tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-702535733966930052024-03-17T17:55:49.301-07:00Interesting Though ElementaryRob Nunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02126012014516886064noreply@blogger.comBlogger256125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70253573396693005.post-81123484202615304862024-03-17T17:54:00.000-07:002024-03-17T17:54:57.680-07:00All That a Good Friend Could [DYIN]<p>We all think of Doctor Watson as Holmes’s reliable companion, but do we really appreciate what a good friend Watson was to Sherlock Holmes? In the very first paragraph of “The Dying Detective,” he describes Holmes as a tenant:</p><p><i>“His incredible untidiness, his addiction to music at strange hours, his occasional revolver practice within doors, his weird and often malodorous scientific experiments, and the atmosphere of violence and danger which hung around him made him the very worst tenant in London.”</i></p><p>While the landlady was at least getting princely payments for the rooms that Holmes so greatly abused, Watson did not; in fact he was PAYING to share rooms with such a man. And even though “The Dying Detective” takes place after Watson has moved out, we know that these two men roomed together for years. It really shows how deep their friendship had become since <i>A Study in Scarlet</i> for Watson to room with such a man.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYg6av4o7NKSoZ7f2WAbggzSGE1CAsyBSDoXK8qU3kVDeMNvzVMmrjyQr5QA4oQ8Be8oAxqKdujPzbelQtGpEiOPDvX2cR5flSgn7ennDWzm643DEQE5C8SkQgl8VBnHqxEZJMKvGLXRvt2pxZ8W-MBaFWHwNIasLP2KPZaGgF6DZTGRovVuhjKd9UWw/s391/Illus-dyin-wpaget-02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="391" data-original-width="260" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYg6av4o7NKSoZ7f2WAbggzSGE1CAsyBSDoXK8qU3kVDeMNvzVMmrjyQr5QA4oQ8Be8oAxqKdujPzbelQtGpEiOPDvX2cR5flSgn7ennDWzm643DEQE5C8SkQgl8VBnHqxEZJMKvGLXRvt2pxZ8W-MBaFWHwNIasLP2KPZaGgF6DZTGRovVuhjKd9UWw/s320/Illus-dyin-wpaget-02.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br />The crux of this story is that Holmes is desperately ill and Watson rushes to Baker Street. You can hear his heart breaking as he describes his friend’s condition to the reader:<p></p><p><i>“It was that gaunt, wasted face staring at me from the bed which sent a chill to my heart.”</i></p><p>Even as Holmes is exceedingly mean to Watson throughout this tale, Watson’s loyalty and friendship shine through. Watson lays clear to us what respect he has for Holmes in these pages, and we can see him wrestle with the situation. </p><p>Holmes “bitterly hurt[s]” Watson by criticizing his qualifications as a doctor, he forces Watson to keep his distance, even though Holmes is in desperate need of medical attention, and then Holmes locks them in a room together preventing Watson from retrieving even another doctor! </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHVftDV_-wdDrLuKRVHWNNA7E8FuQcvWfvJchr8spmqmfGYdxKkvEyIIpea1V3sruT3S7zqAbWS_i_OIsh3cTjJ4RNjvxh60J_rVEuInBCk07r3RzJuruyi0s6ghtJGlJuMMr88FTu_4SRVWHRpef3up12BxJiyYczFmzuJYWnRLRmxdKyntNlRAstKw/s383/Illus-dyin-wpaget-01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="383" data-original-width="260" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHVftDV_-wdDrLuKRVHWNNA7E8FuQcvWfvJchr8spmqmfGYdxKkvEyIIpea1V3sruT3S7zqAbWS_i_OIsh3cTjJ4RNjvxh60J_rVEuInBCk07r3RzJuruyi0s6ghtJGlJuMMr88FTu_4SRVWHRpef3up12BxJiyYczFmzuJYWnRLRmxdKyntNlRAstKw/s320/Illus-dyin-wpaget-01.jpg" width="217" /></a></div><br />And the nonsense that Watson puts up with while locked in that room? Holmes lets out a dreadful cry that makes his friend’s skin go cold and his hair bristle. He has to listen to Holmes raving about oysters and how Watson should displace the coins in his pocket. John Watson is a more patient man than I.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOnhyphenhyphent7RSDO3OHj5BFMCP6fjTwO_dIuTp0FDmaLOOK4IvCZkB3DYNQfZKYdDAnrSyDDwPGS8iZLOnmb3kLTiF2lpviYd58jFvwWmlLUsZUyx3aHAIm4ain_M2QY36yW83rBF4R78SC4IDebtU3gGLbeOVxET7HBrRLoWT9bSsymE-SVGdIoRKRUu5b3A/s380/Illus-dyin-wpaget-03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="380" data-original-width="260" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOnhyphenhyphent7RSDO3OHj5BFMCP6fjTwO_dIuTp0FDmaLOOK4IvCZkB3DYNQfZKYdDAnrSyDDwPGS8iZLOnmb3kLTiF2lpviYd58jFvwWmlLUsZUyx3aHAIm4ain_M2QY36yW83rBF4R78SC4IDebtU3gGLbeOVxET7HBrRLoWT9bSsymE-SVGdIoRKRUu5b3A/s320/Illus-dyin-wpaget-03.jpg" width="219" /></a></div><br />But once Holmes releases him to bring in a specialist, Watson promises to bring the man, even if he has to carry him to the cab. Of course, Holmes convinces Watson to go along with a plan that isn’t explained and Watson’s loyalty shows through again. He delivers a message to this strange “specialist,” pushing though ceremony to talk to him as he pictures Holmes lying sick and dying. After convincing Culverton Smith, Watson rushes back to Baker Street alone, and then HIDES!<p></p><p>Would any of us here hide behind someone’s headboard in this situation? Think of the contortion that would have been required to do so. And this wasn’t just for a minute or two, Watson had to sit there and listen to Culverton Smith gloat of how he was killing his best friend. Not only did Watson have to endure that conversation, but he then had to stay hidden as Smith sat and waited for Holmes to die. Watson said it was all he could do to hold himself quiet in his hiding place. This is true friendship, indeed.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZkzmqcUR9CF3Ingt0XVIM-6WSJ2K4e85kP0x5h0Ggn3ZQXPcznxVbjFAjG6W2gZWIld7SW9kDNc5uJLrQo_FRLEFUQUSOdS_A-W7mPAUMEF7YdOL_YWd6rJiSWVMvLea6y_ZUkiYAypgntCDla22SFFq6SukKGHmkhNOH-pDpv6_BojKMO8ECf_CMtw/s381/Illus-dyin-wpaget-04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="381" data-original-width="260" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZkzmqcUR9CF3Ingt0XVIM-6WSJ2K4e85kP0x5h0Ggn3ZQXPcznxVbjFAjG6W2gZWIld7SW9kDNc5uJLrQo_FRLEFUQUSOdS_A-W7mPAUMEF7YdOL_YWd6rJiSWVMvLea6y_ZUkiYAypgntCDla22SFFq6SukKGHmkhNOH-pDpv6_BojKMO8ECf_CMtw/s320/Illus-dyin-wpaget-04.jpg" width="218" /></a></div><br />(And a quick side note before we raise our glasses to the friendship of John Watson. If Sherlock Holmes had not left his sick room for three days, would he have been able to use a water closet if the Baker Street rooms even had one? Probably not to keep up appearances, which means a bedpan would have most likely been down by Watson this whole time.)<p></p><p>So let’s all take a deep breath of fresh air and appreciate the loyalty that Doctor Watson showed to his friend Sherlock Holmes. I <strike>stink </strike>think we can all agree that he was the best friend that Holmes could have asked for. </p>Rob Nunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02126012014516886064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70253573396693005.post-58610891502672086092024-03-11T18:30:00.000-07:002024-03-13T09:47:51.969-07:00Interesting Interview: Ray Riethmeier<p>December of 2023 was supposed to be the end of the Interesting Interview series. I had hit the 100 mark and thought that would be a good place to wrap things up. But then I got to sit with Ray and Becky Riethmeier at the BSI Luncheon in January, and they expressed their disappointment when I told them that I was hanging it up. In fact, Ray is SO nice, that I couldn't tell him no when he asked me to continue the series. (And if you've ever met Ray, you probably can't imagine saying no to such a great guy, either!)</p><p>Well, if I was going to keep these interviews chugging along, it seemed only natural that Ray become part of this series. And let me tell you a little bit about him. He is unfailingly likeable, which makes him a perfect fit for the Norwegian Explorers, a group that exudes a welcoming vibe like no other I've ever seen. And have you seen the publications they put out? You can thank Ray for a lot of that. Every year, Ray has been part of the machinery that publishes their lovely annuals, and he is also one of the editors of the books that come out at every triennial conference. (Side note: <a href="http://www.norwegianexplorers.org/2024%20conf%20reg.html" target="_blank">the next one</a> is coming up sooner than you think!) I've personally never submitted anything to the Norwegian Explorers' annual, but after this interview I plan to just submit something so I can work with Ray!</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgehgG0HsE3Y72pvGrIc-RxPV2eTW799aYAjfpz3mR2ao9ElhiWbKz8BLtWFeY32OSxF4qFfha-AVrKKrd_5ujpj0d3utV9STVOyTjLLfOG3cR5u-Ng1bqaSPrdmO3bOPwMpEStqQQc2RmvocicoNhcRaeig5xm64lkx96GMzUyiyumPfchvcOLmJmX9Q/s640/5.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="458" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgehgG0HsE3Y72pvGrIc-RxPV2eTW799aYAjfpz3mR2ao9ElhiWbKz8BLtWFeY32OSxF4qFfha-AVrKKrd_5ujpj0d3utV9STVOyTjLLfOG3cR5u-Ng1bqaSPrdmO3bOPwMpEStqQQc2RmvocicoNhcRaeig5xm64lkx96GMzUyiyumPfchvcOLmJmX9Q/s320/5.jpg" width="229" /></a></b></div><b><br />How do you define the word “Sherlockian”?