# 'Encyclopedia Brown' author Donald Sobol dead at 87 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 16, 2012, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431 "2012-07-16T19:09:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/1 "2012-07-16T19:09:51Z")
[From the LA Times](http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2012/07/encyclopedia-brown-creator-donald-sobol-has-died.html): > [@](#): > > Donald Sobol, author of the beloved children’s book series “Encyclopedia Brown,” died Wednesday in Miami. He was 87. The Encyclopedia Brown series were some of my favorite books when I was a kid. I honestly hadn’t thought about them in twenty or so years, but I’m still a little sad to see him go. Godspeed, Mr. Sobol. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/2 "2012-07-16T19:21:29Z")
[insert Encyclopedia Brown pastiche, complete with spoilered mystery solution that quite possibly depends on erroneous information, here] (I actually would too, if I had the time.) ETA: And I would do it out of the utmost affection for all the entertainment he gave me as a kid, and for turning me on to the mystery genre. [rant]And I mean REAL mysteries with actual solvable solutions, not overwarmed crime suspense stories where the culprit is ass-pulled in the last twenty pages, and it doesn’t really matter to begin with.[/rant] ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/3 "2012-07-16T19:23:38Z")
I had loaded up the first twenty of his books to my Kindle a couple months ago and they’re great for long road trips. I was surprised to see that HBO had done an EB show and there was some interesting legal battle that the author got into about rights IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/4 "2012-07-16T19:24:00Z")
Has anyone checked Bugs Meany’s alibi? ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/5 "2012-07-16T19:25:38Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Has anyone checked Bugs Meany’s alibi? He claims he was in Antarctica, hunting polar bears. ---
**Author:** ![vislor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vislor/32/5933_2.png) [@vislor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vislor)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/6 "2012-07-16T19:30:00Z")
Darn. Loved EB and the Mad Scientist Club as a kid. Heck, I still had them until a recent book purge! So, that is quite sad to me. Funny on Bugs’ alibi! Awesome! I’m still mad after buying that sword from him that was engraved First Battle of Bull Run. Darn him!! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/7 "2012-07-16T19:39:43Z")
LOL about Bugs. RIP for Sobol - I really liked those stories as a kid, and just found out last year that Sobol was an alum of Oberlin College, as I am. ---
**Author:** ![3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/47e85d/32.png) [@3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3_20_59_or_bust)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/8 "2012-07-16T19:42:06Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > He claims he was in Antarctica, hunting polar bears. Bugs told me he was at the North Pole, studying penguins. If only there was some way to check his alibi…if only… ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/9 "2012-07-16T19:43:43Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > He claims he was in Antarctica, hunting polar bears. **How did Encyclopedia know Bugs was lying?** ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/10 "2012-07-16T19:45:31Z")
All I know is I didn’t do it. The knife blade still in Sobol’s back is longer than my missing knife’s blade. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/11 "2012-07-16T19:59:35Z")
> [@stpauler](#): > > All I know is I didn’t do it. The knife blade still in Sobol’s back is longer than my missing knife’s blade. **How did Encyclopedia know stpauler was the murderer?** ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/12 "2012-07-16T20:05:35Z")
I’d tell you, **terentii** , but before I confront **stpauler** , I’m going to make sure Sally is here. ---
**Author:** ![ScarletNumber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@ScarletNumber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ScarletNumber)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/13 "2012-07-16T20:26:12Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > **How did Encyclopedia know Bugs was lying?** Turn to page 87 for the answer. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/14 "2012-07-16T20:28:18Z")
> [@bup](#): > > I’d tell you, **terentii** , but before I confront **stpauler** , I’m going to make sure Sally is here. She was a feisty little babe, wasn’t she? 🙂 I loved Brinley’s Mad Scientists’ Club. Does anybody remember Alvin Fernald and Daphne? ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/15 "2012-07-16T20:31:40Z")
Man, I loved those books. I remember so many of those darn mysteries… ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/16 "2012-07-16T20:34:38Z")
I remember them too (I’m 34)! RIP Mr Sobol. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/17 "2012-07-16T20:41:39Z")
Is it true that his last meal was CHOICE COD? That’s what I read in my upside-down, mirror image newspaper this morning. ---
**Author:** ![Beastly\_Rotter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@Beastly\_Rotter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beastly_Rotter)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/18 "2012-07-16T20:47:39Z")
Drat that Bugs Meany and his counterfeit Civil War swords! ---
**Author:** ![Beastly\_Rotter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@Beastly\_Rotter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beastly_Rotter)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/19 "2012-07-16T21:08:03Z")
For the town miscreant, Bugs was a discriminating little bastard: no huffing paint and vandalising cemeteries for him; it was antiques forgery or nothing. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/20 "2012-07-16T21:20:35Z")
Bugs Meany has been found beaten to a pulp. Police are now looking for a lesbian named Sally. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431.md?page=2)