Born in Chicago, George was the eldest of five children. He attended the Hill School and went on to study at the University of California at Berkeley, proudly telling people he was "a mere one paper away from completing a degree." Along the way, he acquired a deep love for poetry that friends described as "exhaustingly encyclopedic."
But it was George's passion for the performing arts that many point to as his legacy. In Santa Fe, New Mexico, in the seventies, he brought in performing groups from far and wide, including the Teatro Compesino, the American Conservatory Theater, and the San Francisco Mime Troupe. It was at the New Mexico State Penitentiary around the time of one of the most violent inmate riots in American history that George conducted acting workshops that changed him forever. Indeed, thirty years hence, he went on to help produce "Waiting for Godot" with the inmates at California's San Quentin Penitentiary (I attended one of the extraordinary performances; extraordinary because the two roles of Vladimir and Estragon, were performed by convicts - JL). One of the inmate stars, David "Twin" James, went on to write and perform his own one-man show with George.
Mr. Burrows was also an ardent supporter of opera, helping promote programs in Santa Fe and going on to become the marketing director of the San Francisco Opera. He particularly loved the latter and was in fact married there between acts of "La Boheme."
Many in the San Francisco community remember George's expansive creations while head of national sales for Gannett Outdoor. The iconic Chronicle columnist Herb Caen celebrated him for donating thousands of dollars of billboards to Red's Java House, a hot dog joint on the San Francisco waterfront. The billboards, which read "You Can't Get Food Like This in the Best Restaurants in Paris," were, Caen wrote, "a real shot in the cash register to a place that isn't even listed in the phone book."
George is also remembered as an expert French cook and somewhat extravagant appreciator of wine of all sorts. People on San Francisco Bay extoll his skill at sailing, and squash players (particularly fellow doubles players at the University Club! - JL) cringe at memories of the violent forehand that George said dated back to his family skinning sperm whales on ships out of New Bedford.
Mr. Burrows was predeceased by his adoring father, George S. Burrows. His equally adoring mother, Marjory (Schlotzhauer) Burrows lives today in Lake Forest, Illinois. He has three brothers, Harry (now deceased), Peter and Hugh, and a sister, Kate. George's daughter, Amanda, lives in Vermont with his two grandsons who called him "Grumpy."
No memorial is planned at present, although George specified that "A Love Supreme" and "All Along the Watchtower" be played.
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