RIP Donald J. Sobol - "Encyclopedia Brown" author

A note off your note - Was there ever a TV / movie adaption of it? If there wasn't, I'm guessing Sobol just didn't want to ever license his work in that way, a la Bill Waterson.

 

Yes, there was. It was on HBO, back when HBO was still producing children's programming.

 

I still remember from those books that squirrels always descend trees head first, they don't back down them.

As for sitting in restaurants, I understand the logic of letting the date sit with her back to the wall so as to "put her on display," as it were, but I learned from "Goodfellas" that you never sit with your back to the door.

Scorsese > Sobol, so the date gets to face the wall.

 

My father was a police officer and he would never sit with his back toward the majority of the restaurant. He always had to see what was going on.

 

Was Bugs actually David Stern? If you remember, Bugs rigged a game at the school fair by using a frozen ping-pong ball that he brought in a thermos. Hmm ...

 

Sad to hear this. I was also a huge Encyclopedia Brown fan. Nice to see my local Barnes and Noble still carries many of those books.
On a sad but related note, I couldn't find any "Choose Your Own Adventure" books at Barnes in my effort to introduce them to my kids.
I loved those things. I remember reading the different endings, picking the one I wanted, and then trying to choose my way to it.

 

My wife was surprised when I told her that note of good manners and told me that her father always sat facing the restaurant because he liked to people watch.