Bio: John Kendrick Bangs (1862-1922), an American writer, is best remembered these days for three volumes of fantasy : A Houseboat on the Styx (1895), Pursuit of the Houseboat (1897), and the collection, The Enchanted Type-Writer (1899). All three are classics of modern fantasy, precursors to works by Thorne Smith (Topper), Philip Jose Farmer (The Fabulous Riverboat), and many others. And all three feature Sherlock Holmes as a major character.

Without doubt Bangs used Holmes in his work without Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's permission. Victorian-era writers often "borrowed" each other's creations (there are more than 150 known additional Alice in Wonderland books from Lewis Carroll's era, for example). Sherlock Holmes also fell victim, with mixed results, to numerous unauthorized sequels. Luckily, he fared well in Bangs's able hands.