# '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:** 16\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/61 "2012-07-18T11:32:03Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > 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. Hah. Another case where the author gets it wrong, then: ([URL - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_resource_locator)) syntax is entirely independent of HTTP or any other specific protocol it can specify. ---
**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, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/62 "2012-07-18T12:29:46Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > Danny Dunn can kick Brown’s skinny ass - with Science. > > Seriously, I loved the Encyclopedia books when I was a boy. I’ve had a couple of the Danny Dunn books as well: The Homework Machine, The Smallifying Machine and the one where they accidentally end up in space. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/63 "2012-07-18T14:10:53Z")
Man I loved these books as a kid. It was a joy to discover that Donald Sobol was still alive and writing when my own son was born. I was delighted that my son enjoyed those mysteries as much as I did. Thank you and RIP , Mr. Sobol. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/64 "2012-07-18T14:15:23Z")
Just posted on EBay: \*\*"Dear Friends and Fellow Encyclopedia Brown Fans: If you loved Leroy “Encyclopedia” as much as I did, you’ll definitely want this valuable collectable item: a letter written and signed by the Great Detective himself. It reads:\*\* - ``` June 31, 1970 ``` Dear Sally, ``` Thank you so much for your invaluable assistance in foiling Bug's Meany's latest scheme. ``` Sincerely, Leroy." \*\*\*I know fans will gladly pay a lot of money for such a find! How much will you bid? -Wilfrid Wiggins\*\* How Does Astorian Know the Letter Is a Fake? ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/65 "2012-07-18T15:16:56Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Just posted on EBay: > > How Does Astorian Know the Letter Is a Fake? Because I have the original letter. I got it in exchange for 10 pregnant Monarch caterpillars. And you got the date wrong – it’s actually February 29, 1900. ---
**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, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/66 "2012-07-18T15:20:24Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Just posted on EBay: > > \*\*"Dear Friends and Fellow Encyclopedia Brown Fans: > > If you loved Leroy “Encyclopedia” as much as I did, you’ll definitely want this valuable collectable item: a letter written and signed by the Great Detective himself. It reads:\*\* > > - > > ``` > June 31, 1970 > > ``` > > Dear Sally, > > ``` > Thank you so much for your invaluable assistance in foiling Bug's Meany's latest scheme. > > ``` > > Sincerely, > > Leroy." > \*\*\*I know fans will gladly pay a lot of money for such a find! How much will you bid? > > -Wilfrid Wiggins\*\* > > How Does Astorian Know the Letter Is a Fake? Because Encyclopedia never went by his given name. Only his parents called him “Leroy”. ---
**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, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/67 "2012-07-18T15:32:15Z")
_**"You call me names, my strength you doubt. Now pardon me while I knock you out!"**_ ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/68 "2012-07-18T22:17:25Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Alvin Fernald was a series similar to Encyclopedia Brown; Daphne was his little sister (“The Pest”) who always managed to insinuate herself into his adventures. He also had a best friend named Shoie; Alvin was a boy inventor and the brains of the outfit, Shoie was the athletic muscle. > > The two books I particularly remember are where they were learning about cryptography, and when they went to Europe. There was also one where some old woman was being held prisoner by her son, I think, though I may be conflating that with the first one. > > [http://www.alvinfernald.com/](http://www.alvinfernald.com/) > > There was another book I particularly liked called _Project: Genius_, and one called _Andy Buckram’s Tin Men_. The kids in these books always seemed to be leading much more interesting lives than I ever would… ☹ Wow, did you just give me a memory shiver. I loved Alvin Fernald (“Superweasel!”) when I was a kid, and _none_ of my adult friends remembers those books. I think I read the story about pollution, where he and his gang put polluted water into a recirculating fountain in the lobby of the offending corporation, and the one about cryptography. As far as EB, he’s the reason I know an upside-down American flag is a distress signal and that people don’t necessarily fall backwards when they faint. I actually solved the First Battle of Bull Run sword mystery without having to look at the answer; but I got the solution from the wrong clue. I was a Civil War nut then, and I knew Confederate soldiers called it “The Battle of Manassas”. When I turned to Sobol’s more logical solution - soldiers wouldn’t have called it the _First_ Battle of Whichever until after the _Second_ had occurred - I experienced the first of many face-palms in my life. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/69 "2012-07-19T04:02:07Z")
> [@goonhead](#): > > dad, the local chief of police, was awed at how his son could solve mysteries, There was an unsuccessful series starring Encyclopedia’s dad, called _Whodoughnut_… ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/70 "2012-07-19T13:52:11Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Just posted on EBay: > > \*\*"Dear Friends and Fellow Encyclopedia Brown Fans: > > If you loved Leroy “Encyclopedia” as much as I did, you’ll definitely want this valuable collectable item: a letter written and signed by the Great Detective himself. It reads:\*\* > > - > > ``` > June 31, 1970 > > ``` > > Dear Sally, > > ``` > Thank you so much for your invaluable assistance in foiling Bug's Meany's latest scheme. > > ``` > > Sincerely, > > Leroy." > \*\*\*I know fans will gladly pay a lot of money for such a find! How much will you bid? > > -Wilfrid Wiggins\*\* > > How Does Astorian Know the Letter Is a Fake? Easy. Encyclopedia Brown always used apostrophes correctly. I used to love those books, but I remember thinking the solutions were getting lame as I started to grow out of them. In one story, EB knew Bugs was lying based on the fact that Bugs put his mustard on top of the sauerkraut when assembling his hot dog. “No one who like hot dogs does that.” What a sad day that was. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/71 "2012-07-19T15:50:56Z")
I just had an Encyclopedia Brown moment this morning. My wife was trying to buy helium balloons for my daughter’s birthday. The store she went to was out of helium, and the sales clerk told her “There was a big helium tank explosion, causing a shortage.” _ **How did muldoonthief know the sales clerk was lying?** _ ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/72 "2012-07-19T17:05:31Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > I just had an Encyclopedia Brown moment this morning. My wife was trying to buy helium balloons for my daughter’s birthday. The store she went to was out of helium, and the sales clerk told her “There was a big helium tank explosion, causing a shortage.” > > _ **How did muldoonthief know the sales clerk was lying?** _ Helium is an intert gas and won’t explode. ---
**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 19, 2012, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/73 "2012-07-19T17:13:04Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > Helium is an intert gas and won’t explode. No … but the tank could have been pressurized beyond the limits of its structural integrity. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/74 "2012-07-19T17:25:18Z")
I was looking at a newer edition of an EB book last night and was surprised to learn that the answers in the back are no longer in mirror image type. That was always part of the fun, at least with the editions that were out when I was a kid. ---
**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 20, 2012, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/75 "2012-07-20T01:05:00Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Hah. Another case where the author gets it wrong, then: ([URL - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_resource_locator)) syntax is entirely independent of HTTP or any other specific protocol it can specify. Yay! Someone got one of my jokes! ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431/76 "2012-07-20T04:08:39Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > I just had an Encyclopedia Brown moment this morning. My wife was trying to buy helium balloons for my daughter’s birthday. The store she went to was out of helium, and the sales clerk told her “There was a big helium tank explosion, causing a shortage.” > > _ **How did muldoonthief know the sales clerk was lying?** _ He wasn’t talking like Donald Duck? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encyclopedia-brown-author-donald-sobol-dead-at-87/628431.md?page=3)