# '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:** 3
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/41 "2012-07-17T19:42:02Z")
Awww… ☹ I remember a few of the EB stories and I have the memory of a goldfish crossed with a colander. One where the “clue” was the bad guy leaning against the hood of a car that had supposedly driven a long time, and one involving a lobster that was bright red and thus had been boiled. OK, so I don’t remember them _that_ well. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/42 "2012-07-17T19:43:07Z")
> [@Beastly\_Rotter](#): > > For the town miscreant, Bugs was a discriminating little bastard: no huffing paint and vandalising cemeteries for him; it was antiques forgery or nothing. Actually, it was Wilfred Wiggins who was the swindler. Bugs Meany was a bully who was always stealing from the other children. That was usually in the second story in each collection. The third story was generally about him trying to frame our hero. I also enjoyed Sobol’s T_wo-Minute Mysteries_ series for slightly older kids, featuring Dr. Haledjian. They used many of the same clues as the Encyclopedia Brown books. Has anyone read Jay Russell’s _Brown Harvest_? It’s a parody of Encyclopedia Brown, in which he’s an adult. It’s hilarious, but definitely not for kids, due to language, violence, etc. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/43 "2012-07-17T20:32:28Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > Has anyone read Jay Russell’s _Brown Harvest_? It’s a parody of Encyclopedia Brown, in which he’s an adult. It’s hilarious, but definitely not for kids, due to language, violence, etc. I hadn’t heard of it but enjoyed the synopsis on Amazon. > **[Brown Harvest: Russell, Jay: 9781568582115: Amazon.com: Books](https://www.amazon.com/Brown-Harvest-Jay-Russell/dp/1568582110)** > > Brown Harvest \[Russell, Jay\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Brown Harvest I immediately recognized the title as a spoof on Hammett’s \*Red Harvest \*- sounds like it might be fun. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Evil\_Prince\_Zorte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@The\_Evil\_Prince\_Zorte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Evil_Prince_Zorte)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/44 "2012-07-17T23:38:05Z")
Those were some of my favorite stories, though I don’t remember them all that well. I mostly remember feeling cheated by one where EB solved it because he noticed a kid going to the drinking fountain a lot, which was likely due to having eaten a lot of salt. (Maybe the mystery was who ate all the chips or something). However at no point was this background action ever mentioned except in the solution. It had happened “off screen” so to speak, so there was no chance of solving the mystery myself because the reader hadn’t been given the vital clue. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/45 "2012-07-18T00:30:00Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Sobol can’t be dead - this obituary says he was kicked to death by a pregnant mule. Not long after Bugs was spotted by the paddock, looking weary and smoking a cigarette. ---
**Author:** ![Dunkelheit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dunkelheit/32/248_2.png) [@Dunkelheit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunkelheit)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/46 "2012-07-18T01:28:20Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > She was a feisty little babe, wasn’t she? 🙂 > > I loved Brinley’s Mad Scientists’ Club. Does anybody remember Alvin Fernald and Daphne? I don’t know who Brinley or the Mad Scientists are, but I have “The Marvelous Inventions of Alvin Fernald” by Clifford B. Hicks, copyright 1960. I love Alvin and Daphne. Did they show up in other stories? ---
**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 18, 2012, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/47 "2012-07-18T01:38:19Z")
> [@Dunkelheit](#): > > I don’t know who Brinley or the Mad Scientists are, but I have “The Marvelous Inventions of Alvin Fernald” by Clifford B. Hicks, copyright 1960. I love Alvin and Daphne. Did they show up in other stories? > **[Mad Scientists' Club: The Official Website](http://www.madscientistsclub.com/books.html)** [http://www.alvinfernald.com/](http://www.alvinfernald.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Dunkelheit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dunkelheit/32/248_2.png) [@Dunkelheit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunkelheit)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/48 "2012-07-18T01:55:46Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > [Mad Scientists' Club: The Official Website](http://www.madscientistsclub.com/books.html) > > [http://www.alvinfernald.com/](http://www.alvinfernald.com/) Thanks. I doubt I’ll be able to just stumble upon them in old used bookstores on this side of the pond. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/49 "2012-07-18T02:04:07Z")
Amazon UK in the book section. [Mad Scientist Club](http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=a9_sc_1?rh=i%3Astripbooks%2Ck%3Amad+scientist+club&keywords=mad+scientist+club&ie=UTF8&qid=1342576844) [Alvin Fernald](http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Alvin+fernald&x=0&y=0) ---
