Class of 1967

J O H N   B U R R O U G H S   H I G H   S C H O O L, B U R B A N K, C A

John Burroughs was born on the family farm in Roxbury, New York on April 3, 1837 and died on a train while returning from California on March 29, 1921. He was buried on the farm on his eighty-fourth birthday, April 3, 1921, at the foot of Boyhood rock on which he had played as a child. In his time he was an immensely popular nature writer. His popularity resided in the fact that readers appreciated the way of life he wrote about and came to exemplify --- the tantalizingly elusive yet universally accessible --- simple values, simple means, simple ends.

By the time he was 20 years old Burroughs had moved from one pole to the other as far as his feelings about writing were concerned. From an early schoolboy aversion to any thought of writing, he had become determined to be an author. In an 1857 letter to his bride of one week he wrote,

"I sometimes think I will not make the kind of husband that will always suit you. If I live, I shall be an author. My life will be one of study. It may be a weakness in me to cherish the thoughts I do, but I can't help it."

for more information about John Burroughs, check The John Burroughs website here: http://www.johnburroughs.org