</b><p></p><p>A Sherlockian is somebody who has more than just a passing interest in Sherlock Holmes. A Sherlockian is someone who is a fan of the characters and has integrated some part of the lore into their lives in a meaningful way. It doesn’t have to be someone who has read the entire Canon numerous times (or even once), nor someone who can win the various trivia quizzes that so many of us fail miserably. You can take it very seriously, or you can be in it for the fun, and either approach is valid.</p><p><b>How did you become a Sherlockian?</b></p><p>I often want to defend the more casual fans, because you can start anywhere and find yourself drawn into the Canon. For instance, my Sherlockian story began in 1986 when I encountered the first issue of “The Cases of Sherlock Holmes” from Renegade Press at my local comic shop. The painted cover attracted my attention, as I was always looking for something new and different. These weren’t comic book adaptations of the canon; they were Doyle’s original stories copiously illustrated in moody black-and-white by Dan Day, and I immediately fell in love with the authentic Sherlock Holmes stories. I had, of course, been familiar with Holmes from all the pop-culture references that make him nearly ubiquitous in society, and I had seen a few of the Rathbone films on TV, but once you actually read the original stories by Doyle, I don’t see how anyone can escape their allure. There was no going back for me after that.</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBn4NLXV7EmsskDMwCXWojvW8AchbUPx3fVNx6SubdhtiK8oVU5mBbKKLxNFSmXnFJ-p7DvjOtxGF71q3RIugRDgRnIT80B1DwKQD1ik9PJShNKc8VMSsnJtsd38vVLn5t3gU5qVmQsJCfTEnmH1E__6Hn6QEws9rssF1EaJ0qLzE5lKZnpYJh4rGlug/s4584/2.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4584" data-original-width="3426" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBn4NLXV7EmsskDMwCXWojvW8AchbUPx3fVNx6SubdhtiK8oVU5mBbKKLxNFSmXnFJ-p7DvjOtxGF71q3RIugRDgRnIT80B1DwKQD1ik9PJShNKc8VMSsnJtsd38vVLn5t3gU5qVmQsJCfTEnmH1E__6Hn6QEws9rssF1EaJ0qLzE5lKZnpYJh4rGlug/s320/2.JPG" width="239" /></a></b></div><b><br />What is your profession and does that affect how you enjoy being a Sherlockian?</b><p></p><p>I am an attorney who works as an editor of law books, which I’ve done for almost 30 years now (schooled in Indiana, admitted to practice in New York, employed in Minnesota, where I work on Alabama laws). On the side, I also edit, copyedit, and/or proofread fiction for a variety of publishers, mostly in the pulp fiction community. As a result, I like to describe myself as “a nitpicker for fun and profit.” I’m not sure why it took me so long to apply my editorial skills to Sherlock Holmes, but it’s been only the last few years in which I’ve started to work on Sherlockian titles, and I’ve been pleased to put together several anthologies for Belanger Books, including my most recent, <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Consultations-Sherlock-Holmes-Ray-Riethmeier/dp/B0C9SBXQNR" target="_blank">The Consultations of Sherlock Holmes</a></i>, which was released last summer. I love being able to contribute to Sherlockiana in this way, and I hope that the books I help bring into the world are enjoyed by others.</p><p><b>What is your favorite canonical story?</b></p><p>That’s easy for me: I like “The Adventure of the Dancing Men” best. It was the second story presented in Dan Day’s illustrated comic series, and so it was an early favorite of mine that has stuck with me ever since. It also has what I think is the best “cozy” intro in the whole Canon, with Holmes making the “absurdly simple” deduction that Watson was not going to invest in South African securities. Holmes didn’t really shine his best in the rest of the story, but I think that helped me appreciate him as less than the super-human thinking machine that we often expect him to be. Holmes can be fallible, and I think that makes him even more appealing.</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMt8PvS7N-02SxtmolgtiB_g7olPa95EfOu0xYhOfnPrw1H6g3PjX0D5KDm13URAKGHcVfBN44JrK1kpZk4pRfTvXQyirxmkVmAU7nwgwNu8EPA7adw5wOPGVtKZS6d3JqeElns8cRqSiafzL_kKwm_cZmu5-cdnN2qmEV0mrURvVcXmu97xap5Es7xw/s1280/3.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMt8PvS7N-02SxtmolgtiB_g7olPa95EfOu0xYhOfnPrw1H6g3PjX0D5KDm13URAKGHcVfBN44JrK1kpZk4pRfTvXQyirxmkVmAU7nwgwNu8EPA7adw5wOPGVtKZS6d3JqeElns8cRqSiafzL_kKwm_cZmu5-cdnN2qmEV0mrURvVcXmu97xap5Es7xw/s320/3.JPG" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />Who is a specific Sherlockian that you think others would find interesting?</b><p></p><p>My best friend in the Sherlock Holmes community is Tim Reich, a member of the Norwegian Explorers of Minnesota, my local scion society. When I moved to Minnesota and discovered the group, Tim was one of the first people who really welcomed me, and his camaraderie helped me feel that I belonged there. Over the years, we’ve collaborated on a number of projects together, including co-editing the Explorers’ Christmas Annual (which I now co-edit with <a href="https://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2022/11/interesting-interview-phil-bergem.html" target="_blank">Phil Bergem</a>, another dear Sherlockian friend). Tim was the one who convinced me to make my first pilgrimage to New York City for the BSI weekend in January 2018, and our long-suffering wives joined us for that adventure. He’s just a great guy with a lot of enthusiasm for the Canon, and it can be infectious. We also share interests in classic rock music and obscure pulp fiction characters. In addition to our mutual Sherlockian hobby, folks also might enjoy talking to Tim about baseball and beer!</p><p><b>What subset of Sherlockiana really interests you?</b></p><p>Pastiches. As much as I adore the original stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle, I like finding new perspectives on the character provided by other writers, particularly in stories that put Holmes and Watson in situations other than those that Doyle did already (and usually did better). I am particularly drawn to those pastiches that take Holmes out of his usual comfort zone, either in new settings around the world, or crossing over with figures from history or literature, or even investigating true-crime mysteries from the Victorian era. So long as Holmes remains true to his character, I’ll be happy. But if he becomes a villain, or if he travels through time, or if he starts accepting applications from ghosts, then I’m out.</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv-KgI8e3Mt-i6dzBIMxjbs_M4-T7rfMrDuwCS4CiYZXI_3p06tBafhKc-Zta04zPHHbQ2qyJWNojixnBXe_fADJKLakXnMq-pyiKbyFLSdxrApB-tjz2XymKkVzSn_00JOOLVOONirDO4fvG2xCE-fb4toFgwk7VmK3cuGx_cEl6ww7RYIhMUBiw-kw/s2774/4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2774" data-original-width="1930" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv-KgI8e3Mt-i6dzBIMxjbs_M4-T7rfMrDuwCS4CiYZXI_3p06tBafhKc-Zta04zPHHbQ2qyJWNojixnBXe_fADJKLakXnMq-pyiKbyFLSdxrApB-tjz2XymKkVzSn_00JOOLVOONirDO4fvG2xCE-fb4toFgwk7VmK3cuGx_cEl6ww7RYIhMUBiw-kw/s320/4.jpg" width="223" /></a></b></div><b><br />You have co-edited The Norwegian Explorers of Minnesota Christmas Annual for quite a few years. What do you look for in submissions each year?</b><p></p><p>The Christmas Annual is a great venue for members of the Norwegian Explorers to share their ideas with the rest of us. I work with Phil Bergem, my co-editor, to come up with a theme for the Annual each year, and then we ask folks to submit whatever strikes their fancy. We get a lot of great submissions every year, and I’m pleased to note that the Annual has gotten bigger every year that Phil and I have been doing it. So long as the submissions are related to Sherlock Holmes in some way, they don’t even need to relate to the selected topic (but most of them do). We tend to include everything submitted, which can make for quite a varied end product. If the contributor is enthusiastic enough to share his or her creativity with us, then that’s usually sufficient to merit a place in the next Christmas Annual!</p><p><b>As someone who has edited more than a few Sherlockian story anthologies, what advice can you give to writers out there working on their own pastiche and fan fictions?</b></p><p>Oh, wow. That is such a broad question. I guess my advice is to remember that, although there are a number of different ways to sort the Canon into a coherent chronology, that doesn’t give writers license to place their stories in any random year and expect them to work. Your editor should be able to help you with the details and remove any pesky anachronisms, but if you have Watson living at Baker Street when he should be married, or if clients profess to know all about Holmes from the stories in <i>The Strand</i> before any had been published there, or if Holmes is still in London when he should be busy keeping his bees, then we’re going to have to make some more substantial changes! I do enjoy catching those details when I start going through submissions for the books I edit, and I hope that the writers aren’t put out too much when I suggest ways to fix things. My job is to make the writers look better, and if it all goes well, then nobody will be able to tell that I was even there. Oh, and please don’t have our heroes address each other as “John” and “Sherlock.” (Leave that for the TV productions!)