Old Radio

February 17: Happy Birthday, Ronald Knox ! Ronald Knox was that rare combination of radio host, crime novelist, and priest. If you know someone who was all three of those things, you probably know Ronald Knox . He wrote a collection of ten commandments for detective fiction stories, translated the St. Jerome Latin Vulgate Bible into English, and published a pseudo-historical study on Sherlock Holmes . His British radio program in the 20's mostly broadcast his sermons. However, a program in 1926 called "Broadcasting the Barricades" was a hoax portraying a revolution in London, complete with interviews with witnesses. It went over the airwaves on a snowy day when newspaper delivery was delayed, so many Londoners believed the reports. Fine job, Monsignor Knox.