From Well Beyond the Grave

Wow! I never thought I’d actually see Sir Arthur Conan Doyle speaking on film, even though I knew that he lived until 1930--a time when filmmaking was being popularized. But earlier today I stumbled across James Bickers’ Sherlockiana site, and there found this 10-minute clip of the old Scotsman talking about how and why he created Sherlock Holmes (with reference to his former university professor, Joseph Bell, “who was extraordinarily quick at deductive work”); why he continued writing the Holmes adventures, even after he began to lose interest in the character (“I’ve written a good deal more about him than I ever intended to do, but my hand has been rather forced by kind friends who continually wanted to know more”); and finally, “how I came to have psychic experiences and take so much interest in that question.” A genuine thrill!