I had a grand time (as always) at Comic-Con, seeing many friends (including Michael Scott, just stopping by on his way home to Ireland, Jeff Hart, Michael Mallory, Gordon Melton, Betsy Rosenblatt, Cat Mihos, and others) and enjoying the tumult on the floor.

I was very fortunate to get to the “Elementary!” panel and having a visit in the “green room” with actors Johnnie Lee Miller and Lucy Liu and producer/head writer Rob Doherty. The pilot was far better than I’d been led to expect from all the carpings of the producers of the BBC’s “Sherlock,” and Doherty’s vision is wholly original. The series promises great things, and I hope to become actively involved!

I was also pleased to get a text message from my daughter midday on Saturday–“rdj is at marvel booth.” I raced over to the “Iron Man 3” booth, where in fact Robert Downey, Jr., was making an unannounced visit to judge childrens’ “Iron Man” costumes. After a brief appearance, he was led away by a phalanx of security people through the nether halls of the Convention Center. I followed and after some discussions with security, I managed to get close enough to shout out “Robert, it’s Les Klinger!” At that point he stopped to have a short conversation with me. We spoke of the new baby and his excitement at that and the crowds. “We’ll be talking soon,” he promised, referring, I’m sure, to “Sherlock Holmes III,” which is likely to commence production in the next 12 months.

I came back exhausted from San Diego, only to drive back to Irvine on the next day for a joint Mystery Writers of America/Sisters in Crime program featuring James White, son of the late William White (also known as Anthony Boucher), in conversation with me about The Baker Street Irregulars, genre writing, and the importance of his father’s work in making mystery and science-fiction writing respectable.

Whew! It took me several weeks to recuperate!