Author John Dudley Ball, Jr. created the iconic African American detective Virgil Tibbs in his 1965 novel In the Heat of the Night. Sidney Poitier brought Virgil to life on the big screen in the classic film version in 1966. Poitier reprised the role in They Call Me Mister Tibbs (1970) and The Organization (1971).
Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at the forgotten (or at least neglected) novels and short stories which John Dudley Ball wrote about his fictional detective. I am amazed that no one adapted the other Virgil Tibbs novels in the 70s, 80s or 90s. He is up there with other American detectives like Sam Spade, Nero Wolfe, Moses Wine and more.
THE COOL COTTONTAIL (1966) – After winning the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best First Novel for In the Heat of the Night, John Ball wrote this follow-up novel about Virgil Tibbs. If you’re only familiar with the big screen Tibbs let me point out that The Cool Cottontail is set in Pasadena, CA, where the literary Virgil Tibbs was a homicide detective. In movies Virgil worked in Philadelphia and San Francisco while the In the Heat of the Night tv series stranded him down south. Continue reading
DIVISION ONE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME – The last two teams standing in this division’s tournament were the NEWPORT NEWS APPRENTICE SCHOOL BUILDERS (Shipbuilders) and the LYON COLLEGE SCOTS. 
THE DERELICT (1912) – This short story was originally published in Red Magazine in December of 1912. The author was William Hope Hodgson, whose other works have already been reviewed here at Balladeer’s Blog. 
THACH SANH – A son of the supreme deity Ngoc Hoang. His father forced him to incarnate as a human and in this demi-god form he fought monsters, rescued the son of the chief sea god Long Vuong, vanquished his evil foster-brother and married a beautiful princess.
WICHITA SITE – The 10 seeds – the MID-AMERICA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY EVANGELS – faced the 7th seeded HASTINGS COLLEGE BRONCOS. 
MARION SITE – This game pitted the 7th seeded TENNESSEE SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY FIREHAWKS against the 10 seeds – the TOUGALOO COLLEGE BULLDOGS. 
PUTRI BINTANG (Star Princess) 
SEMIFINAL ONE – The 3 seeds – the LYON COLLEGE SCOTS – faced the 2nd ranked BRYANT & STRATTON COLLEGE AT BUFFALO BOBCATS. 
FRANCOIS VILLON (1431-1463?) – The swashbuckling legends that surround this real-life French poet have sometimes been compared to tales of Robin Hood or Dick Turpin. Like Dick Turpin, Villon really did exist, but in his case he left behind an impressive body of literary work and he is still considered one of France’s greatest poets. 
A TALE OF THE X-RAY (1898) – Written by Clara H. Holmes. This short story was first published in her collection titled Floating Fancies Among the Weird and the Occult, but it’s more science fiction.
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