Larry Millett (born 1947 in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

. He is the former (retired 2002)

architectural Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

critic for the ''

St. Paul Pioneer Press The ''St. Paul Pioneer Press'' is a newspaper based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. It serves the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area. Circulation is heaviest in the east metro, including Ramsey, Dakota, and Washington countie ...

'', a daily newspaper in

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...

and the author of several books on the history of architecture in

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. He has also written a series of

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...

mysteries set in the United States and Minnesota in the 1890s. The books feature the character Shadwell Rafferty who assists Holmes in his American investigations.

Education

Millett graduated from St. John's University in

Collegeville, Minnesota Collegeville is an unincorporated community in St. Wendel Township, Stearns County, Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitob ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in English in 1969. He received a

master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

degree in English in 1970 from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

Career

Millett worked at the ''Pioneer Press'' from 1972 until 1984 when he had an opportunity to study architecture at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

Ann Arbor Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

. When he returned to St. Paul in 1985, he became the newspaper's first architecture critic. He has written articles for several historical and architectural magazines in the

Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

, mostly focusing on works by

Prairie School Prairie School is a late 19th and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped i ...

architects including

Louis Sullivan Louis Henry Sullivan (September 3, 1856 – April 14, 1924) was an American architect, and has been called a "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism". He was an influential architect of the Chicago school (architecture), Chicago ...

and

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright Sr. (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed List of Frank Lloyd Wright works, more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key ...

. Millett's ''Lost Twin Cities'' is probably the best known of his works in the Minneapolis-St. Paul region largely because KTCA, a local

public television Public broadcasting (or public service broadcasting) is radio, television, and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service with a commitment to avoiding political and commercial influence. Public broadcasters receive f ...

station, created a video documentary by the same name which covered a few of the buildings in the book. The video was narrated by Dave Moore, a noted area TV journalist, and is often replayed when the station is running a

pledge drive A pledge drive is an extended period of fundraising activities, generally used by public broadcasting stations to increase contributions. The term " pledge" originates from the promise that a contributor makes to send in funding at regular interva ...

. In 2014, Millet was interviewed by Peter Shea for the Institute for Advanced Study at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

in the

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in stat ...

. Millett has also been interviewed twice on the Northern Lights Minnesota Author Interview TV Series.

External links

*Interview with Peter Shea at the University of Minnesota, 201

Bibliography

Nonfiction

*''The Curve of the Arch: The Story of Louis Sullivan's Owatonna Bank'' ( 1985 in literature, 1985) & *''Lost Twin Cities'' (

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

) *''Twin Cities Then and Now'' (

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

) & *''National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota'' (foreword,

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

) *''Strange Days, Dangerous Nights: Photos from the Speed Graphic Era'' (

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

) *''AIA Guide to the Twin Cities: The Essential Source on the Architecture of Minneapolis and St. Paul'' (Paperback) (2007) *''Murder Has a Public Face'' (2008) *''AIA Guide to Downtown Minneapolis'' (2010) *''Once There Were Castles: Lost Mansions and Estates of the Twin Cities'' (2011) *''Minnesota's Own'' (2014)

Fiction

Sherlock Holmes in Minnesota

*''Sherlock Holmes and the Red Demon'' (

) *''Sherlock Holmes and the Ice Palace Murders'' (

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

) & *''Sherlock Holmes and the Rune Stone Mystery'' (

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

) & *''Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Alliance'' (

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

) *''The Disappearance of Sherlock Holmes'' (

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

) *"The Mystery of the Jeweled Cross" (short story, 2002) & *"The Brewer's Son" (short story, 2006) *''The Magic Bullet: A Locked Room Mystery Featuring Shadwell Rafferty and Sherlock Holmes'' (2011) *''Strongwood: A Crime Dossier'' (2014) *''Sherlock Holmes and the Eisendorf Enigma'' (2017) *''Rafferty's Last Case'' (2022) *''Mysterious Tales of Old St. Paul: Three Cases Featuring Shadwell Rafferty'' (2024)

Other works

*''Pineland Serenade'' (2020)

External links

Author's website
*Larry Millett talks about ''Twin Cities Then and Now'' with David Wiggins; also discusses his first mystery book with Bruce Southworth, Northern Lights Minnesota Author Interview TV Series #378 (1997):

*Larry Millett talks about ''Lost Twin Cities'' with Steve Benson, Northern Lights Minnesota Author Interview TV Series #329 (1995):

{{DEFAULTSORT:Millett, Larry 1947 births Living people College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University alumni American male journalists Writers from Minneapolis Journalists from Minneapolis Writers of Sherlock Holmes pastiches Novelists from Minnesota Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning alumni