Happy birthday, Grant Allen, August Derleth, and Rupert Holmes.

February 24th proves to be a popular day for mystery birthdays.

The pioneering Grant Allen (seen at left) was born on this day in 1848. He died in 1899. He achieved a certain level of notoriety with his novel The Woman Who Did (1895), which advocated free love. Some of his better known mystery works are An African Millionaire (1897), Miss Cayley's Adventures (1899), and Hilda Wade (completed by his friend Arthur Conan Doyle, 1900), the latter two featuring early female detectives.

August Derleth, well known for his science fiction, works of the macabre, and admiration for H.P. Lovecraft but also author of a number of Sherlock Holmes pastiches featuring Solar Pons, was born today in 1909. He died in 1971.

And mystery author Rupert Holmes, Tony-winning composer of The Mystery of Edwin Drood and forever dubbed the "Pina Colada guy" for his hit song "Escape," turns 60 today. His latest novel is Swing, featuring a 1940s jazz musician who is implicated in a murder.

Happy birthday, Sax Rohmer.

British author Sax Rohmer, aka Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward, was born on February 15, 1886. He died in 1959. His nefarious creation, Dr. Fu Manchu, made his debut in "The Zayat Kiss" in 1912.

Bon anniversaire, Georges Simenon.

Belgian mystery author Georges Simenon, creator of Inspector Maigret, was born on February 13, 1903. He died in 1989. Penguin is reprinting several of his novels, including The Hotel Majestic and The Bar on the Seine, and you can catch Maigret on the MhZ Networks.

Happy birthday, Jerry Goldsmith.

Noted film and TV composer Jerry Goldsmith was born on February 10, 1929. He died in 2004.

A student of legendary film composer Miklos Rozsa, Goldsmith possesses considerable credits, including the theme for The Man from U.N.C.L.E., the Star Trek films, Hoosiers, The Planet of the Apes, The Sand Pebbles, and most of all for mystery fans, Barnaby Jones, L.A. Confidential, The List of Adrian Messenger, Police Story, and Chinatown. I'll be playing some excerpts from the Chinatown soundtrack and Man from U.N.C.L.E. on the February 12th broadcast of "It's a Mystery" in Goldsmith's honor.

"Au revoir, play-actor!"

Lawyer and Parliamentary candidate Sir Anthony Hope-Hawkins, better known as British novelist Anthony Hope, was born on February 9, 1863. He died in 1933.

Hope's best-known work is probably that swashbuckling tale of political intrigue, The Prisoner of Zenda, with its far-fetched yet engaging scenario of identical cousins (cue "Patty Duke Show" music here), one a commoner and the other a king, pitted against the nefarious Prince Michael and Rupert of Henzau (boo, hiss). It was a smash bestseller when published in 1894, which generated a congratulatory telegram to the author from Robert Louis Stevenson.

There were three silent-film Zendas before the beloved 1937 film with Ronald Colman, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and Madeleine Carroll. It was filmed again, less successfully, in 1952 with Stewart Granger, Deborah Kerr, and James Mason, and its premise was also seen in the 1993 movie Dave with Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver, and Frank Langella.

I plan to play part 1 of a radio production of "The Prisoner of Zenda" on the February 12th broadcast of my radio show "It's a Mystery." It stars Ronald Colman, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and C. Aubrey Smith. "It's a Mystery" airs at 11 AM ET on Mondays and is Webcast here.

Deadly Periodicals.

The world of mystery periodicals is a small one, and those involved in it can often talk about unusual things. I once had an enthusiastic conversation with an editor colleague about copyediting styles, only to look up to find his wife, mystery author Kate Charles, and fellow scribe Dean James regarding us as if we each had sprouted two new heads.

Kate Stine, editor-in-chief of Mystery Scene magazine, has more on her mind these days than properly placed semicolons. In an interview with Julia Buckley, Kate talks about Mystery Scene's effort to contribute to the library rebuilding effort after Hurricane Katrina, what's involved in editing a 5x/year magazine, her favorite mystery reading, and more.

Full disclosure: I'm a consulting editor for Mystery Scene and write for the magazine. You can read my review of Margaret Coel's The Drowning Man here.

Happy birthday, Margaret Millar.

Author Margaret Millar, the wife of Lew Archer creator Ross Macdonald, was born on February 5, 1915. She died in 1994. Millar won an Edgar for Beast in View in 1956; other notable works include How Like an Angel and Beyond This Point are Monsters.

Stark House Press has reprinted Millar's novels An Air that Kills and Do Evil in Return, and Crippen and Landru has published a collection of her short stories. Stay tuned for the spring 07 issue of Clues: A Journal of Detection, which is a theme issue focusing on Millar's work.

Happy birthday, Anya Seton.

Bestselling historical novelist Anya Seton was born on January 23, 1904, the daughter of writer (and Boy Scouts cofounder) Ernest Thompson Seton and travel writer and suffragist Grace Gallatin Seton. She died in 1990.

