BarfBadge Denied: Doug Carr

Doug Carr writes:

Nigel,

I want to make a Barf Badge submission for the “We are DEVO” badge.

I claim that Llana Jane Burroughs is a Valar (picture below).  To support this claim, I present her lineage.  She is the daughter of Danton Burroughs, who is the son of John Coleman Burroughs, who is the son of Edgar Rice Burroughs, the famous author of many stories, including the Tarzan and John Carter novels.  The Valar connection seems quite clear from this.  I believe Llana Jane Burroughs to be her true name. 

Edgar Rice Burroughs - Valar

John Coleman Burroughs - Valar

Danton Burroughs

Llana Jane Burroughs

Thanks, Doug Carr"

Nice work on the genealogy, Doug! It is reasonable that Edgar Rice Burroughs was a Valar from his depictions of various alternate Earths. And that his son John Coleman Burroughs inherited the gift based on his illustrations for his father's work. But once we get to Danton I can't find any indication that he inherited the Valar trait. There's no creative work or mention of dreams of other worlds. Just a guy trying to market the works of his forefathers. Same with Llana Jane, I don't see any indicator that she receives dreams, writes, illustrates, makes movies, or any of the other outlets that Valar show.

I guess this means that D.E.V.O. tendencies, like so many of our traits, are only expressed in certain individuals within a family tree. Probably like that fact that a blonde parent doesn't mean all the kids will be blonde, a Valar parent doesn't mean all descendants will have that skill. Who knows whether it will show up in later generations or not? 

All that said, it is amazingly interesting that Llana Jane Burroughs did attend Santa Barbara High School. We're not quite sure of the dates, but that would undoubtedly be interesting to know. So overall, it is interesting, but doesn't have enough evidence to merit a badge. I'll give it a 13/25.