s practicing hard* *To play the guitar Gonna be a big star, yeah, he’s gonna go far And carry moon beams home in a jar
*He is Guitarzan.
Waiting for She Who Must be Obeyed to be re-incarnated?
Whoops, mixing realities, sorry!
Actually, he probably retreated into Opar as the poachers and farmers moved into the jungle, and having his mansion became too damn colonial. I could see him exercising his lordly influence against global warming - I bet he emails Al Gore all the time.
The Phantom seemed to be able to work with post-colonial governments - Greystoke just wasn’t that comfortable with civilization, at least not deep down.
Skald: Why do you think Gabon, of all the improbable places, is the shining-light success story of post-independence sub-Saharan Africa?
I need to point out two other things to you as well:
His Grace of “Greyminster”'s instructions to Farmer to treat his discoveries as a variant on “the Great Game” of the Baker Street Irregulars, and avoid giving too much away.
Oh, “Lord Greystoke” was clearly not born in Gabon. Burroughs spoke with him before publishing anything, and obviously Lord G. would have required that his reported birthplace be changed. Just as obviously, Burroughs, given an instruction by Tarzan, said, “Yes, sir. anything else?”