Her best-known works are probably Katherine, Dragonwyck (made into a 1946 film with Gene Tierney and Vincent Price), Green Darkness, and The Winthrop Woman.

Happy birthday, Patricia Highsmith.

Patricia Highsmith, author of Strangers on a Train and The Talented Mr. Ripley, among many other works, was born today in 1921. She died in 1995.

If I can reach WEBR okay on Monday (snow is in our forecast), I plan to play on my radio show "It's a Mystery" a production of Strangers on a Train that features Ray Milland and later Andrea Doria survivor Ruth Roman. "It's a Mystery" is broadcast Mondays at 11A ET and is Webcast here.

For more information on Highsmith, see Andrew Wilson's biography, Beautiful Shadow.

Happy birthday, A. A. Milne.

A. A. Milne, the creator of Winnie the Pooh, was born on January 18, 1882. He died in 1956.

A mystery fan, Milne is known for the country house novel The Red House Mystery (1922), which Alexander Woolcott called "one of the three best mystery stories of all time." Having read it, I think this is somewhat less than the truth, particularly for Milne's annoying habit of stepping out of third-person narration to indulge in "nudge, nudge, wink, wink, isn't this fun" behavior with the reader. Milne also said in his nonfiction collection If I May that inventing exotic poisons and so forth was perfectly okay when writing a mystery novel, a point of view that irritated Raymond Chandler, who believed in fair play with the reader. In his landmark essay "The Simple Art of Murder," Chandler analyzes Red House and concludes regarding Milne's book, "He is up against a number of deadly things, none of which he even considers."

Happy birthday, Michael Bond.

British author Michael Bond, beloved for his creation of Paddington Bear, turns 81 today. In mysterydom, Bond is known for his hilarious series featuring Guide Michelin critic and sleuth Monsieur Pamplemousse and his faithful if somewhat bemused dog Pommes Frites. M. Pamplemousse's latest mysterious outing is Monsieur Pamplemousse and the Militant Midwives. Bond received an OBE in 1997 for his contributions to children's literature.

I once tried to convince Bond to write a short story featuring Paddington as "Hercule Bearot," to which he replied, "The mind boggles." Instead, he wrote "Monsieur Pamplemousse Tells the Tale," which appears in Malice Domestic 7.

Bond's vastly entertaining memoir Bears and Forebears talks about his work at the BBC and his writing career, including one of the funniest accounts of an out-of-control author tour.

Happy birthday, Wilkie Collins.

Wilkie Collins, often credited as the author of the first full-length novel of detection (The Moonstone, 1868), was born 183 years ago today. A friend and literary colleague of Dickens, Collins's contributions to the mystery genre are considerable. In addition to The Moonstone, his mystery works include The Law and the Lady , The Woman in White, No Name, "The Diary of Anne Rodway," and "A Stolen Letter."

It's good to see the considerable, sustained interest in Collins's work. You can read Janice Allan's analysis of The Law and the Lady in the fall 06 issue of Clues: A Journal of Detection. Adaptations of The Woman in White include a 1997 film with Tara Fitzgerald as Marian Halcombe and Simon Callow as the evil Count Fosco (boo, hiss); an excellent BBC radio production with Maggie Smith's son Toby Stephens as Walter Hartright; and a short-lived musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber with Michael Crawford as Count Fosco. Moonstone adaptations include a superb audio version produced by Recorded Books and a 1996 film starring Greg Wise and Keeley Hawes.

Today's broadcast of my radio show "It's a Mystery" will include a radio production of Collins's The Moonstone, which features one of my favorite characters in literature: the butler Betteredge, who lives his life by Robinson Crusoe (others single out the religious-tract-wielding Miss Clack). It's been gratifying to hear from both Collins fans and scholars from as far away as the United Kingdom and Canada that they plan to listen in. "It's a Mystery" airs at 11A ET on Mondays and is Webcast here.

For more on Collins, visit the Wilkie Collins Society Web site.

Happy birthday, Frank Langella.

Frank Langella turned 69 today. Recent outings for the actor include roles as Perry White in Superman Returns (2006) and as William S. Paley in George Clooney's Good Night and Good Luck (2005).

Mystery fans know his appearances as Sherlock Holmes (1981, HBO) and his previous incarnation as the Great Detective at the Williamstown (MA) Theater festival; the managing partner on Capitol Law (2006); a janitor from New Jersey (Langella's home state) in a Law & Order: SVU episode; and his celebrated portrayal of Dracula on Broadway and in John Badham's film (1979).

Gerald R. Ford, 1913-2006.

I began this new year with a trip to the Capitol Rotunda to pay my respects to the late President Ford, who is lying in state until 6 pm tonight. I was a child when he was sworn in as the 38th president but well remember the sense of bewilderment and disillusionment of the time. Would we be alright after Watergate?

