Old Friends

by Rick Blechta

First off, I’m referring to books as old friends in this post, and readers, all of us have these I’m sure. You know the sort of book you reach for when you’re sick or depressed, the ones that have a real resonance for you, the book that would accompany you to a desert island. These are the sort of books that you can slip into like a pair of comfortable slippers.

In the case of crime fiction, those old friends might come from a very large family. With Sherlock Holmes, or Miss Marple or any number of series, you could be sick for several months (God forbid!) and still have lots of reading material.

This past summer, in casting around for audio books to listen to on one of our many trips to the New York City area, I stumbled on a webpage with all thirteen of the Nero Wolfe radio plays produced in 1982 by the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation). Gold mine!

Starring Canadian actors Mavor Moore as Wolfe and Don Francks as Archie Goodwin (and they are both utterly fabulous in their roles), the plays were fully dramatized and had terrific casts made up of acting veterans of the day. When they were first broadcast, I can remember hurrying our two sons to bed so I could give my undivided attention every week when the next one was on the air. These dramas are something I’ve remembered so fondly for many years. Around 1998 I actually contacted CBC to find out if they were available for sale. No dice. While they apparently were available from a company called DH Audio, they no longer seem to be available. (I’d be more than happy to purchase them, so if you happen to discover where I can do that, please let me know.)

But here’s the bottom line on this one. My “old friend” is available as free listening (or downloading if you know how to do it) from this website: https://archive.org/details/NWolfeCBC. Give a listen if you will.

Who knows? You may find a new “old friend.”