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<P class=Standard style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-GB><FONT
face="Times New Roman">Derek Coller noted biographer, writer and jazz critic
from the UK, Posed the following question. Anyone have an answer?
</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=Standard style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-GB><FONT
face="Times New Roman"></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=Standard style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-GB><FONT
face="Times New Roman">Bob Ringwald</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=Standard style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-GB><FONT
face="Times New Roman"></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=Standard style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-GB><FONT
face="Times New Roman">MURDER, SHE WROTE</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=Standard style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-GB><FONT
face="Times New Roman"></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=Standard style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-GB><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Is this the time for a little light relief, before the Spring
arrives?<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>A time to reveal my guilty
secret?</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=Standard style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-GB><FONT
face="Times New Roman"></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=Standard style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 24.6pt"><SPAN
lang=EN-GB><FONT face="Times New Roman">The long-running television series,
<I>Murder, She Wrote</I>, featured Angela Lansbury as mystery writer J.B.
Fletcher, the greatest amateur detective since Agatha Christie's heyday. During
2019, repeats of the series were shown as I was settling down to my evening
meal, with the result that I watched quite a few.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=Standard style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 24.6pt"><SPAN
lang=EN-GB><FONT face="Times New Roman"></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=Standard style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-GB><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>During one such viewing I realized that some of the characters had<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>names that sounded familiar.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>My memory is that there were at least
six such, all connected with the early Bob Crosby orchestra. I do recall Clark
Randall, Sterling Bose and Kay Weber.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=Standard style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 24.6pt"><SPAN
lang=EN-GB><FONT face="Times New Roman"></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=Standard style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 24.6pt"><SPAN
lang=EN-GB><FONT face="Times New Roman">Subsequently there were five other
episodes where I noted jazz connections. One had Edmond Hall and a detective
Gowans, another was set in Paris, with Hughes Panassie, Violet Bechet, Maxim
Soury (not Saury!), Lu Watters, Eva Taylor and Peter
Appleyard.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=Standard style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 24.6pt"><SPAN
lang=EN-GB><FONT face="Times New Roman"></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=Standard style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 24.6pt"><SPAN
lang=EN-GB><FONT face="Times New Roman">One episode with a baseball background
included Harry Dial, Pete Briggs, Al Sidell, Flip Phillips, and bandleaders
Freddie Masters and Mike Warlop. Another repeated these same names, except for
Johnny Eaton instead of Michael (Mike) Warlop. There was also a story set in New
Orleans, involving jazz musicians, though I failed to spot any familiar
names.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=Standard style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 24.6pt"><SPAN
lang=EN-GB><FONT face="Times New Roman"></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=Standard style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 24.6pt"><SPAN
lang=EN-GB><FONT face="Times New Roman">A quick check via Google found that
<I>Murder, She Wrote</I> ran for 264 episodes between 1984 and 1996. There is a
rather long list of all the actors who participated, with their photographs, and
their character names. A short sampling revealed a few more examples - Frances
Hunt, Boyce Brown, Larry Shields, Kim (!) Bechet, and Detective Bess
Stacy!</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=Standard style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 24.6pt"><SPAN
lang=EN-GB><FONT face="Times New Roman"></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=Standard style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 24.6pt"><SPAN
lang=EN-GB><FONT face="Times New Roman">Credits are usually difficult to read as
they unscroll, but the story editor is generally one Robert Swanson. So the
mystery here is, was Mr. Swanson the guilty party? Was he the enthusiast who
influenced the writers or was there a secret jazz collector hidden among them?
Who can unmask the culprit? Can we put J.B. Fletcher on the
case?</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=Standard style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 24.6pt"><SPAN
lang=EN-GB><FONT face="Times New Roman"></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=Standard style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 24.6pt"><SPAN
lang=EN-GB><FONT face="Times New Roman">Derek Coller</FONT></SPAN></P>
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