Joan BledigJoan Bledig is an avowed longtime fan of the writings of Edgar Rice Burroughs, discovering Tarzan and Jane in the 1950s. Her goal was to assemble a complete set of Burroughs first editions, which she finally accomplished in the early years of the twety-first century. She joined The Burroughs Bibliophiles in 1965. From 2014 to 2022, she served as Chairman of the Board of this international literary society. Joan has chaired and cochaired a number of Burroughs fan gatherings, both Dum-Dums and ECOFs. She has confessed to attempting to swing on a vine across a section of the north branch of the Chicago River near her childhood home and falling in the river instead. Of course, she said, "I chose a point to swing across to a gravel bar where the water was only about a foot deep. The channel between the bank and the bar was quite narrow, the main channel being significantly wider and on the other side of the bar. So, it wasn't that far to fall. At least I had the foresight to try this without anyone else in attendance to witness this, my ultimate jungle failure. Needless to say, it wasn't the first time I entered the waters of that river involuntarily. When I think of it now, I must have been crazy back then. Chicago River water cleanup was something far, far, far in the future." By the way, Joan connected a few years back with the man who had let her read his copy of Tarzan of the Apes. He still has the book and sent her a photo of it in his bookcase of Edgar Rice Burroughs books. Read More Read Less