As a teenager, I often found refuge in the world literature (mostly fantasy and mystery---something about the unknown or a puzzle kept me interested). Once the world of books opened up for me, there was nothing I found that quite matched the pleasure I derived from falling into those worlds and allowing them to consume me...completely. And, though I've read widely across genres (though, pointedly NOT the romantic and western genres), there have only been a couple of authors whose works I continue to re-read to this day..... namely: this man: and, this man: Though Doyle and Tolkien weren't exactly contemporaries, the years of their lives did overlap... Doyle (1859-1930), Tolkien (1892-1973). The question of whether or not they knew each other still plagues me--- Doyle, a Scottish physician turned writer and Tolkien, an English writer turned professor--- separately, changed the world of literature in their own unique ways, imagine what they would/could have d...