</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5FQKNqkUpVQzGDspfDsLIbS8RCI_IcJ7emabvGBiAM2yEZh3Tdnhz5vLrb5wgy9eUPr5ZkZZOzzSUJHXQEa7fRoVF3EXTkNaJJYrhVJBxXqaKnT3FfnsmApGY91VG-NXH3ecGt-1qESE01V9MATRDZkCDoeKK4GY5gYxXdfBpJRIzMNuuJJMLs9G1Jg/s2595/1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2595" data-original-width="1730" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5FQKNqkUpVQzGDspfDsLIbS8RCI_IcJ7emabvGBiAM2yEZh3Tdnhz5vLrb5wgy9eUPr5ZkZZOzzSUJHXQEa7fRoVF3EXTkNaJJYrhVJBxXqaKnT3FfnsmApGY91VG-NXH3ecGt-1qESE01V9MATRDZkCDoeKK4GY5gYxXdfBpJRIzMNuuJJMLs9G1Jg/s320/1.jpg" width="213" /></a></b></div><b><br />What book would you recommend to other Sherlockians?</b><p></p><p>I spent the last year re-reading the Canon as I received <a href="https://lettersfromwatson.substack.com/" target="_blank">“Letters From Watson”</a> in my email courtesy of the Substack online platform. After I reread each story, I decided to finish off with a dip into D. Martin Dakin’s <i>A Sherlock Holmes Commentary</i> to see what he had to say about each story. I found it to be an extremely rewarding experience viewing the Canon through his eyes. But to stay more on what seems to be the focus of this interview, the single best pastiche I’ve read in the last few years is <i><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/one-must-tell-the-bees-abraham-lincoln-and-the-final-education-of-sherlock-holmes-j-lawrence-matthews/17059521?ean=9781736678343" target="_blank">One Must Tell the Bees: Abraham Lincoln and the Final Education of Sherlock Holmes</a></i>, written by J. Lawrence Matthews. It takes a bold, alternative view of Holmes’s life story, but he never really contradicts anything Doyle wrote. I look forward to whatever additional Holmes books Matthews gives us next! He did contribute a related story to <i>The Consultations of Sherlock Holmes</i>, but I don’t want to get too cheeky by recommending one of my own books (unless I just did by mentioning it again).</p><p><b>Where do you see Sherlockiana in 5 or 10 years from now?</b></p><p>It’s certainly not dissipating, that’s for certain. In 5 or 10 years, we’ll still be trying to figure out how many wives Watson had, where Holmes went to school, what Watson meant by mentioning his “bull pup,” and all your other favorite Canonical conundrums. Nobody is ever going to have the single, definitive answer to any of these puzzles, and that might be what makes the Canon so enduring and endearing, that it contains such compelling additional mysteries that keep us thinking about the stories for so long. That may have been Doyle’s true genius, leaving us with all of those unanswered questions that we could ponder long after he put down his pen.</p>Rob Nunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02126012014516886064noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70253573396693005.post-6969469026506215122024-02-18T15:56:00.000-08:002024-02-18T15:56:59.643-08:00Interesting Interview: Ann Margaret Lewis<div>Ann Margaret Lewis is one of those familiar faces that you just feel at home with when you see her at Sherlockian events. I've seen her talk a few times and have always been impressed by the depth of what she knows, no matter the topic. Some smart people can give off a vibe that makes them feel unapproachable, but that is definitely not the deal with Ann. She's always surrounded by friends and is quick to talk with anyone in her vicinity.</div><div><br /></div><div>As you'll see below, Ann has written plenty on Sherlock Holmes, both research-based and pastiche. But she's also written for DC Comics, Star Wars, and a stand-alone space fantasy novel. She's won the Independent Book Publisher’s Award, a Catholic Writers Guild Seal of Approval, and was a finalist for the Catholic Arts and Letters Award for 2010. See? I told you she was smart! But I also said she gives off a welcoming vibe and that comes across very much in this week's Interesting Interview. So let's get to know Ann Margaret Lewis! </div><div><br /></div><div><div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMSNYC8aqpAH9zw6hcOtIpRf0tHW6DvZgi487lderKNR5RZKFqsovks3ldZ3d_CQxbh5tu9KfPUKpOTXh3V780qOFOFd68JvFxHNh2vzitLOdAy5EpBB0fhnD4mRKeB-fUeVNsVn7x4n9CCIwbGeAvBlpAGAejlTzrcUwOYgf6v_7VgZIhMufU1_i6kQ/s460/Lewis_Ann_Headshot_2018c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="460" data-original-width="422" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMSNYC8aqpAH9zw6hcOtIpRf0tHW6DvZgi487lderKNR5RZKFqsovks3ldZ3d_CQxbh5tu9KfPUKpOTXh3V780qOFOFd68JvFxHNh2vzitLOdAy5EpBB0fhnD4mRKeB-fUeVNsVn7x4n9CCIwbGeAvBlpAGAejlTzrcUwOYgf6v_7VgZIhMufU1_i6kQ/s320/Lewis_Ann_Headshot_2018c.jpg" width="294" /></a></div><br />How do you define the word “Sherlockian”?</b></div><div><br /></div><div>A Sherlockian (or Holmesian) is someone who loves Sherlock Holmes, and who participates in activities that celebrate him. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>How did you become a Sherlockian?</b></div><div><br /></div><div>After reading all of my mother’s Agatha Christie books in high school, she suggested I read <i>The Hound of the Baskervilles</i>. I was hooked, and I ended up checking the Double Day Complete edition out of the library. I kept checking it out until my mother got me a copy for Christmas. Later in college I connected with <a href="https://www2.chemistry.msu.edu/faculty/reusch/SHolmes/gi-hist.htm" target="_blank">The Greek Interpreters of East Lansing</a>, and I was a Sherlockian for life.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoazGqgeOKXgDcoKcbdD_ToYRVuaf0eHPMPbaThKC_chtL7z2hL8QBG9lDh0AnWZ4jbBZfcHxROVKcETNKbyV9C72WCyd1voyMG12bwX8ph8s4fy85jF_Bq2UrR0C139ALuTZpG1AyGOxcGI34wXrvyByaQ-KVwIbgacMpvhaGe1SqExfXWI6jWZOF6Q/s966/sounion6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="321" data-original-width="966" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoazGqgeOKXgDcoKcbdD_ToYRVuaf0eHPMPbaThKC_chtL7z2hL8QBG9lDh0AnWZ4jbBZfcHxROVKcETNKbyV9C72WCyd1voyMG12bwX8ph8s4fy85jF_Bq2UrR0C139ALuTZpG1AyGOxcGI34wXrvyByaQ-KVwIbgacMpvhaGe1SqExfXWI6jWZOF6Q/w400-h133/sounion6.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />What is your profession and does that affect how you enjoy being a Sherlockian?</b></div><div><br /></div><div>My day job is working for the Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis at their newspaper <i>The Criterion</i>. However, I also write novels and I’m a classical singer. I earn money at all three, so I guess we can say they’re all my professions. I also taught high school English for 10 years, so you could count that as a former profession. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>What is your favorite canonical story?</b></div><div><br /></div><div>I have several, but I’ve always been fond of “The Yellow Face.” It’s not that difficult of a mystery, but Holmes character development in that story is quite moving. He admits he made a mistake. It’s interesting when he does that because it shows his humility and growth. </div><div><br /></div><div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirOM_NOoVHrVvX-Q3UV-SNeB11E3c_-MQpvyPaNGyRRsUEaoollFG5XvjHGZHjcM-DTagBj7Lsc45zkv8_6hZx4USCTgT-Fk-UYXk0WhSOfK3UgpFAgnw7j1uVJGwjBAguy9aW6_nxGpBggCE248UXrzLOBcI141M6SvsH_s2qFsvc9SdQpE2QDEZj6g/s912/Bob%20and%20Dan.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="912" data-original-width="615" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirOM_NOoVHrVvX-Q3UV-SNeB11E3c_-MQpvyPaNGyRRsUEaoollFG5XvjHGZHjcM-DTagBj7Lsc45zkv8_6hZx4USCTgT-Fk-UYXk0WhSOfK3UgpFAgnw7j1uVJGwjBAguy9aW6_nxGpBggCE248UXrzLOBcI141M6SvsH_s2qFsvc9SdQpE2QDEZj6g/s320/Bob%20and%20Dan.png" width="216" /></a></div><br />Who is a specific Sherlockian that you think others would find interesting?</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Robert Sharfman of Chicago. He was just made a BSI this year (Killer Evans), and he truly deserves it. He has so many interesting stories, and even at his advanced age, he drives long distances to many scion meetings in the Midwest just because he loves his fellow Sherlockians. I only hope I am as interesting and have as much energy when I reach his age.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>What subset of Sherlockiana really interests you?</b></div><div><br /></div><div>It’s hard to pick one, but I really do like film and the portrayals of Holmes on screen. I guess I was influenced by my late dear friend Patricia Ward of the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/IllustriousClients/" target="_blank">Illustrious Clients of Indianapolis</a> who knew everything about every Holmes portrayal on screen. She taught me a great deal. </div><div><br /></div><div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6ofPu3tBPAbaxTNJs9ehYvu7NBZLIp2_fRQUo-U6XtAkUPsH1XsNnYQiWCJgWQKvEvYDcKsbi-NOi-LJNWoEXMN2Mznh927XyAOeJGpq3wt_KK1Ckdoit8N-R13s2GZBDIFnGi8K02zALpMSjWCa6O7_CHlkzu9MfANr2X1EqG8GrI9eW3KKaF6GhvQ/s2550/MV-CMSH_FC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2550" data-original-width="1650" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6ofPu3tBPAbaxTNJs9ehYvu7NBZLIp2_fRQUo-U6XtAkUPsH1XsNnYQiWCJgWQKvEvYDcKsbi-NOi-LJNWoEXMN2Mznh927XyAOeJGpq3wt_KK1Ckdoit8N-R13s2GZBDIFnGi8K02zALpMSjWCa6O7_CHlkzu9MfANr2X1EqG8GrI9eW3KKaF6GhvQ/s320/MV-CMSH_FC.