Editing William S. Burroughs (section)

===Harvard University===
Burroughs finished high school at Taylor School in [[Clayton, Missouri|Clayton]], Missouri, and in 1932 left home to pursue an arts degree at [[Harvard University]], where he was affiliated with [[Adams House (Harvard University)|Adams House]]. During the summers, he worked as a cub reporter for the ''[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]]'', covering the police docket. He disliked the work, and refused to cover some events, like the death of a drowned child. He lost his virginity in an [[East St. Louis, Illinois]], brothel that summer with a female prostitute whom he regularly patronized.<ref name=Morgan-1988-2012/>{{rp|at=papers, p.62}} While at Harvard, Burroughs made trips to New York City and was introduced to the gay subculture there. He visited lesbian dives, piano bars, and the [[Harlem]] and [[Greenwich Village]] homosexual underground with Richard Stern, a wealthy friend from [[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]]. They would drive from Boston to New York in a reckless fashion. Once, Stern scared Burroughs so badly that he asked to be let out of the vehicle.<ref name=Morgan-1988-2012/>{{rp|page=611}}

Burroughs graduated from Harvard in 1936. According to Ted Morgan's ''Literary Outlaw'',<ref name=Morgan-1988-2012/>

<blockquote>His parents, upon his graduation, had decided to give him a monthly allowance of $200 out of their earnings from Cobblestone Gardens, a substantial sum in those days. It was enough to keep him going, and indeed it guaranteed his survival for the next twenty-five years, arriving with welcome regularity. The allowance was a ticket to freedom; it allowed him to live where he wanted to and to forgo employment.<ref name=Morgan-1988-2012/>{{rp|pages=69–70}}</blockquote>

Burroughs's parents sold the rights to his grandfather's invention and had no share in the [[Burroughs Corporation]]. Shortly before the [[Wall Street Crash of 1929|1929 stock market crash]], they sold their stock for $200,000 (equivalent to approximately ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|200000|1929|r=-5}}}} in today's funds{{inflation-fn|US}}).<ref name=NYTobit>{{cite news |title = William S. Burroughs Dies at 83; Member of the Beat Generation Wrote 'Naked Lunch' |first = Richard |last = Severo |date = August 3, 1997 |newspaper = [[The New York Times]] |url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DEED6123DF930A3575BC0A961958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all |access-date = October 22, 2007 }}</ref>