About the Authors
Anthony Boucher, pseudonym of William Anthony Parker White (1911–1968), was a prolific mystery author and Edgar Award–winning editor. Between 1942 and 1947 he worked for the San Francisco Chronicle as a mystery reviewer and also spent time writing for the New York Times. His short fiction has been published in many distinguished American fiction magazines, including Adventure, Black Mask, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Weird Tales, and many others. His short story “The Quest for Saint Aquin” was selected by the Science Fiction Writers of America as one of the best science fiction short stories of all time. In the 1940s, he was also involved in radio, hosting a show called Golden Voices and writing a number of Sherlock Holmes dramas. He also helped to create the Mystery Writers of America in 1946 and served as president in 1951.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) was born of Irish parentage in Scotland. He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, but he also had a passion for storytelling. His first book introduced that prototype of the modern detective in fiction, Sherlock Holmes. Despite the immense popularity Holmes gained throughout the world, Doyle was not overly fond of the character and preferred to write other stories. Eventually popular demand won out and he continued to satisfy readers with the adventures of the legendary sleuth. He also wrote historical romances and made two essays into pseudoscientific fantasy: The Lost World and The Poison Belt.
Nigel Bruce
(1895–1953) was a British character actor best known for playing bumbling
English aristocrats, high-society snobs, and military types. He played Dr. John
Watson to Basil Rathbone’s Sherlock Holmes in a number of films, as well as in
the classic radio show.
About the Narrators
Philip St. John Basil Rathbone (1892–1967) was a South African–born English actor. He rose to prominence in Britain as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in over seventy films. He was widely recognized for his many portrayals of Sherlock Holmes in a series of fourteen feature films made between 1939 and 1946.
Nigel Bruce
(1895–1953) was a British character actor best known for playing bumbling
English aristocrats, high-society snobs, and military types. He played Dr. John
Watson to Basil Rathbone’s Sherlock Holmes in a number of films, as well as in
the classic radio show.