Dr. Martin Kolby

"The undefeatable Mrs. K, a rich divorcee who shed scandal as efficiently as a Canvasback sheds water, was never lacking in charm, wit, or a salacious bit of gossip. She was a staunch friend and a formidable adversary. When she entered a room, it was as if a glimmer of sunrise had stabbed through the storm clouds. She made it easier to imagine that a fairy princess could walk among us."

"The season at Newport entered the usual languid doldrums. Each day was a slow repeat of heat, sun, nibbles and sips, books, and parties. The occasional pairing and separating of young lovers was the only news worthy of gossip."

Kolby's journal: "Congo pterosaurs love a juicy tarantula for breakfast. I do not. The spiders are generally docile, but enormous. Did I mention I don't love them?"

Kolby was a sometimes gardener who once quipped, "I subscribe to Herbert Spencer's philosophy that only the fittest should survive. So my garden is both drought and negligence resistant."

Kolby's journal: "I recall that Holmes was bathed in sunlight, eyes moving rapidly behind closed lids, muttering, 'I cannot live without brainwork. What else is there to live for?'"