Tuesday, March 30: Mystery Masterclass
Donald J. Sobol is the Edgar-winning author of the phenomenal Encyclopedia Brown juvenile mystery series, which I first started to read back when they first came out in 1963. Each of the Encyclopedia Brown books features 10 short stories, each a mystery solved by the eponymous hero (or on occasion by his sidekick and bodyguard Sally Kimball), and following the formula Sobol established in his legendary Two-Minute Mysteries series, the solutions to the crimes are listed at the back of each book. There are twenty-five books in the series, the most recent having been published in 2007. About the time that book, Encyclopedia Brown Cracks the Case, came out, podcaster Eric Greenberg, who runs the website Just My Show (“the retro pop culture podcast”), conducted an interview with Mr. Sobol. Here it is. Be sure to check out the other podcasts available on Just My Show, which are completely free.
—JLW
ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN AND THE CASE OF THE MISSING PODCAST
Donald J. Sobol interviewed by Eric Greenberg
Oh my gosh! I had almost forgotten about Encyclopedia Brown! Spent a lot of time with that guy! Thanks for the memories!
I can still remember some of the clues in those stories. One involved a criminal visiting places in an impossibly short time, like Paris, Moscow, etc. our hero pointed out that they were all towns in Texas.
Clever mind, Mr. Sobol.
Has there ever been anything made of why Sobol rewrote (plagiarized) a bar fight story by Mike Royko in one of his books? The book was called the case of the dead eagles. The original story by Royko involved a bar owner establishing a record for “bouncing” the same patron several times in one night. I believe the original story was call “Sam Bounces to a Record” I don’t recall the original story title but much of the wording was identical.