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><br />Your book, <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Vatican-Church-Mysteries-Sherlock/dp/0938501526" target="_blank">Murder in the Vatican: The Church Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes</a></i>, collects three mysteries that Sherlock Holmes investigates connected to organized religion. What drew you to connect the church and Sherlock Holmes?</b></div><div><br /></div><div>I am a practicing Catholic (obviously…that’s where I work) and I founded of a scion for “Catholockians” called “The Vatican Cameos.” But what really connected the two concepts for me is that the pope of the time (Leo XIII) is mentioned twice in the canon. In fact, it looks like he is the only person to have hired Holmes twice – for the “sudden death of Cardinal Tosca” and the “missing Vatican cameos.” I figured since Watson pointed that out, I might as well take these untold tales and tell them. Besides, Pope Leo XIII was a really interesting man. In the book I imitate his voice (as translated into English) from his encyclicals along with that of Doyle. It was a challenge, and I really learned a great deal from that project.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwK3dEHomTTr84lR0DMWIalXVheGC5MLU_CaJ_u3MMW-wq_zS-EGwI8VQJAZfE4eRrPz1JvVJeg4z5f8Cme6HRF6PpnVB4GFv5DTO6f1awjfZ_Xgjg3qLBui1Nn3RtG18eaSYpO3DYv1swz4MHIWlZDBkes7hVSRptXrCpEq9xCHHXpfT-_4tzK4hRtg/s5520/HolmesMeetInkFINAL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4392" data-original-width="5520" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwK3dEHomTTr84lR0DMWIalXVheGC5MLU_CaJ_u3MMW-wq_zS-EGwI8VQJAZfE4eRrPz1JvVJeg4z5f8Cme6HRF6PpnVB4GFv5DTO6f1awjfZ_Xgjg3qLBui1Nn3RtG18eaSYpO3DYv1swz4MHIWlZDBkes7hVSRptXrCpEq9xCHHXpfT-_4tzK4hRtg/s320/HolmesMeetInkFINAL.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />As the Sherlockian who probably knows the most about the polyphonic motets of Lassus, can you explain to us lay people just what in the heck those are and why Sherlock Holmes would be writing about them?</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Let me see if I can give you the short explanation:</div><div><br /></div><div>First, all motets are polyphonic, so the term “polyphonic motets” is redundant. (Oopsie, Watson!) But a motet is a piece of religious Renaissance choral music meant for the Mass. The lyrics for the pieces are certain scriptural portions assigned to given days of the Church calendar. The music, as I said, is polyphonic, which means each voice has its own melody line, and those melody lines combine to create an extra-worldly sound. Orlando di Lasso (aka Lassus) was a Renaissance composer of renown during this time, and his harmonies are interesting and different from others of his period. In fact, some of his harmonic patterns were not seen again until the 20th century, which is why I think Holmes found his music compelling.</div><div><br /></div><div>I wrote about this subject in more detail in two books: <i><a href="https://bakerstreetirregulars.com/2021/12/26/referring-to-my-notes/" target="_blank">Referring to My Notes</a></i> by BSI Press and <i><a href="https://wessexpress.com/html/70years.html" target="_blank">70 Years by Gaslamp: The Illustrious Clients’ Sixth Casebook</a></i>, so if people want more information on this, they can check those out.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>What book would you recommend to other Sherlockians?</b></div><div><br /></div><div>As crazy as it sounds, I think <i>Sherlock Holmes for Dummies</i> is a great book, not only because it’s written by my good friend Steven Doyle, BSI, or because it is an original scholarly work of great depth (it wasn’t meant to be) but because it helps the Sherlockian explain to non-Sherlockians what this Holmes thing is all about. It gives us a language to use to communicate our love for the Great Detective. It’s also a great resource for newbie Sherlockians. While it’s not still in print currently, it’s not hard to find used copies on Amazon. </div><div><br /></div><div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF0QOUW3q9BZ1CQGcsCOS02wHZAkhaPQ5KWrtd8gHBDwg9Tv6Y9Bncil470K44S1W-YxVre7bza1bbH_lD29pDnD8hqDiOrC4sLxzc1UGRGhcAEN86d7f66toDZGJxWO07CvsE6SnfPrOlMRZMvfKCG6u1WxgHCbCVixyyte6z3uu_WwatcCpnDyM5pQ/s1000/61yav6m+ysL._AC_UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="801" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF0QOUW3q9BZ1CQGcsCOS02wHZAkhaPQ5KWrtd8gHBDwg9Tv6Y9Bncil470K44S1W-YxVre7bza1bbH_lD29pDnD8hqDiOrC4sLxzc1UGRGhcAEN86d7f66toDZGJxWO07CvsE6SnfPrOlMRZMvfKCG6u1WxgHCbCVixyyte6z3uu_WwatcCpnDyM5pQ/s320/61yav6m+ysL._AC_UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width="256" /></a></div><br />Where do you see Sherlockiana in 5 or 10 years from now?</b></div><div><br /></div><div>I think we’ll have new film and TV series to follow, drifting into works based on pastiches (like <i>Enola Holmes</i>). I’m hoping we’ll have some really cool new adaptations of the original canonical stories, but I doubt that’ll happen. Hollywood seems more interested in their own stories rather than those of Doyle. </div><div><br /></div><div>Meanwhile, I think our scion groups will start to connect with each other more often and help each other grow. That seems to be happening now as a result of Zoom. Covid made us connect with each other, and suddenly Sherlockians of all different scions started to visit each other in person afterward. I believe that trend will continue because we’ve started to discover how cool all our fellow Sherlockians are. We’re such an interesting bunch. If you haven’t visited a scion from another town, I do recommend it. You meet great people and always have a good time. It’s like finding family wherever you go. </div></div>Rob Nunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02126012014516886064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70253573396693005.post-65729165932178348902024-02-10T19:33:00.000-08:002024-02-11T16:23:54.624-08:00Several Trustworthy Books of Reference [VALL]At the BSI Weekend, Peter Eckrich and I debuted our new anthology, <i><a href="https://www.wessexpress.com/html/Canonical.html" target="_blank">Canonical Cornerstones: Foundational Books of a Sherlockian Library</a></i>, at the Wessex Press dealer's table. And man, we were not prepared for the reception it received. It was a whirlwind of signing books until we looked up and the stock of <i>Canonical Cornerstones</i> had completely sold out in less than 90 minutes!<div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi28DVC7pvSOlgmI4nZYYdmP4PZclgg6to71ZD195n9jhvP5RuXDS_tSebyujZvZJ7_D4epDcM0K1988BIlm6mMmpFxRLEtnvPveebzOo4wi3xWEahMo_ATYeK-Wnk6tuqgc6o5k4esbNZuawOrAe4kgx7k4_wu2iYFkz-elyxEFqsz56VRrPQWKJqhGA/s350/Canonical-350.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="228" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi28DVC7pvSOlgmI4nZYYdmP4PZclgg6to71ZD195n9jhvP5RuXDS_tSebyujZvZJ7_D4epDcM0K1988BIlm6mMmpFxRLEtnvPveebzOo4wi3xWEahMo_ATYeK-Wnk6tuqgc6o5k4esbNZuawOrAe4kgx7k4_wu2iYFkz-elyxEFqsz56VRrPQWKJqhGA/w260-h400/Canonical-350.jpg" width="260" /></a></div><br />So what made this book such a hot item at the BSI Weekend? This anthology is a collection of 17 essays by different authors making arguments for 17 books that are important to any Sherlockian library. And we all love reading about Sherlockian books!</div><div><br /></div><div>Will you have some of these in your library already? Hopefully. </div><div><br /></div><div>Will you have a different opinion on what 17 titles should make up this list? Probably. </div><div><br /></div><div>Will you enjoy reading everyone's impassioned arguments for their particular title? Absolutely!</div><div><br /></div><div>But I'm going to let the table of contents speak for itself, because the contributors are the real selling point for this anthology.