Burbank / Maxwell Grant: One and the same?

[Joseph Booth]

Could Burbank be Maxwell Grant, the mysterious author who pens the stories as told to him by the Shadow himself? Thoughts?
To me this makes sense. Although it never crossed my mind before it seems a natural. I was so fixated on the Shadow himself that I gave no consideration to who he may have trusted enough to relate his tales. Just an idea.

If this is something that has been brought up or even written about before, I apologize. I've just never heard it suggested.

[Joseph Booth]

"This is to certify that I have made careful examination of the manuscript known as 'The Living Shadow', as set down by my raconteur, Mr. Maxwell Grant, and do find it a true account of my activities upon that occasion. I have therefore arranged that Mr. Grant shall have exclusive privilege to such further of my exploits as may be considered of interest to the American people."
I recount this familiar statement to delve a bit deeper into MC Williams 'Dr. Watson' comment. I feel the same way, however the good doctor was in the stories themselves. Mr. Grant was not. Or was he? Thus my question remains, could M. Grant be Burbank, R. Mann or another recurring character with inside information. I find it hard to believe that The Shadow would sit back after an adventure and recount the details.

[Melvin Creston Williams]

As for myself, I always considered Mr. Maxwell Grant as a kind like Dr. John H. Watson. Or....., Perhaps Grant is an actual peudonym and Walter Gibson actually knew The Shadow well enough to be trusted to 'ghost' his exploits. As you say, it is, after all, all in fun. Only The Shadow Knows.

[Joseph Booth]

I posed this query to Anthony Tollin, asking if this had ever come to his attention and he replied "No. And BTW, Burbank is usually The Shadow's evening/nighttime contact agent. Daytime communications were normally handled by Rutledge Mann."
Could Mann be a second scribe? Does the M of Mann relate to "Maxwell" and the fact that Burbank is so reliable he is taken for "Grant"ed create our complete author?
Okay, of course this is all in fun, but if there can be various back stories for the ring, the Shadow's origin, etc., why not this? Ultimately, only The Shadow Knows.

[Kell Johnson]

It's a good question.

While I couldn't say for certain one way or the other, I find the idea could be possible, that Grant and Burbank could be the same.

We know that Burbank is the code name to the otherwise unknown contact-man that acts as the hub for the vast network of The Shadow. He's about as mysterious as the man in black himself, and highly trusted. He’s clever enough to trace transmissions, and has The Shadow’s personal line and general information on The Shadow’s locations during various cases. The Shadow even trusts Burbank enough, to essentially leave him in charge of his network during certain absences.

Maxwell Grant is the man to whom all these stories were related. One would imagine that in order to gain access to The Shadow, and his private collection of cases, Grant would have had to gain an immense level of trust with The Shadow.