Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Death of Donald Sobol

[Alex Forrest]

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/arts...obol_dead.html

Well, there isn't any case, but Mr. Sobol gave me soooo much reading pleasure in the 70s trying to figure out his EB plots. Between EB, Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew and was it Brain Boy (?) I went through the 70s looking for crime and suspicious activity and knowing that a small child could solve all these 'grown up' mysteries. I also became very suspicious and cynical at a young age. No one could get past me with a "I didn't murder this man, I was at the North Pole taking pictures of PENGUINS!" No sirree. hehe. I might be eight years old, but I got you.

Am I the only Sobol/EB lover here? Show some love, fellow Sobol fans.

RIP

[attyfan]

I loved the "Encyclopedia Brown" books when I was young, also. RIP, Mr. Sobol.

[Artemis@BC]

Well, there isn't any case, but Mr. Sobol gave me soooo much reading pleasure in the 70s trying to figure out his EB plots. Between EB, Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew and was it Brain Boy (?) I went through the 70s looking for crime and suspicious activity and knowing that a small child could solve all these 'grown up' mysteries. I also became very suspicious and cynical at a young age. No one could get past me with a "I didn't murder this man, I was at the North Pole taking pictures of PENGUINS!" No sirree. hehe. I might be eight years old, but I got you.

^^ This.

I derived a great deal of satisfaction from the Encylopedia Brown books in particular, feeling oh so clever when I figured out the puzzle.

RIP Donald Sobol, and thanks for entertaining whole generations of inquisitive children.

[Anemone]

Another fan here - it was always so satisfying when you figured it out & didn't have to go look at the back of the book!
I have recently been watching at the local secondhand bookstores to see if I can pick up some of these. I have nieces & nephews that will be ready/old enough to read these in a year or two and it would be nice to have some around.
It will be fun to pass on the fascination to a new generation.

RIP Mr. Sobol

[Prancer]

was it Brain Boy (?)

The Great Brain, maybe? Loved them all.

Encylopedia Brown was my first mystery series, but certainly not my last. RIP.

[IceAlisa]

I just discovered EB. My husband said it was one of his favorite books when he was little so we bought some for Mini's birhtday. I read one to Mini while he was soaking his abscess and it was way over his head. But I loved it!

[genevieve]

I loved Encylopedia Brown. I still remember one case where he determined that

Spoiler

the cello player had been lying about coming right from rehearsal because she was wearing a form fitting skirt - and the cello must be played while wearing pants or a full skirt

[Garden Kitty]

Another Encylopedia Brown fan here. Loved all the mystery series as a kid, but these were fun because they really encouraged you to participate.

[barbk]

Loved them. I wish D had liked them too, but they just didn't resonate with her. (In the same way that her Grandmother's favorite book -- a Newberry award winner from 1929 called "Hitty - Her First Hundred Years" -- did not work for either of us. Never even managed to finish it.)

[Alex Forrest]

The Great Brain, maybe? Loved them all.

Encylopedia Brown was my first mystery series, but certainly not my last. RIP.

Yes, that's it, and The Great Brain stories were much more intense and sophisticated. EB was kid's play to TGB. Thanks for reminding me.

I did go CRAZY on some of Sobol's answers to EB. I barely remember but there was a robbery at a diner, and a man and a woman were cross-dressed and the woman dressed as a man was against the wall in the diner, and that's how Sally (?) solved the case, because only a woman was placed against a wall in a diner, like it was common etiquette. I grew up in southern, western, and the man sat looking at the doorway. I always hated that one. No way does the man have his back to the doorway. I read Shane in fifth grade, that's just how it's done, sorry, EB.

Anyone else have any gripes on his solutions?

[AragornElessar]

Another Encylopedia Brown fan here. Loved all the mystery series as a kid, but these were fun because they really encouraged you to participate.

^^This big time!!

These books made you think and didn't talk down to kids like they were stupid idiots who weren't capable of figuring things out. That was part of their popularity IMO. Loved, loved, loved them and spent many a happy weekend curled up in the attic/playroom we had in the old house that was our weekend/summer "camp", and that this place has replaced, trying to figure out "Whodunit?"

I also heard during CTV National News that Kitty Wells passed away earlier today as well. Between these two and the passings of the last week, it just seems like so many of the people who were Stars/important in the Arts during my childhood are leaving us "en masse"

May Mr. Sobel rest in peace and thanks for the wonderful hours of enjoyment your books gave me and many others.

[MacMadame]

I love puzzles and was a big nerd so I was a big Encyclopedia Brown fan.