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>Foreword - Michael Dirda</div><div>Introduction - <span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><a href="https://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2022/01/interesting-interview-peter-eckrich.html" target="_blank">Peter Eckrich</a> & Rob Nunn</div><div>“Shall they not always live in Baker Street?”: Vincent Starrett’s <i>The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes</i> - <a href="https://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2018/07/interesting-interviews-ray-betzner.html" target="_blank">Ray Betzner</a></div><div><i>In the Footsteps of Sherlock Holmes</i> by Michael Harrison - <a href="https://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2023/07/interesting-interview-catherine-cooke.html" target="_blank">Catherine Cooke</a></div><div><i>The Baker Street Journal</i> - <a href="https://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2021/10/interesting-interview-peggy-perdue.html" target="_blank">Peggy MacFarlane</a></div><div>Let Me Recommend This Book: Leslie S. Klinger’s <i>The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes</i> - <a href="https://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2019/09/interesting-interview-peter-blau.html" target="_blank">Peter E. Blau</a></div><div>D. Martin Dakin’s <i>A Sherlock Holmes Commentary</i> - <a href="https://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2020/07/interesting-interview-mike-mcswiggin.html" target="_blank">Mike McSwiggin</a></div><div>A Pastiche That Plays the Game: Nicholas Meyer’s <i>Seven-Per-Cent Solution</i> - <a href="https://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2021/02/interesting-interview-anastasia.html" target="_blank">Anastasia Klimchynskaya</a></div><div>Daniel Stashower’s <i>Teller of Tales: The Life of Arthur Conan Doyle</i> - <a href="https://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2020/11/interesting-interview-mark-jones.html" target="_blank">Mark Jones</a></div><div>Beyond the Canon: Apocrypha et Cetera - <a href="https://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2021/01/interesting-interview-ross-davies.html" target="_blank">Ross E. Davies</a></div><div>“Only For The Madmen”: Jack Tracy’s <i>Encyclopedia Sherlockiana</i> - <a href="https://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2020/11/interesting-interview-sonia-fetherston.html" target="_blank">Sonia Fetherston</a></div><div>“Respectful, waggish, farcical” — <i>The Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes</i> by Ellery Queen - <a href="https://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2021/03/interesting-interview-tim-johnson.html" target="_blank">Timothy J. Johnson</a></div><div><i>Holmes and Watson: A Miscellany</i> by S. C. Roberts - Roger Johnson</div><div><i>From Holmes to Sherlock</i> by Mattias Bostrom - From Concept to Classic - <a href="https://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2023/08/interesting-interview-mark-alberstat.html" target="_blank">Mark Alberstat</a></div><div><i>Sherlock Holmes for Dummies</i>: Not Just for Dummies - <a href="https://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2021/07/interesting-interview-regina-stinson.html" target="_blank">Regina Stinson</a></div><div><i>The World Bibliography of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson</i> by Ronald Burt De Waal - <a href="https://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2021/09/interesting-interview-ira-matetsky.html" target="_blank">Ira Brad Matetsky</a></div><div>The Classic Doubleday Omnibus: A Bible All Awry - Russell Merritt</div><div>An Era in Profile: Edgar W. Smith's <i>Profile by Gaslight</i> - <a href="https://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2019/10/interesting-interview-dan-andriacco.html" target="_blank">Dan Andriacco</a></div><div>William Baring-Gould’s <i>The Annotated Sherlock Holmes</i> - <a href="https://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2020/10/interesting-interview-julie-mckuras.html" target="_blank">Julie McKuras</a></div></div><div><br /></div><div>You can see why I'm so excited about this book! Since that morning in New York when it sold out so quickly, Peter and I have been receiving messages left and right from readers who are enjoying the different essays in this collection. So, if the idea of this book interests you, head over to <a href="https://www.wessexpress.com/html/Canonical.html" target="_blank">Wessex Press </a>to grab a copy. You'll be gad that you did!</div>Rob Nunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02126012014516886064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70253573396693005.post-43674008149969516312024-01-22T09:07:00.000-08:002024-01-22T09:08:57.586-08:00The Events Occurred Which I am Now About To Summarise [ENGR]<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ7IdV7onmoj4iJoEJyw4LHvgwj5kVF4GL_FHRKUN4TvNe87kNFG5Igvzf7detrPl88uTJa52QT3ztEuNyxpzI-O_vB9nDSRfRxSkjZIZy4fhS5aOA8iCEa2QG-2hrrwL8lO1gLW7FCyA4noXD0j6h1r-mCD3coC9DQWqZIi9w9-78JUtK9rtcw7iQ5w/s1280/IMG_2480.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="1280" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ7IdV7onmoj4iJoEJyw4LHvgwj5kVF4GL_FHRKUN4TvNe87kNFG5Igvzf7detrPl88uTJa52QT3ztEuNyxpzI-O_vB9nDSRfRxSkjZIZy4fhS5aOA8iCEa2QG-2hrrwL8lO1gLW7FCyA4noXD0j6h1r-mCD3coC9DQWqZIi9w9-78JUtK9rtcw7iQ5w/w400-h156/IMG_2480.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />Last weekend was the annual Sherlock Holmes Birthday Weekend in New York. If you were anywhere on the Sherlockian internet, I'm sure you saw tons of pictures and posts from people who were there. <p></p><p>It's always a pleasure to get to see so many friends in one place, and there are many people I honestly spent less than ten seconds with in the hubbub of everything, despite wanting to talk more with them. This year's weekend had more events than previous ones, with the Gaslight Gala coming back from its Covid hiatus and things starting on Wednesday (or maybe Tuesday, I'm not really sure), so there's always something going on!</p><p>My time in New York was split between Sherlockian events, touristy stuff, and carving out time with friends. I'll try to keep my rundown of the weekend as brief as a synopsis of four packed days can be.</p><p>I booked the earliest possible flight out of St. Louis on Thursday and landed in New York around 9am. Even getting there that early, I was missing things! As I arrived at the Westin hotel and 10:30, people were leaving for the Doylean honors horse race at The Mysterious Bookshop and The Christopher Morley Memorial Walk had already been going on for half an hour by then. </p><p>I texted Rusty Mason when I hit town and he and his dad, <a href="https://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2021/06/interesting-interview-steve-mason.html" target="_blank">Steve</a>, were waiting for me to get settled in and we headed for lunch at McSorley's Old Ale House. <a href="https://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2022/04/interesting-interview-jim-hawkins.html" target="_blank">Jim Hawkins</a> and <a href="https://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2023/08/interesting-interview-rich-krisciunas.html">Rich Krisciunas</a> were with us as we got there and beat the crowd. That back room really fills up when Sherlockians are in town! </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizrLtVFUfdo0HxRUe73Jy0aVr6MPMU8ovGuixWhKPVTxM3O9RLeTEeIGMDHieXZE1H7kXv5okeifM4YYKty1v_Q4VxzVF34ABXccrTyYP8_GMEUbAUv25NmoVObtHI7ZgTnO_PO24kb9kYEmVw9jkSNszq_qLcaInKziQkBQfUuLCKA4gmKLbGZQxwUg/s2016/IMG_2356.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizrLtVFUfdo0HxRUe73Jy0aVr6MPMU8ovGuixWhKPVTxM3O9RLeTEeIGMDHieXZE1H7kXv5okeifM4YYKty1v_Q4VxzVF34ABXccrTyYP8_GMEUbAUv25NmoVObtHI7ZgTnO_PO24kb9kYEmVw9jkSNszq_qLcaInKziQkBQfUuLCKA4gmKLbGZQxwUg/s320/IMG_2356.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Once we realized it was time to give our seats up to folks who needed a place to sit, the five of us went to a dessert bar, The Spot. Fantastic desserts, and even five midwestern and southern guys could appreciate New York takes on classic desserts (even if all of us were too old to recognize the TikTok celebrities that were photographed on the wall).<p></p><p>If you've never been to the weekend, one thing you need to know is that there is a ton of food. My next stop was another meal, this one at an Italian restaurant with Rusty, Jim, and Cynthia and <a href="https://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2021/07/interesting-interview-bill-mason.html" target="_blank">Bill Mason</a>. After that, Rusty and I were off to see Back to the Future: The Musical on Broadway. Not Sherlockian, but definitely fun.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio0U0rV42Oiza50fuXd5l_lphPGYqGUirTjgqY6qwO5rh1RBKdSpzIx9QXn_3jSiTPodR47TlvpXjKzVKS6irRVREF8XbvNhSqngtdgDsWkqN-Xyp1lWyn_I3Z09v_pVfAPUXr7jLX0JTygIUxLSOKEdAtK9tlkGR1urosanAbLJyvXQhOwJ8t2oErlQ/s1544/IMG_2363.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1544" data-original-width="1158" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio0U0rV42Oiza50fuXd5l_lphPGYqGUirTjgqY6qwO5rh1RBKdSpzIx9QXn_3jSiTPodR47TlvpXjKzVKS6irRVREF8XbvNhSqngtdgDsWkqN-Xyp1lWyn_I3Z09v_pVfAPUXr7jLX0JTygIUxLSOKEdAtK9tlkGR1urosanAbLJyvXQhOwJ8t2oErlQ/s320/IMG_2363.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />Every night of the weekend ends at Rosie Dunn's, with a revolving cast of people to spend time with. One thing that hit me differently this year was how tired I was all of the time. I had fun conversations with lots of folks on many different topics (The Simpsons, Dolly Parton, etc.), but it would be a lost cause for me to try to tell you which night things went down at the pub. But trust me, if you're in New York for the Birthday Weekend, Rosie Dunn's should be on your itinerary.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2c26JLQ9Tu1xYNMqMJAEF_6uMnoHZ6yw4Jxhv6N0DK-VcjUcYD0CcHRUpvnc41sS_ggZfJ338pba-XUohYgYMAwcnrQTZemSbKJDSmifKI1OaJ0VettOhaxMP9jR_wGZg1QmA4iSfNUNNNszD1BLlP3tSFUxzb1EzoTPk_OX0hc_BXuk8PxmgruuQpA/s1280/IMG_2481.