This forty minute foray into the realm of detective drivel held the promise of the cascading career that Mr. Kendrick enjoyed as a head writer and creative intellect at PANGEA Corporation, until his untimely death in 1977. An answer to the pulpy B-movies made based on his novels, Kendrick controlled the whole enchillada -- from scripting to casting to producing. PANGEA footed the bill and chalked up a credit in radio programming. Kendrick was way ahead of his time, predicting the digital recorder and other hi-tech devices, all used in sound engineering. He was obsessed with it all his life.
Crafted with archetypical characters and unavoidably bizarre and Columboesque plot twists, this story of a blind detective shines a penetrating light on the thinly veiled social outcry heard so frequently in our country, as judges create laws rather than interpret them. Critics hailed "Blind Justice" as Falknian, with its turgid similarities to the famous trenchcoated detective. Historians know, however, that Kendrick penned and produced the first Iris McCann (aka "Spud Savage") adventure an amazing 49 years before "Columbo" debuted on NBC! Kendrick was constantly changing the names of his lead characters to avoid confusion from one type of media to another. He even changed his own name and went by Richard Hayward when he was screenwriting.
Couched in a cacophony of original music created for the series by the stunningly talented composer Desha Dunnahoe, this midday macabre and merciless mystery reaches well beyond the talents of all involved -- and thrust Baynard Kendrick's legendary launch into the oblivious orb of radio history. It's hardly worth mentioning the recent ABC debacle, "Blind Justice," which is in no way related to this radio masterpiece from another era. So sit back, close your eyes and embrace the darkness of the world’s greatest blind detective!
“In the land of the blind, the man madly swinging his baseball bat is king.” -- Iris McCann
Blind Justice
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