Walter Hogan

August 3, 1999

Dear Mr. Pinkwater,

Please, who is Ken Kelman? And if he is a real person, did he actually have authorial involvement in The Confessions of Pinkwater?

Regarding Sherlock Holmes — First, I recently came across your wife’s book The Disappearance of Sister Perfect, which, your fans and hers may be interested in hearing, has a Sherlockian angle. A couple of things I especially liked about that book: the bag lady who wouldn’t leave without her parakeet, and the unremittant, unrepentent nastiness of Myra. I loved it that Myra didn’t undergo a phony transformation into a nice person.

Last, many of your fans may also be unaware that you wrote a hilarious Sherlock Holmes spoof, “Journal of a Ghurka Physician,” for Marvin Kaye’s Sherlockian anthology, The Game is Afoot (St. Martin’s, 1994.) I think it’s one of your most brilliant pieces. Have you done any other short stories for books edited by others?

Thanks,

Walter Hogan

1. He wrote it, if that's what you mean. 2. Jill is greater than I. 3. No.