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="961" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2c26JLQ9Tu1xYNMqMJAEF_6uMnoHZ6yw4Jxhv6N0DK-VcjUcYD0CcHRUpvnc41sS_ggZfJ338pba-XUohYgYMAwcnrQTZemSbKJDSmifKI1OaJ0VettOhaxMP9jR_wGZg1QmA4iSfNUNNNszD1BLlP3tSFUxzb1EzoTPk_OX0hc_BXuk8PxmgruuQpA/s320/IMG_2481.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />A newer tradition at this weekend is folks who have been invested into the BSI getting together for breakfast with their classmates on Friday morning. This was my class's second year gathering, and it's great to have a dedicated time to spend with people around a meal.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlI8GPU95BdqpcO8gAvj-2JiMAiZYvfBX4T5Aa4PozIk4Nhb8uci_PbAsgYbyrWYh0XlSmLF9Ld-TB7aU-6zK-qoJZJElVsNowiXvB8dfewm90FMooIPShFusJY2-WTOdGysX8k4yF7pCwTPcY7FPQdt2s_lHCiU1Kjfjyky0L5CjAtzcWItNTMZ32Zw/s1736/IMG_9093.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1473" data-original-width="1736" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlI8GPU95BdqpcO8gAvj-2JiMAiZYvfBX4T5Aa4PozIk4Nhb8uci_PbAsgYbyrWYh0XlSmLF9Ld-TB7aU-6zK-qoJZJElVsNowiXvB8dfewm90FMooIPShFusJY2-WTOdGysX8k4yF7pCwTPcY7FPQdt2s_lHCiU1Kjfjyky0L5CjAtzcWItNTMZ32Zw/s320/IMG_9093.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />One great thing about the Westin's location is its relative closeness to the New York Public Library. Even if you don't get to go inside every year, walking by those beautiful lions out front and knowing you're close to so many books is wonderful. But this year, <a href="https://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2020/12/interesting-interview-crystal-noll.html" target="_blank">Crystal Noll</a>, <a href="https://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2019/05/interesting-interview-heather-holloway.html" target="_blank">Heather Holloway</a>, Rusty Mason and I went to visit their Treasures from the Archives exhibit. It had everything from Civil Rights flyers to Charles Dickens's writing desk to the Bill of Rights.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHTx-R99sMqwMBaXAF3pFZ2J8xN2fK14p6ymgu18jurnVND_wWPu171DQDLXWrRRxPZ-6D08Bjw2TJgbpl3V7iW9y-DEoVD30RRe-BXWEiAfkC42HiT4dMcUvPGQU08vaGr7ecFVuu9NVL1V0Q6zLWJ3pPTaGUDcJmCILEtFqX3NAbDACnlbJjW_c3CQ/s2016/IMG_2385.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHTx-R99sMqwMBaXAF3pFZ2J8xN2fK14p6ymgu18jurnVND_wWPu171DQDLXWrRRxPZ-6D08Bjw2TJgbpl3V7iW9y-DEoVD30RRe-BXWEiAfkC42HiT4dMcUvPGQU08vaGr7ecFVuu9NVL1V0Q6zLWJ3pPTaGUDcJmCILEtFqX3NAbDACnlbJjW_c3CQ/s320/IMG_2385.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />After that, it was time for the William Gillette Luncheon. I somehow signed up early enough to get a table right up front. In fact, I was sitting with some of the afternoon's performers! Two skits were performed to laughs, a nice meal was had, and everyone got to see each other in one of big events of weekend.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBguOM_mcQyvkkNI_EU8e9cX1jgMpaWv9O17ZAZF8RWeE3yD08tr0QAn9ZkCRF7B9tk0fyE-fJVL9UepY-Z0a-8M8iurxnjaO31iDxn0V3FV53gr3Rf2X0TS2INTwsVFP2cYiosU9fZmxed8VQgWdioIHv4pFdxb7fvXqm1Yp69S4_YoRyHlCEG6H6aw/s2016/IMG_2398.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBguOM_mcQyvkkNI_EU8e9cX1jgMpaWv9O17ZAZF8RWeE3yD08tr0QAn9ZkCRF7B9tk0fyE-fJVL9UepY-Z0a-8M8iurxnjaO31iDxn0V3FV53gr3Rf2X0TS2INTwsVFP2cYiosU9fZmxed8VQgWdioIHv4pFdxb7fvXqm1Yp69S4_YoRyHlCEG6H6aw/s320/IMG_2398.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSLNH8C3zvgRsTO9li5REw5qMMrGerRaboXGWzQDGQoMUz3NYYLJjdUWcjXf5QUOKIg3ljM5HtQaV3cxKDDPnvUIjzQYH-rcGBeodKFO66KV-Z281qNXSbSrKnF6j4D4ApN3rCLq1lrKJTBvrk-1GzCIC1Vth0U6aBMVPWIhmSkkUR_iJvwqJiKxbwzg/s431/IMG_2400.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="323" data-original-width="431" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSLNH8C3zvgRsTO9li5REw5qMMrGerRaboXGWzQDGQoMUz3NYYLJjdUWcjXf5QUOKIg3ljM5HtQaV3cxKDDPnvUIjzQYH-rcGBeodKFO66KV-Z281qNXSbSrKnF6j4D4ApN3rCLq1lrKJTBvrk-1GzCIC1Vth0U6aBMVPWIhmSkkUR_iJvwqJiKxbwzg/s320/IMG_2400.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />And that night was the event that the whole weekend revolved around: The BSI Dinner. This is the event that the rest of the weekend has grown up around, but I think it's important to point out that this is the only invite-only event of the weekend. Everything else is open to everyone and everywhere you go, people are happy to welcome friends old, new, and ones they haven't yet met.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc4kkB1VLt_pkmsu-oofjKx6VPhbnAYSwalCxtkB53SNTH6aK2xT9T3pCZY6e92ZeTC0g6xp-AWGqoPGef_feGkp9LdNakSKXVenvLxarX5i07nRB1TU31az5WhOsjucrTLRl5diRDWMWSfuLmpwMSFaKZUtQ4yonBgGFkYEzqGFGMjjNUNlxmApTQBA/s2016/IMG_1057.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc4kkB1VLt_pkmsu-oofjKx6VPhbnAYSwalCxtkB53SNTH6aK2xT9T3pCZY6e92ZeTC0g6xp-AWGqoPGef_feGkp9LdNakSKXVenvLxarX5i07nRB1TU31az5WhOsjucrTLRl5diRDWMWSfuLmpwMSFaKZUtQ4yonBgGFkYEzqGFGMjjNUNlxmApTQBA/s320/IMG_1057.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />This is the event that probably gets recapped the most, so I will keep mine brief. There were some great toasts and talks, which will be in the Spring issue of the <i>Baker Street Journal</i>, and of course everyone is always clamoring to learn who will be included in this years investiture class. It's been shared elsewhere, but I will post the picture of my notes from that night. <p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtCVHcsWZ-rep5X5ELFkqWup6ATETfjTJMzqUoSK_ZBpVlzYCxHN8bxMGNBzPBgXdvIq1hJqSySQVNqwxKF_OSdWLnH-Y7UXY-rkVUsI88VqM5qsNxCIP1PUN0-0hJ82FKl6IQfYUWIwT8ZElENx904KUGffj0AZs_X3mTTX-DUpJ0w8vmshHpQftuIg/s1920/thumbnail_IMG_2403.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1440" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtCVHcsWZ-rep5X5ELFkqWup6ATETfjTJMzqUoSK_ZBpVlzYCxHN8bxMGNBzPBgXdvIq1hJqSySQVNqwxKF_OSdWLnH-Y7UXY-rkVUsI88VqM5qsNxCIP1PUN0-0hJ82FKl6IQfYUWIwT8ZElENx904KUGffj0AZs_X3mTTX-DUpJ0w8vmshHpQftuIg/s320/thumbnail_IMG_2403.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />The list of investitures always makes me happy. It's a combination of recognition of those folks I have known to be doing great work in Sherlockiana and names of people I haven't met yet but look forward to getting to know in the future.<p></p><p>After the dinner, everyone goes downstairs to enjoy an hour or so at the Yale Club, and then people make their way to Rosie Dunn's to meet up with everyone from the Gaslight Gala. Two things stood out to me from this part of the night. </p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p>1. While everyone from the BSI Dinner flooded into the Yale Club's lounge, one other patron was determined to sit in his armchair and read a newspaper amid the clamor of all of us. I wish I had that kind of focus! </p><p>2. By the time we were kicked out of Rosie Dunn's, it was POURING rain outside. It took my suit a day and a half to dry from that onslaught of rain.</p></blockquote><p>Saturday kicks off with the Dealer's Room with Sherlockians selling all kinds of things. Wessex Press and BSI Press debut their new titles here, and Belanger Books and MX Publishing have tables with their latest books as well. If those four aren't enough to drain your wallet, there are plenty of individuals selling enough old books and ephemera to fill your suitcase.</p><p>One of Wessex Press's new books this year is one I'm very proud of,<i> <a href="https://www.wessexpress.com/html/Canonical.html" target="_blank">Canonical Cornerstones: Foundational Books of a Sherlockian Library</a>.</i> This is an anthology that <a href="https://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2022/01/interesting-interview-peter-eckrich.html" target="_blank">Peter Eckrich</a> and I oversaw and will be the subject of its own blog post at a later date. It was great to get to sign copies for everyone who picked one up, but unfortunately not everyone could get one because it sold out in less than 90 minutes! Every time I think of how excited people were to check this book out, it just makes me smile.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZrCjSVLnL6gI7Do9dZ8wHnUFvgsJKD3k7LQX9vZr0foX7yVIDKDOY8qFfBk-MVbOnGZ-l3rdDJiEt9z0Ys84Gf5BhtvHSxYgpw_gTbpeEIl5m3R48iNybG2TQBiDyLAJBkODvT_tybwcfO-JWtbGGX90LVvIQ29azZ8gmx79GSZb_NWDuYkmODkQKww/s1833/IMG_2406.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1833" data-original-width="1305" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZrCjSVLnL6gI7Do9dZ8wHnUFvgsJKD3k7LQX9vZr0foX7yVIDKDOY8qFfBk-MVbOnGZ-l3rdDJiEt9z0Ys84Gf5BhtvHSxYgpw_gTbpeEIl5m3R48iNybG2TQBiDyLAJBkODvT_tybwcfO-JWtbGGX90LVvIQ29azZ8gmx79GSZb_NWDuYkmODkQKww/s320/IMG_2406.jpg" width="228" /></a></div><br />After that, it was back to the Yale Club for the BSI Luncheon. Even though, this has BSI in the title, this event is open to everyone and in the past few years it has been selling out very quickly. It's a nice time for everyone to mingle and talk with everyone from across the country. It's always fun to see who ends up at your table. As usual, I had a good group this year: Rudy Altergott, Peter and <a href="https://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2021/04/interesting-interview-joe-eckrich.html" target="_blank">Joe Eckrich</a>, Brian and <a href="https://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2021/12/interesting-interview-derrick-belanger.html" target="_blank">Derrick Belanger</a>, Max Magee, Ed Petit, and Ray and Becky Riethmeier.