December 1 marks the 125th anniversary of the birth of Rex Stout, the creator of Nero Wolfe (and Archie Goodwin, and Fritz Brenner, and Theodore Horstmann, and Inspector Cramer, and Saul Panzer...the list goes on).
While it's a little difficult to sing "Happy Birthday" to Stout himself, the rest of us can celebrate in some appropriate fashion. This coming weekend marks the annual Black Orchid Weekend festivities in New York, with a book discussion, assembly, banquet and brunch. The banquet features a couple of significant awards to mystery writers - and a great deal of fun for all the attendees, with remarks by the guest speaker, Al Roker.
Rex Stout remains one of my favorite authors. I read and reread the Nero Wolfe books (as well as the few standalones featuring other detectives - Inspector Cramer, Dol Bonner, Alphabet Hicks and Tecumseh Fox) with some regularity. They are always enjoyable. For me, the plots (which I know though sometimes forget) are far less important than the characters and the settings, and I never tire of them. If you haven't read any yet, may I suggest that this Black Orchid Weekend would be a good time to get started?
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