GOOD GAD, HOLMES! The Viscount’s been garroted!
Well, he’s not really a Viscount, but he has been garroted.
A Sherlock Holmes expert has been weirdly murdered!
With shoelaces.
And a wooden spoon.
And left in a bed filled with Teddy Bears.
CLICK HERE FOR THE GRUESOME DETAILS!
This looks like a job for…
Scooby & the Gang!!!
Very wierd.
So were they the victim’s teddy bears, or were they left by the, er, perp?
I’m surprise he wasn’t killed by an air gun. Is there someone who thinks that he’s Professor Moriarty running around?
I’ve read some of the stuff he edited. I’m surpriosed that Green is only 50 – I’d have expected him to be much older.
From the first link:
“Coroner Paul Knapman said there was insufficient evidence to rule whether Green’s death on March 27 was murder, suicide or a mistake.”
A mistake?
Yeah, it’s very sad when the brain chemicals go off kilter. And, if recognized in time, it can be treated very effectively. Did paranoia cause him to commit suicide? The Inquest couldn’t tell, but I’m sure it didn’t help.
A bit of background – Although I did not know Richard Lancelyn Green very well, I met him a few times and he’s helped me with some research projects. In fact he copied me on an e-mail about 24 hours before his death. That’s a weird feeling. As you can probably tell from my sig, I’m a bit fanatic about Sherlock Holmes, and more so about Doyle’s other writings/activities. (Hobbies can be fun and gives one a place to dispose of disposable income.) Anyway, his death has affected a lot of us in the Sherlockian world and spawned a lot of e-mails and postings to other boards I frequent.
After hearing of his death I mentally composed a MPSIMS post about suicide, how it’s a bad idea, about people I know who’ve thought about or tried it, and how it can hurt those around the victims. But, life interfered and I didn’t make time to develop the post. It would have mostly been therapeutic for myself and I’ve worked thorough issues by talking with other friends.
Richard was incredibly nice. In spite of coming from wealth he did not put on airs and would, when possible, gladly help people with inquiries. Although I didn’t know him well enough to call him a friend, he was a friend to friends of mine. Granted, when one focuses so much on a particular subject, it can be viewed as obsessive, and to outsiders seem very strange. But he attained a world-wide reputation as a leading expert in a field (big fish in a small and possibly mundane pool) which is more than most of us will be able to say.
The results of the inquest, especially when read over the Internet from a distance, are peculiar to digest and had some strange revelations. As with most unexpected deaths, there are a lots of questions that linger. Was it suicide? If so, it was either spur of the moment or the build-up was well hidden. He was upset and likely paranoid in the weeks leading up to his death, but from what I’ve heard, did not say anything too worrisome. Was it enhancement during masturbation that went awry? (I forget the proper term for it, but every few years I read something about someone dying while cutting off oxygen flow during a solo act – but usually it’s teenage boys.) That would be the “mistake” referred to. Was it murder? No. (IMHO) There were a few people who did not like him, but this is Real Life and not fiction. And we can’t even call in Holmes to investigate.
Anyway, it is strange to see the details about his death reveal themselves. And I still mourn the loss of a truly nice person and the lost potential that is usually felt by a death that comes earlier than from ripe old age.
Mycroft: my condolences. No disrespect was intended in my post above.
twickster, Thank You and no offense (even remotely) taken. I confess that I wondered about the stuffed animals as well. Green was gay, but not in a queenly manner. I think they were his, otherwise I’m sure something would have been mentioned in the Inquest report.
It must have been very surreal for the police who were called in – a flat in London worth about 2 million Pounds, with a few million more in first edition books, manuscripts, holograph letters, photographs, a person dead of strange circumstances, and a bunch of bloody stuffed animals. Admittedly, I don’t know how much of his collection he had in London, and how much of it may have been elsewhere, but I’ve heard his collection described as possibly the most extensive devoted to a single author in private hands.
My post was not intended to solicit sympathy, or to pour cold water on a thread (although I guess I did). But I’m new here, I’ve really come to like the SDMB group, it’s a subject I actually know something about, and I thought I’d share some of my knowledge.
But, thanks again.
Please note (because someone in the other thread about R. L. G. made this mistake): Richard Lancelyn Green is not Roger Lancelyn Green. Roger L. G. was Richard L. G.'s father. Roger L. G. was a student of C. S. Lewis who co-authored a biography of Lewis.
Thanks for the clarification, Wendell, that was me who asked if he’d written about C.S. Lewis.