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8tQY2yS6lcbuSqY3gy0XA-epy7JtW7DaNSwVwcZDHSvyCBjz5UxZTVchYCfnAr43Xg46UgVXGHcnwr-fvtIdtEkYKYtratEPWZAo4hcw5rZ3h5WUtYkmZ8gHrtUXXeU1l7fufCa2mO5a_SGeoVkYVVG8oJC78ZINdPDmkRmIml57VT_PyCt85gpnZMw/s2016/IMG_9802.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8tQY2yS6lcbuSqY3gy0XA-epy7JtW7DaNSwVwcZDHSvyCBjz5UxZTVchYCfnAr43Xg46UgVXGHcnwr-fvtIdtEkYKYtratEPWZAo4hcw5rZ3h5WUtYkmZ8gHrtUXXeU1l7fufCa2mO5a_SGeoVkYVVG8oJC78ZINdPDmkRmIml57VT_PyCt85gpnZMw/s320/IMG_9802.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />That night, I had dinner with <a href="https://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2018/07/interesting-interviews-ray-betzner.html" target="_blank">Ray Betzner</a>, <a href="https://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2018/09/interesting-interview-ashley-polasek.html" target="_blank">Ashley Polasek</a>, and Tim Greer. You couldn't ask for more pleasant company! It's interesting that with this being a Sherlockian weekend, so many of my conversations with folks were about other topics. That night's conversation wandered from heist movies to theater performances to college commencements. I've found that Sherlockiana is a great jumping-off point for meeting folks and we then build our friendships from there. (Well, maybe it wasn't all non-Sherlockian... we may have tried out our Nigel Bruce impressions)<p></p><p>Sunday always brings one of my favorite events of the weekend, the ASH Brunch. It's the wind-down event where people can move around and visit with one another without any kind of program (and there's as much bacon as you want). I've equated this event to the last day of summer camp. People are comparing notes of what they saw and did over the past few days and making plans for the upcoming year. As its time for folks to catch their flights, they drift off one by one until the locals have their city back.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu4y-1kXMbL1QKT0JhFiRd0JaCVw9GCOd2GOWxnmEvd8HMwLVk0ZpknJQ-P9HnO3v57L6gOcolAOPCoRpwKYPyyN5Qo7iQGp6THLokheou3KUSlx_RXp4wrgXWYXq8yFkK3XlW1Oq0chFSJ9quQoy06lGBaDQE_fsDikdoKDe0EjAiHUGR2XqexBkeLQ/s2016/IMG_2412.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu4y-1kXMbL1QKT0JhFiRd0JaCVw9GCOd2GOWxnmEvd8HMwLVk0ZpknJQ-P9HnO3v57L6gOcolAOPCoRpwKYPyyN5Qo7iQGp6THLokheou3KUSlx_RXp4wrgXWYXq8yFkK3XlW1Oq0chFSJ9quQoy06lGBaDQE_fsDikdoKDe0EjAiHUGR2XqexBkeLQ/s320/IMG_2412.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR__9KKW1q4Ve8J4AAiUSwIQ-XpEwsYzG-Av_C0hnMiywaf8p-W9xyAFqGmAV0k1zmeH4N6hZULHNqgH6ICV6CDsiWekZ7LduNQGvCCNmQBz4QDvojajjXBG0PPoX6bjBFDzJH2pcW8ZnN6nt3irfh_5AlGjk0TRHa3dwptYe9uadEUC7Os06wbOjN5Q/s2016/IMG_2413.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR__9KKW1q4Ve8J4AAiUSwIQ-XpEwsYzG-Av_C0hnMiywaf8p-W9xyAFqGmAV0k1zmeH4N6hZULHNqgH6ICV6CDsiWekZ7LduNQGvCCNmQBz4QDvojajjXBG0PPoX6bjBFDzJH2pcW8ZnN6nt3irfh_5AlGjk0TRHa3dwptYe9uadEUC7Os06wbOjN5Q/s320/IMG_2413.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRcQiR-OBY6Ze_j3IMxLGH2gXgguV15VCz6mVgWW-s_0zn3ui3jvqIaBVoArkjEbQ4ap8gqeJz_68DUGVwl28SvO_0nbrD6nPsyHpG4ljqiph4S8JxQcOuWPuMdEKBlhlPP8dfDZ3OdqZ4I6Be-JOsCJQKTzn1GVUuJDS7VSVZ5FgnNGdyXEE97iu4zQ/s2016/IMG_2415.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRcQiR-OBY6Ze_j3IMxLGH2gXgguV15VCz6mVgWW-s_0zn3ui3jvqIaBVoArkjEbQ4ap8gqeJz_68DUGVwl28SvO_0nbrD6nPsyHpG4ljqiph4S8JxQcOuWPuMdEKBlhlPP8dfDZ3OdqZ4I6Be-JOsCJQKTzn1GVUuJDS7VSVZ5FgnNGdyXEE97iu4zQ/s320/IMG_2415.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;">I'm not standing on anything, there's just that much of a height difference.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />I had one more stop on my weekend, though. I'm a big Muppets fan, so I made a trip over to Queens to the Museum of the Moving Image where they had a Jim Henson exhibit that included all kinds of original Muppets and the sign that was used in the Muppet Show.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKY-kAOwEhWo8lOCKRA0nL0UCGZGZY6NuNmr7R4kcKxITqdYg4PbaYfJZfh2oH3ycb3-XK2PWcmgR9ZUSkVcUIBqfe5AEMkEkA_Kdlx8k85z6V8PK0yIVSSgG2i0mKl7ut9hsQ9T4nShDJAkEueFi4CURzu_Q4h0MjuRvNiO7W2vPaOoCgkmxqu_u2hw/s2016/IMG_2423.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKY-kAOwEhWo8lOCKRA0nL0UCGZGZY6NuNmr7R4kcKxITqdYg4PbaYfJZfh2oH3ycb3-XK2PWcmgR9ZUSkVcUIBqfe5AEMkEkA_Kdlx8k85z6V8PK0yIVSSgG2i0mKl7ut9hsQ9T4nShDJAkEueFi4CURzu_Q4h0MjuRvNiO7W2vPaOoCgkmxqu_u2hw/s320/IMG_2423.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNy_2fVld637nCVF11hJui-lePR5AzWMOhunFCvFUP9vP7Js_MjdzEXXqBTUsivJSUrC1uAUHhDD-HwPzqksxFlqkxCDWs4MljCnw5Eyt4jxsSwhPoBNSmqhhhdcSAPLwuCQ-4QHGItv-e1MWw4AnEATFRJRPQlZQsCXTDR9EfgLUOIxbn4ByvOez_jw/s2016/IMG_2434.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNy_2fVld637nCVF11hJui-lePR5AzWMOhunFCvFUP9vP7Js_MjdzEXXqBTUsivJSUrC1uAUHhDD-HwPzqksxFlqkxCDWs4MljCnw5Eyt4jxsSwhPoBNSmqhhhdcSAPLwuCQ-4QHGItv-e1MWw4AnEATFRJRPQlZQsCXTDR9EfgLUOIxbn4ByvOez_jw/s320/IMG_2434.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />By this time, winter weather was hitting the Midwest and causing delays with flights across the country. Luckily, I was only delayed by an hour and a half (which allowed me to get <a href="https://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2024/01/interesting-interview-brad-keefauver.html" target="_blank">last week's Interesting Interview </a>posted) but I know others had a much longer wait. It sounds like everyone eventually made it home safely, with suitcases of new books and brain attics full of good memories. I'm already looking forward to next year's weekend.<p></p>Rob Nunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02126012014516886064noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70253573396693005.post-25066910129015890562024-01-14T16:32:00.000-08:002024-01-14T16:32:53.656-08:00Interesting Interview: Brad Keefauver<p>Long ago, in the far-off year of 2018, <a href="https://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2018/04/interesting-interviews-brad-keefauver.html" target="_blank">I interviewed my friend Brad Keefauver</a>. He was the second Interesting Though Elementary participant and he has told me for years that he would like to redo his interview, now knowing how long this project would go on. I always told him he could redo his piece after my 100th interview. And since last month was <a href="https://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2023/12/interesting-interview-jerry-kegley.html" target="_blank">interview number 100</a>, it was time for me to make good on my promise.</p><p>How can I sum this guy up in a paragraph? I can't, but here are some highlights. Brad has been a Sherlockian since the 80s, and documented his early years in the delightful memoir, <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Fall-Eighties-Sherlockian/dp/B08VCKZBFF/ref=sr_1_2?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.7GhiDeiijbsoH_4o_BBv7HfA-z1Rls1Y1I5zoi8HOBGgqunA-cbjtShElpQmrDbcyokOZWSmWCO_fyRIt42SJeORXs7i3nu16Hq-Zf6MUFapsrFleVjKEqpKKuXA1TJD5EijIKs4SpiCT8Lx01riiA.j38LMmwlc2IbEbFJS5rpR5nBWWnwwIfn_cB5OqmHePk&dib_tag=se&qid=1705276957&refinements=p_27%3ABrad+Keefauver&s=books&sr=1-2&text=Brad+Keefauver" target="_blank">The Rise and Fall of an Eighties Sherlockian</a></i>. He is the co-founder of <a href="https://bkeefauver5.wixsite.com/sherlockchronoguild" target="_blank">The Sherlockian Chronologist Guild</a>, slowly but surely bringing respectability to that branch of our hobby. He was the co-editor of <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Monstrum-Opus-Sherlock-Holmes-Compendium/dp/B0BHL5XBT5/ref=sr_1_1?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.7GhiDeiijbsoH_4o_BBv7HfA-z1Rls1Y1I5zoi8HOBGgqunA-cbjtShElpQmrDbcyokOZWSmWCO_fyRIt42SJeORXs7i3nu16Hq-Zf6MUFapsrFleVjKEqpKKuXA1TJD5EijIKs4SpiCT8Lx01riiA.j38LMmwlc2IbEbFJS5rpR5nBWWnwwIfn_cB5OqmHePk&dib_tag=se&qid=1705277797&refinements=p_27%3ABrad+Keefauver&s=books&sr=1-1&text=Brad+Keefauver" target="_blank">The Monstrum Opus of Sherlock Holmes</a></i>, and has written <a href="https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3ABrad+Keefauver&s=relevancerank&text=Brad+Keefauver&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1" target="_blank">enough titles of his own</a> that would make any author proud. But his highest achievement in my mind is that he is so forward thinking and open armed when it comes to Sherlockiana. Brad rarely shies away from trying new things or welcoming new people. For a hobby that has been around for a century or so, both of those aspects are vitally important to keep things fresh. So it's time to get some fresh answers from everyone's favorite Sherlockian, Brad Keefauver!</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl9HO8ZE_I1f7wz5kh28r4zbxR0y2ggCjt1HejqwMCtkHl3fODKGlpM5Imfgez_0gFrrXq7DBLOOD39r_I3BtFTB2kejMopKic0erClCChIZZeeyeeyKJmBSqJgklo8DnJNZRp1BgSj7CivZIefHzbwYIvCibyFj0AY0G9nt_rpN-NLBVRKlbQbCMXRA/s768/BradonTrain.