O.K. so it
may not be exactly related to black cinema, but it does involves someone who has
been involved in filmmaking, as an actor in some 23 film and TV roles (remember
he went toe-to-toe with Bruce Lee), and producer. And as I
have said more than once, I love it when a black creative person thinks
outside “the box”.

I’m talking
about basketball Legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who, it was announced yesterday, has moved into a new field as a fiction novelist. His first work in
that field, entitled "Mycroft Holmes," will be published this fall, by Titan Press.

And what’s
more interesting is that, his first novel is a detective novel about Sherlock Holmes’ older genius brother Mycroft, who does appear in several Sherlock Holmes stories.

According to
the synopsis of the book, it’s set in England and Trinidad, and centers on
Mycroft, an university graduate working for the British Secretary of State for
War. “When he learns from his best friend
about some strange things going on  in
Trinidad — mysterious disappearances, dead children and backward facing
footprints in the sand – He goes to Trinidad to investigate, and to follow his
fiancée, Georgiana, who was raised on the island."

And yes, Sherlock does make a cameo appearance in the book.

When asked
why he wanted to write a Holmes mystery novel, Abdul-Jabbar said that he has always been fascinated by the Sherlock
Holmes stories, which he started reading during his rookie year in the NBA, and that “I realized more could be done with this older, smarter character and his window onto the highest levels of British
government — at a time when Britain was the most powerful country in the
world."

"Mycroft
Holmes," however is not Abdul-Jabbar’s first book. He previously has written his autobiography, some non-fiction books and has authored
several children’s books as well.