THE ERLE STANLEY GARDNER CONNECTION TO TEMECULA, CA

This is the seventh year for the Erle Stanley Gardner Mystery Weekend. The event was designed to honor the creator of the Perry Mason mysteries. Gardner was one of Temecula’s more famous citizens. The prolific writer penned 151 books, including 82 about the fictional defense attorney Perry Mason. From his house at Rancho del Paisano in the Temecula Valley, he would dictate his books into an audograph for his seven secretaries to transcribe.

The weekend includes a mystery-solving contest and re-enactment of Gardner's short run series "Court of Last Resort." Based upon the author's organization of the same name the series ran 1957 and 1958 utilizing actually cases reviewed by Gardner's "Court." The group was formed as a result Gardner's affinity for the underprivileged and falsely convicted and actually worked to overturn the wrongfully convicted.

Around Uncle Erle's Campfire features cowboy poets and western musicians in a musical/lyrical tribute to the man and his expeditions.

It features cowboy poets Ken Graydon and Joe Sullivan, Poet/songwriter/singer TJ Casey, and Western Musicians The Lost Canyon Rangers.

Songwriter Ken Graydon emcees the evening. The local poet and musician is known for his original material including one song written about Gardner and his Baja adventures titled "Desert Whale."

Gardner was an avid adventurer who spent several years exploring Baja California in makeshift dune buggies. His travels explored and charted pictographs, unexplored caves, archaeological sites, and the rugged terrain of Baja. Included in his travels was his discovery of the California gray whale migration along the Baja coastline. Campfires with songs and tales of the Old West were said to be the conclusion of many Gardner expeditions.