My wife and I are wrapping up our vacation in Seattle, heading back this morning. We caught what the locals say was their summer that never arrived, beautiful warm clear sunny weather. We went out a tour, yes, a three hour tour, to see the whales by San Juan Island and they put on a great show for us.
Last night, we checked off an item on our bucket list, attending a live performance / taping of Imagination Theater, perhaps the last vestige of radio drama as it was. You may remember that I'm a big fan of "Old Time Radio" and that my nom d'blog is taken from a 1937 radio serial. We saw them record an episode each of "The Adventures of Harry Nile" and "The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" that will air locally on WCCO 830 AM sometime in November. Imagination Theater is syndicated on over 100 radio stations nationwide, plus XM radio. They also sell CD sets of these productions.
As luck would have it, we encountered Mr. Sherlock Holmes himself, actor John Patrick Lowrie and two of the guest stars (one, the murderer!) in the parking lot afterward and struck up a wonderful conversation. Lowrie has just published his first book, Dancing with Eternity, which we bought in the lobby earlier. When he was first introduced my wife and I looked at each other. He didn't sound at all British. But his talent and training allow him to summon his Holmes persona at will. I've heard many actors portray Sherlock Holmes on radio, movies, and television. Basil Rathbone is probably still my favorite, but Lowrie is right behind him, ably assisted by great scripts from British writer M. (Matthew) J. Elliott.
It was great fun and also a reminder of what's so great and still so great about this country. Owner/producer Jim French, now in his 80's embodies that old maxim, find a job you like and you'll never work a day in your life.
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