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I live in a part of the country where it snows a fair amount--80 to 90 inches in an average year. Not far from here, less than an hour's drive, snowfall is sometimes measured in feet instead of inches. (Example: On a weekend when six inches falls in my backyard, two or three feet descends on my neighbors just 45 minutes away.) With a major winter storm looming across a big chunk of the nation, I've been thinking about Charlie Chan and snow. San Francisco, Boston, San Francis

Charlie Chan creator Earl Derr Biggers named just four kids in his six books: Henry, Rose, Evelyn and Barry. Movie Chan kids had lots of names: Lee, Jimmy, Charlie Jr., Tommy, Frances, Ling . . . the list was long and subject to the discretion of Hollywood writers. Naming the kids that Biggers left unnamed is just one of the ideas that have bubbled up since this humble Charlie Chan revival began. Others will occur. Some will vanish, others may come to fruition in due course.

EDB’s Charlie said plenty of wise things, but most of them weren’t from the great Chinese sage Confucius.

Inspired by the timeless appeal of Charlie Chan, I felt compelled to breathe new life into the series with fresh mysteries that pay tribute to the original.