Archive for the ‘detective’ Tag
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle died on July 7, 1940 in Sussex, England, of a heart attack. Six years and one month later I was born. Approximately 12 years later I read my first Sherlock Holmes story and saw my first Hollywood movie version starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. I’ve been hooked ever since. It wasn’t until I was stationed in Korea in the 60’s that I happened upon a complete volume of Sherlock Holmes Adventures in the boudoir of a young Korean women. Since she was unable to read English I took immediate possession of the book and read it so often I wore it out.
In the intervening years I’ve read the entire Holmes collection many times. After leaving Korea I joined the Pennsylvania State Police which also helped prepare me for my thirty years of investigative experiences. I’m not saying that Sherlock Holmes was my total inspiration for my career choice but I couldn’t begin to guess how many times when initiating an investigation I thought to myself, “Watson, the game is afoot”.
Sometimes it’s hard for me to differentiate between Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes. Holmes has always seemed much more real to me as he as does with most of his dedicated fans. The official-unofficial date of birth for Sherlock Holmes has been argued about for years but the general consensuses is January 4, 1854. That would make him 160 years old this month. That’s quite an accomplishment and life span for a fictional character who is widely recognized as the individual solely responsible for the worldwide development of forensics as a tool in criminal investigations.
Just recently I bought myself a new Kindle e-reader and the very first purchase I made was the complete collection of Sherlock Holmes Mysteries. That’s four complete novels and fifty eight short stories. It gives me a sense of security knowing that I have those stories readily available at a moments notice. This new e-reader is small and easily carried in my pocket and I can take Sherlock with me everywhere, now that we’re both retired.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHERLOCK
P.S. If you happen to be in Europe this month why don’t you swing by Riga, Latvia for the Sherlock Holmes birthday celebration.
Check it out at: Riga, Latvia Sherlock Holmes Birthday Festival
Are you one of those folks who loves celebrating birthdays? If you are you have my deepest sympathies. I’m not arrogant enough yet to believe that the world and it’s occupants really give a damn when I was born or for that matter when I die. I’ve never seen it as a special day and only send two or three birthday cards a year to family members because it’s the politically correct thing to do. I’d much rather celebrate the things they’ve done in their lives rather than the date randomly determined by the whims of their parents based on when they copulated. It’s a little like Christmas to me in that it’s more for the youngest of us to enjoy. In my opinion we should stop celebrating kid’s birthdays when they stop believing in Santa.
All that being said I’m celebrating in a few days what some folks consider to be the birthday of a fictional character that has taken on a life of his own. Happy Birthday to Sherlock Holmes. There’s no way to actually determine the birth date of Holmes no matter how hard some obsessed fans try but it seems January 6th is the date that’s been decided upon. As I said in the above paragraph the date isn’t all that important to me. This fact was obtained from surveysez.com and will help make my point.
- The total number of Americans who have ever lived: 558.1 million (558,097,837)
Take the number of Americans who’ve ever lived since 1776 and divide that by 365. That would roughly indicate 1,529,035 people born on your birthday. I readily admit it’s not an accurate figure but it does prove my point that the date really isn’t all that meaningful in and of itself.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created a character out of a need for money and it seemed to me, after reading about his life, he was quite the diva. When he tired of the Holmes character he killed him off without a thought and pursued more intellectual writings. It was too late to just walk away from Holmes as he soon found out. The fan base at the time raised so much hell he was forced to bring Holmes back to life with a lamely written explanation and proceeded to write many more Holmes mysteries.
I’ve never been a huge fan of Doyle but I’ve been captivated by the Holmes character since I was a kid. I’ve read every word written about the character, seen all the remakes, the movies (good, bad, or awful), and remain quite the fan. Even when the Law & Order program based Detective Goren’s (Criminal Intent) character on Holmes, I liked it a great deal.
Birthdays for us real people seem silly to me but a fictional character who has kept himself alive for decades deserves some recognition. Once again, Happy Birthday Sherlock!
everyuselessthing.com 