[2] Dubbed "the fiscal Holmes" by another member of the Baker Street Irregulars,[3] Robert Keith Leavitt showed an early aptitude for ferreting out information.
The corporate biographies Leavitt wrote to garner a paycheck included titles like Prologue to Tomorrow: A History of the First Hundred Years in the Life of the Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company (1950); Goods Roads about the General Motors Overseas operations (1949); Foundation for the Future: History of the Stanley Works for Stanley Tools (1951); and 1954's Life at Tung-Sol 1904–1954: An Informal Story of the First Half-century of Tung-Sol Electric Inc. Leavitt also found time to produce books on lighter subjects, notably The Chip on Grandma's Shoulder, a memoir about his Maine grandmother Susan C. (Blazo) Keith,[6] published by J.
But the book for which Leavitt is remembered is Noah's Ark, New England Yankees, and the Endless Quest: A Short History of the Original Webster Dictionaries, with Particular Reference to Their First Hundred Years as Publications of G. & C. Merriam Company.
Leavitt laid out the history of Webster's publishing house after its eponymous title was sold to the Merriam family (today's Merriam-Webster).
[9] When not writing articles and books, Leavitt indulged his passion for Sherlock Holmes, helping found, with his friend Christopher Morley, The Baker Street Irregulars, an informal group of Arthur Conan Doyle devotees.
Records do not reflect when the author's affinity for Sherlock Holmes began, but his works show he was a close reader of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's oeuvre.
[10] It was in Leavitt's writings as historian of the Irregulars that he seemed most at home, his imagination prowling Arthur Conan Doyle's intricate plots, sniffing for clues about the Scottish-born author and his fictional sleuth.
In Annie Oakley in Baker Street, Leavitt claimed that Dr. Watson's revolver shot had toppled the villain Tonga from the deck of the Aurora into the River Thames, and not Holmes's.
Within the close-knit Irregulars, Leavitt was known for his expertise in ballistics,[14] optics and finances, sometimes combining them to examine the deeds of Conan Doyle's legendary hero.
When not writing about Holmes, Leavitt chose the company of friends like fellow Baker Street Irregulars Christopher Morley and Elmer Davis,[15] as well as other writers, reporters, advertising men and artists of the day.
[16] Russell Leavitt drove his ambulance on the front lines for 11 months, piloting his vehicle at Verdun and Flanders, and eventually serving in the Chemical Warfare Service Laboratory at Paris.