Hi all, spoke with Rush and he said I should post this (as I read the book). Just released February 2018, Barbara Gregorich's book, "Charlie Chan's Poppa: Earl Derr Biggers." Because I'm lazy, here's my post from Amazon.com, where you can purchase for $10 (paperback):
"Barbara Gregorich has done a fantastic job researching and analyzing one of America's most prolific--and forgotten--authors. She not only reveals tons more information than in her '99 biography in "Timeline" magazine (the Ohio Historic Society publication), but goes on to analyze, hypothesize, and reveal many of the reasons Earl Derr Biggers created the enigmatic sleuth, Charlie Chan, and then continued him as a series. Also fascinating is her dissection of the novels for plot, texture, clues, and red herrings. This book solidifies Gregorich, beyond a doubt, as Earl Derr Biggers' official biographer!"
Some examples of interesting facts (I hadn't known) were that the books were translated into 23 languages and that for "The Chinese Parrot" Bobbs-Merrill Publishing produced a number of celluloid parrots for bookstores and sales outlets as a promotion. There's lot's more, but I can't recall at the moment. Also, she starts with two chapters on the Golden Age of Mystery in England, then the U.S. She also goes in-depth into Biggers' correspondence and feeling that he shared with his friend and publisher David Laurence Chambers.
OK, with that said, "who's going to lead the search for one of those Celluloid Parrots (circa 1926)"?