Then this plainspoken, thoughtful Midwesterner asked humbly for his fellow citizens' prayers in his inaugural address and went on to provide calm and decisive leadership during his term. His pardon of Nixon, I think, was the right decision; otherwise, it would have been Nixon 24/7, and the business of the country could not have been conducted.

In addition, it was Mr. Ford who signed legislation that permitted women to enter the U.S. military academies.

Happy birthday, Jane Langton.

Jane Langton, the creator of detective and scholar Homer Kelly, turns 84 today. She published her first novel, a children's book, in 1961. Notable books in her long career include the Edgar-nominated Emily Dickinson Is Dead (1984), the Edgar-nominated The Diamond in the Window (1962), and Steeplechase (2005).

The Firsts.

In the rush to compile "Best Mysteries of 2006" lists, the first mystery novel often is overlooked. Here are three that I enjoyed in 2006:

• Murder 101, by Maggie Barbieri (St. Martin's). A lively academic mystery with a young professor and bon mots such as "Our school has a motto: Keep your alumni close and your rich alumni closer."
  

• Billy Boyle, by James R. Benn (Soho). An interesting look at the Norwegian contribution to WWII with a Boston Irish cop-turned-soldier who is related to General Eisenhower.
  

• Still Life, by Louise Penny (St. Martin's). A wise and often lyrical mystery set in Quebec that involves the murder of an artist and its effect on a small town.
  

And you can listen to interviews with these authors on my "It's a Mystery" Web page.

Submitted for your approval...

Happy belated birthday to the creator of the "Twilight Zone," Rod Serling, born on December 25, 1924. He died in 1975. His numerous accomplishments include screenplays for "Patterns," "Requiem for a Heavyweight," "Seven Days in May," and "Planet of the Apes."

Rod Serling is one of my personal writing heroes for his crackling dialogue, twist endings, and superb handling of dramatic situations. Watching TZ now reveals the rampant fears of nuclear war and of technology taking over man. One favorite episode of mine (written by Serling) is "Twenty-two," in which a hospital patient has a recurring nightmare of following a figure down empty corridors to Room 22, and a gothic horror of a nurse emerges and says, "Room for one more, honey."

Room 22 is the morgue.

Do-do-do-doo...

To hear Serling deny in an interview with Mike Wallace that he would not engage in social issues in TZ is to laugh. As a teacher, he encouraged numerous fledgling writers, including mystery authors Sharan Newman and Sue Henry.

You can listen to clips from the Wallace interview and "Submitted for Your Approval," the "American Masters" program on Serling, here. Join the effort to put Serling on a U.S. postage stamp here.

Book TV.

I'm a fan of C-Span's Book TV (although I'm partial to the history rather than the more politically oriented programs). This weekend's schedule included a look behind the New York Times Book Review with editor Sam Tenenhaus, copy editors, and other assorted staff, and I'm happy to say that some of their desks look worse than mine. Be sure to look at the entire room filled with ARCs that the NYTBR is not going to review.

Go here to watch online.

Happy birthday, Robert Barnard.

Diamond Dagger recipient Robert Barnard turns 70 on November 23rd. Maggie Topkis at Felony & Mayhem Press has recently reissued his Out of the Blackout, and his latest novel from Scribner is Dying Flames.

My favorite Barnard novels are A Scandal in Belgravia (with its superb twist ending) and Death of a Mystery Writer. In my interview with Barnard for "It's a Mystery," he revealed the model for the simply dreadful individual who gets (deservedly) bumped off in Death of a Mystery Writer: Evelyn Waugh.

Photo credit: Noel Barnard

Dear Author.

I was reading something in the blogosphere that mentioned fan mail to authors, and it reminded me of the first time I sent a fan letter to a writer.

The recipient was George C. Chesbro, and the book was Shadow of a Broken Man (1977), in which he introduced Robert "Mongo" Frederickson, dwarf, former circus performer, genius criminologist, and PI. I was a teenager at the time, gobbling up Christie, Queen, Stout, and numerous other mystery authors, and I greatly enjoyed Mongo's considerable talents and his touching relationship with his brother. In those pre-email days, I sent off a letter in care of the publisher stating how much I liked the book and that I tended to forget that Mongo was a dwarf because of his many skills. How startled I was to receive a postcard from Chesbro, telling me "Alas, like the rest of us, Mongo has to manage with what he has" and a little about the next book in the series (City of Whispering Stone). Touched that Chesbro had taken the time to respond, I kept the postcard for years.

We tend to forget the impact that books can have beyond their entertainment value. I think of the fan who told Anne Perry that her novels helped her through ovarian cancer. I think of a woman who was choosing books on tape in the library for a bedridden elderly person whose greatest pleasure was listening to mysteries. I think of the 10-year-old fan of Elizabeth Peters whose mother helped her to make a toolbelt so she could "play Amelia Peabody" in the backyard. I myself have received some kind emails about my own work, invariably prefaced by "I hope I'm not bothering you." I think of the entire community out there, readers and writers, in ongoing, dynamic, often silent dialogue with each other, many outside the world of the Internet, and am staggered.