**Author:** ![goonhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ebca7d/32.png) [@goonhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/goonhead)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/50 "2012-07-18T02:15:52Z")
The flags in Idaville are at half-mast. Actually, I remember reading Encyclopedia Brown mysteries quite a lot. Each book described how his dad, the local chief of police, was awed at how his son could solve mysteries, and if it were up to him, a statue of him would be erected in the town square. Sally Kimball was “the prettiest girl in the fifth grade, as well as the best athlete.” Bugs Meany’s gang of ne’er-do-well types had some sort of name that escapes me, but the author/narrator would suggest they pick a more appropriate name, such as “The Tea Bags” (always getting in hot water) or “The Umbrella Carts” (always pulling something shady) There was also a mystery that Encyclopedia Brown could not solve, but Sally could, because the clue involved knowing something about female undergarments. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/51 "2012-07-18T02:19:00Z")
> [@goonhead](#): > > Bugs Meany’s gang of ne’er-do-well types had some sort of name that escapes me, but the author/narrator would suggest they pick a more appropriate name, such as “The Tea Bags” (always getting in hot water) or “The Umbrella Carts” (always pulling something shady) Heh, the alternate names for the Tigers were some of the best parts. (ETA: They were the Tigers, right? I haven’t read EB in a while). ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/52 "2012-07-18T02:23:39Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Heh, the alternate names for the Tigers were some of the best parts. > > (ETA: They were the Tigers, right? I haven’t read EB in a while). Yes. Anyone else think Bugs mellowed out, became a patent attorney and named his son Calvin? 😃 ETA: And Jim Croce documented Encyclopedia’s decent into a life of crime. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/53 "2012-07-18T02:38:00Z")
**Crimes solved. 25 cents a day (plus expenses). No case too small** I loved them too. I am trying to recall specific stories; can only come up with the right hand putting something in the left hand pocket (while running), and something involving spinning an egg to determine if it is raw or hard boiled. And I had completely forgotten than Encyclopedia’s real name was Leroy Brown. 😃 mmm ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/54 "2012-07-18T03:49:29Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > And I had completely forgotten than Encyclopedia’s real name was Leroy Brown. 😃 Somehow his encyclopedic self-education skipped over “ring on third finger left hand” = “wife of a jealous man.” :eek: ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/55 "2012-07-18T03:58:08Z")
Danny Dunn can kick Brown’s skinny ass - with Science. Seriously, I loved the Encyclopedia books when I was a boy. ---
**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 18, 2012, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/56 "2012-07-18T04:06:25Z")
> [@The\_Evil\_Prince\_Zorte](#): > > Those were some of my favorite stories, though I don’t remember them all that well. I mostly remember feeling cheated by one where EB solved it because he noticed a kid going to the drinking fountain a lot, which was likely due to having eaten a lot of salt. (Maybe the mystery was who ate all the chips or something). However at no point was this background action ever mentioned except in the solution. It had happened “off screen” so to speak, so there was no chance of solving the mystery myself because the reader hadn’t been given the vital clue. The one that irked me as a kid was a story where a person was supposedly underwater, breathing through a long hollow tube (something like 4’ or 6’ long). The inconsistency was apparently that you’d suffocate if you tried to do that because you’d just end up breathing your own carbon dioxide after a while. How is any little kid supposed to guess that?? ---
**Author:** ![goonhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ebca7d/32.png) [@goonhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/goonhead)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/57 "2012-07-18T05:04:10Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Heh, the alternate names for the Tigers were some of the best parts. > > (ETA: They were the Tigers, right? I haven’t read EB in a while). The Wikipedia page for the series verifies they were called The Tigers. Also, it appears Sobol’s mother was named Ida, making her the probable inspiration for the fictional setting of the series. ---
**Author:** ![goonhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ebca7d/32.png) [@goonhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/goonhead)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/58 "2012-07-18T05:23:01Z")
A site where someone has deconstructed many Encyclopedia Brown mysteries. [http://http://brownencyclopedia.tumblr.com/](http://http://brownencyclopedia.tumblr.com/) ---
**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 18, 2012, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/59 "2012-07-18T05:46:09Z")
> [@goonhead](#): > > A site where someone has deconstructed many Encyclopedia Brown mysteries. [The real **goonhead** would never have made a mistake with his coding](http://brownencyclopedia.tumblr.com/) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/60 "2012-07-18T06:14:16Z")
> [@goonhead](#): > > A site where someone has deconstructed many Encyclopedia Brown mysteries. > > [http://http://brownencyclopedia.tumblr.com/](http://http://brownencyclopedia.tumblr.com/) Turn to page 89 to find out how Encyclopedia knew that wasn’t a real link. Page 89: Random info about the Hypertext Transfer Protocol. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431.md?page=4)