Recent A|amp|E series recalls days of Nero Wolfe

For good reasons the Rusty Saber has never featured literary critiques. With the possible ex-ception of the one year I taught high school English and literature, no one ever looked to me as a literary maven.

Truth be told, I probably didn't pique their interest enough for them to ask the questions that would have exposed my ignorance.

I probably shouldn't be treading where I am about to tread. But I'll tread anyway. I recently rediscovered some literary characters and their creator from my growing-up days.

I first discovered private detectives Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin on an old-time radio mystery series. I still recall a part of the program's introduction where an announcer with a baritone voice described Wolfe weighing himself: " ... and he tips the scales at 303."

Nero Wolfe was a massive man, a genius who solved crimes while rarely leaving his three-story New York City mansion. Archie Goodwin was his assistant, who actually did the detective work that dug up the clues allowing Wolfe to miraculously solve cases.

From the radio program I learned that Rex Stout was the creator of the characters I followed on the radio. Curious young fellow that I was, I read the few Nero Wolfe books in the library.

It was fascinating to read about characters I was following on the radio. Since I was such a curious young fellow, I grew curious about something else and eventually forgot about Rex Stout, Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin until much, much later.

Recently the Arts & Enter-tainment Network presented an exceptionally well-produced series of Nero Wolfe mysteries. It was like a trip back in time; the characters came alive as I recollected them from childhood.

Having evolved from a curious young fellow to a curious old one, I set out to find out more about author Rex Stout and his unique cast of characters. Stout died in 1975 at age 88. He was born a Quaker in Indiana and raised in Kansas. By age 9, he was recognized as a math whiz. After a year at Kansas University, he joined the Navy and served as a warrant officer on President Theodore Roosevelt's yacht.

Afterwards his math skills came to the fore as he created a school banking system that was used by 400 cities. After trying his hand writing three novels, he wrote in 1934 the first Wolfe novel, "Fer-de-Lance" (according to herpetologists, that is one ornery snake), which I read recently in my quest to reconnect with Nero and Archie.

In all, there are 73 Nero Wolfe novels that's not a typo, 73 novels. They are scattered over time with pauses: During World War II, he worked full time in support of the war effort; later he paused to campaign against the use of thermonuclear weapons. Some Stout books are set in the 1930s, late 40s, the 50s, 60s and early 70s. In fact, the 73rd novel, "Death Times Three," was discovered and published 10 years after Stout's death.

Bantam Books is attempting to make available the entire collection of Wolfe novels, a monumental task indeed. The Stout books I read at the Brentwood Library were from the Bantam selections. Local bookstores carry a good supply of other Bantam titles. Luckily for me, not all 73 are on hand; if they were, I might have to declare bankruptcy.

Nero Wolfe is what you might call an anti-hero. He isn't very likable. He spends his days in virtual seclusion. He eats gourmet meals at precisely prescribed times daily, prepared by his cook-butler, Fritz. The entire third floor of the mansion is used for growing rare orchids, which he tends to at exactly the same time every day. Never particularly polite to anyone, he doesn't converse with people; he seems to be delivering bombastic orations.

If you like Sherlock Holmes, you also will like Nero Wolfe. However, Archie is no Dr. Watson. Although not a genius, Archie is smart enough to know that Wolfe needs him more than he needs Wolfe. He is the prototype of the "hard-boiled private eye."

Someone has said that Wolfe and Archie are "Sherlock Holmes meets Sam Spade." The ongoing relationship between the two is what has endeared them to readers for more than 65 years. Oh, yes, Stout uses no profanity or sex. Archie says he's a ladies' man, but readers must take his word for it; no descriptions are provided. Im-agine that.

Read one Nero Wolfe mystery. You'll be a fan, like me.

(Joe McAdoo is former chairman of the communication department at Drury Un-iversity.)