GREEN, Richard Lancelyn (Gordon) 1953-2004

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born July 10, 1953, in Bebington, Cheshire, England; died March 27, 2004, in London, England. Collector and author. During his lifetime, Green amassed one of the largest existing collections of manuscripts and memorabilia related to the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, about whom he also published extensively. Becoming interested in Holmes and his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, at the young age of eleven when he attended his first meeting of the Sherlock Holmes Society, Green quickly became obsessed with this subject. Attending Bradford College from 1966 to 1971, and earning a master's degree from University College, Oxford, in 1975, Green would hold a number of different jobs in his lifetime, including as an editor, researcher, and even as a surveyor's assistant, but his principal focus remained Sherlock Holmes. He collected books and original manuscripts by Doyle, as well as writings by other authors relating to Holmes, and memorabilia that included simulated artifacts once "owned" by the characters, such as Dr. Watson's army revolver and a copy of the notice announcing the end of the Red-Headed League. Green managed to earn an income from his obsession by editing works such as Arthur Conan Doyle on Sherlock Holmes (1981) and Doyle's The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1993), as well as collaborative efforts with John Michael Gibson that include My Evening with Sherlock Holmes (1981) and The Unknown Conan Doyle: Uncollected Stories (1982). In 1984, Green earned an Edgar Allan Poe Award, with Gibson, for his 1983 work A Bibliography of A. Conan Doyle. The chair of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London from 1996 to 1999, Green had hopes of writing an authoritative, three-volume biography on Doyle, but his plans were frustrated by his inability to gain access to the author's private papers, which remained inaccessible to the public because of rights disputes. Nevertheless, Green's substantial archives of research material will likely become a useful resource to Doyle scholars for many years to come.

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Daily Post (London, England), April 12, 2004, p. 11.

Independent (London, England), April 8, 2004, p. 34.