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By Gilbert B. Elwyn
My brother and I discovered recently that we have the same tradition: each Christmas we read a detective story that is set in the Yuletide season. Martha Grimes (Inspector Jury), Agatha Christie (Hercule Poirot), Colin Dexter (Inspector Morse) and Ellery Queen (Ellery Queen) are among the many notable authors and sleuths who have found novel-length crime at Christmas time.

Mark Twain had a marvelous line: “Ladies and gentlemen, I always hate to be introduced as one of the world’s great authors. Chaucer is dead. So is Milton and so is Shakespeare…and I’m not feelin’ very well myself.”
With that introduction, we move along to our discussion of the only author, to our knowledge, who has literary societies dedicated to not one, but two of his fictional creations. His name is Walter R. Brooks.

By Gilbert B. Elwyn
The name E.B. White, if it has any recognition value at all in 2008, is usually associated with any one of three of the best children’s books ever written: Charlotte’s Web, Trumpet of the Swan and Stuart Little. White had this in common with another favorite author of mine, Walter R. Brooks – he created interesting characters and plots, wrote peerless prose, and refused to demean his readers by writing down to them. Even if you’ve seen any of the screen adaptations (White was on …

By Gilbert B. Elwyn
From time to time, this column will serve to remind you of some of the authors of the past. Grand Master British author, Michael Gilbert, remains unknown to many mainstream readers.
Michael Gilbert specialized in mysteries that evoked the Great Britain of Hitchcock’s Caldicott and Charters; tea and cricket and a pint at the pub. He shared a legal background with John Mortimer and Henry Cecil and, like them, wrote best about that which he knew best, the British legal chambers.

By Gilbert B. Elwyn
We know them mainly from their visages staring at us form our money. Perhaps we have seen statues or sculptures. Then there are the stories – American lore – of George Washington and the cherry tree, Ben Franklin and his kite. But these are indeed the Founding Fathers of the United States.

By Gilbert B. Elwyn
If you love baseball, you will find this a great read. If you are disillusioned over salaries and steroids and strikes and no longer love baseball, you will find this a great read. If you know little or nothing about baseball and know exactly what you care to know about baseball, you will find this a great read.