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl9HO8ZE_I1f7wz5kh28r4zbxR0y2ggCjt1HejqwMCtkHl3fODKGlpM5Imfgez_0gFrrXq7DBLOOD39r_I3BtFTB2kejMopKic0erClCChIZZeeyeeyKJmBSqJgklo8DnJNZRp1BgSj7CivZIefHzbwYIvCibyFj0AY0G9nt_rpN-NLBVRKlbQbCMXRA/s320/BradonTrain.png" width="240" /></a></b></div><b><br />How do you define the word “Sherlockian”?</b><p></p><p>1. A sentient being who has made Sherlock Holmes an ongoing part of their existence. 2. A Holmesian being described by an American. 3. Something described as being like Sherlock Holmes or done in a fashion reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes. </p><p><b>How did you become a Sherlockian?</b></p><p>That evolution had so many steps that it’s hard to document. Reading “The Speckled Band” in junior high lit class didn’t spark it as much as the preview to <i>The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes</i> the next year. Having to write a high school term paper took me to the Canon for the first time, as Holmes seemed more interesting than other characters of classic fiction. And then in college, <i>Sherlock Holmes’s War of the Worlds</i> by Manly W. Wellman and Wade Wellman started me on a binge of all the pastiches in that publishing wave that came after <i><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-seven-per-cent-solution-being-a-reprint-from-the-reminiscences-of-john-h-watson-m-d-nicholas-meyer/8792211?ean=9780393311198" target="_blank">The Seven-Per-Cent Solution</a></i>. A French class field trip to Chicago put Michael Harrison’s anthology <i>Beyond Baker Street</i> in my hands for the whole bus trip home, which showed me that Sherlockians existed. And my longtime partner and spouse, the good Carter found a Sherlock Holmes society called the Double-Barrelled Tiger Cubs of Champaign-Urbana which became my entry point into the Sherlockian social world, at which point I finally acknowledged that, yes, I was that thing called a Sherlockian.</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFNdB409AswOe-KHLj5bM_tS1hPuSCb4TFw6vdfA0XBAJ9GnR_cps9yRAR-6UP3SuuVVqPVydu9lb_WdKggJX63pIVbHjumxGl2D8WIeIGg2KEqpM1b7hUbRyigcTmTFYDAlYbqx2Dz9VM21onQwNQeC5yNsXqMZi08Wqf3aJvOdDdg9jT4Y2vQ5Gb4A/s373/Shwotw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="373" data-original-width="220" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFNdB409AswOe-KHLj5bM_tS1hPuSCb4TFw6vdfA0XBAJ9GnR_cps9yRAR-6UP3SuuVVqPVydu9lb_WdKggJX63pIVbHjumxGl2D8WIeIGg2KEqpM1b7hUbRyigcTmTFYDAlYbqx2Dz9VM21onQwNQeC5yNsXqMZi08Wqf3aJvOdDdg9jT4Y2vQ5Gb4A/s320/Shwotw.jpg" width="189" /></a></b></div><b><br />What is your profession and does that affect how you enjoy being a Sherlockian?</b><p></p><p>I’m a software analyst, which doesn’t affect how I enjoy being a Sherlockian as much as being a Sherlockian has helped me be a software analyst. I can honestly claim Sherlockian chronology helped get me a job, as part of the interview process was to do a presentation on the subject of your choice. Somehow that worked.</p><p><b>What is your favorite canonical story?</b></p><p>I don’t want to say “Illustrious Client.” But I think it’s “Illustrious Client.” So sensational!</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiROUzycDU9gh5wMWWoa7TpYKLgoeB-v7pcn5ZiU1JeG31VG0bqtJ9NDdbLliI-LuIZu0RjWz6qvtMY4iH9PjueKbZay_O40UQHYuGoexLPHlGQRdKexLYPLXNLC8-eBrlbrBma6gSNWywyemM7qja7i_VUH8-XOsShmcSrbhc555nrx3vDn4e8cfuQCw/s576/BradBadAtSelfies.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="576" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiROUzycDU9gh5wMWWoa7TpYKLgoeB-v7pcn5ZiU1JeG31VG0bqtJ9NDdbLliI-LuIZu0RjWz6qvtMY4iH9PjueKbZay_O40UQHYuGoexLPHlGQRdKexLYPLXNLC8-eBrlbrBma6gSNWywyemM7qja7i_VUH8-XOsShmcSrbhc555nrx3vDn4e8cfuQCw/s320/BradBadAtSelfies.png" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />Who is a specific Sherlockian that you think others would find interesting?</b><p></p><p>The genius <a href="https://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2021/02/interesting-interview-paul-thomas-miller.html" target="_blank">Paul Thomas Miller</a>. Such a clever boy.</p><p><b>What subset of Sherlockiana really interests you?</b></p><p>Sherlockians that are fun to go to breakfast, lunch, or non-banquet-dinner with. (Eight people at a table is just too many, though there have been exceptions!)</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWkQCf_Gzm8TH5IfQo7wVWvp0t1O9Xa-AZ7H6RHaM0haeAqIbnD6S_ivuJQaJEAhqN8oALpQC4NY7FdFiT9k3YFtTVynYjfz6_6MG24QcsjpDl-_Q1Fz42vz32hTCpsUKeP0vJO5kLp3d4FVuTpR-C-3CRuadw0ispAz-Mkv2dCIlAx1XW_5ypMvZVgA/s576/ChronologistPoliceLineUp.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="163" data-original-width="576" height="91" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWkQCf_Gzm8TH5IfQo7wVWvp0t1O9Xa-AZ7H6RHaM0haeAqIbnD6S_ivuJQaJEAhqN8oALpQC4NY7FdFiT9k3YFtTVynYjfz6_6MG24QcsjpDl-_Q1Fz42vz32hTCpsUKeP0vJO5kLp3d4FVuTpR-C-3CRuadw0ispAz-Mkv2dCIlAx1XW_5ypMvZVgA/s320/ChronologistPoliceLineUp.png" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />As one of the founding members of the Sherlockian Chronologist Guild, why should people pay more attention to the chronology of the Canon?</b><p></p><p>Pushing to put the stories into your own personal sequence reveals so much of what you think of Holmes and Watson’s lives. It’s not just about dates, it’s about their relationship and the influences other people had on it.</p><p><b><a href="https://watsonianweekly.libsyn.com/" target="_blank">The Watsonian Weekly podcast</a> has been around for more than 4 1/2 years, why do you think people find Dr. Watson so interesting after all of these years?</b></p><p>Well, that he’s Sherlock Holmes’s buddy, mainly. But we’re seeing more and more Watson-centered Sherlockian productions, especially in 2024 with <i><a href="https://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2024/01/an-interview-with-creator-of-sherlock.html" target="_blank">Sherlock & Co. </a></i>and the upcoming CBS Watson series because there’s so much uncharted territory to explore there. Watson is like bigfoot, an intriguing crypto-character whom we do not know nearly as much about as we’d like to.</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjYRa_ZyJmc57AlZKkKxirCSwSXagmPgXYVTmF3g8JbUHt092gJ71viWl1Js4ixDeczNcndVAk6W0fPct8bXbrvsxHGKRzEbouymTdrS7HyUQ11CqZ-_c5WTLkeTvm8C-JvCsTM13hlWfgyotkY9aY-4MXCSkSeh6kwYGGvwqxBty4c10L22xxlAXtzQ/s864/BradattheBestMovieEver.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="864" data-original-width="719" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjYRa_ZyJmc57AlZKkKxirCSwSXagmPgXYVTmF3g8JbUHt092gJ71viWl1Js4ixDeczNcndVAk6W0fPct8bXbrvsxHGKRzEbouymTdrS7HyUQ11CqZ-_c5WTLkeTvm8C-JvCsTM13hlWfgyotkY9aY-4MXCSkSeh6kwYGGvwqxBty4c10L22xxlAXtzQ/s320/BradattheBestMovieEver.png" width="266" /></a></b></div><b><br />What book would you recommend to other Sherlockians?</b><p></p><p>Okay, I hate to say it, but <i><a href="https://bakerstreetirregulars.com/2001/12/30/angels-of-darkness/" target="_blank">Angels of Darkness</a></i> in the BSI Manuscript Series. It’s so terribly awful and a counterpoint to the genius Conan Doyle displayed in the Canon. But it gives us a pre-Canon Dr. Watson and a version of <i>A Study in Scarlet</i> that raises all sorts of questions. Sir Montague Brown could have been Sherlock Holmes in disguise for all we know!</p><p><b>Where do you see Sherlockiana in 5 or 10 years from now?</b></p><p>More widespread and multi-channel than anyone can keep up with. A steadfast core of Sherlockian bees will still be buzzing around the classic hives, but new ideas and ways of celebrating Holmes and Watson will come from places we can’t yet imagine, even if we’re in a post-apocalyptic bunker community dependent upon Rusty Mason waving hand-drawn puppets on sticks around to adapt the Canon for feral children.</p>Rob Nunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02126012014516886064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70253573396693005.post-63667575061296574792024-01-07T17:29:00.000-08:002024-01-07T17:29:30.261-08:00An Interview with the Creator of Sherlock & Co. - Joel Emery<p>I'm not a huge fan of Sherlockian adaptations. I'm not opposed to adaptations, though. I am happy to check something out and see what creators are doing with Holmes and Watson, even if that means sitting through <i>Holmes and Watson</i>. Most adaptations have some kind of spin to add to the Canon, and quite frankly, it's usually too much spin for me. I prefer to stick to the source material most of the time and read scholarship around that. </p><p>So when I heard people buzzing after the first episode of the podcast <i><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/sherlock-co/id1710121792" target="_blank">Sherlock & Co.</a></i>, I knew I would check it out, but wasn't in a big hurry. John Watson returns to London after an injury and tries his hand at true crime podcasting, because everyone has a podcast now. The premise sounded clever. I figured I would think the show was fine, but something that ultimately wasn't for me. Man, was I wrong.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_-T7IDP5xb7umjR9WZxJK-OxvWnfDJeep5gIuR1OVYWMN1rFtlsVeSrR6PZaLp4W0RCZRoWKkrpRIptQ5hycMEJF02wCw4aJ2mF-hJIFwCsejmnDRoRGkT_CCY7y-81Id-OvcCxsPfL4RftGKCLbKbLQmLUfrSGQXRoo_zDGI3oJ203SdsAzroEMmCg/s640/ab6765630000ba8aacd4ee26bfa816d1117c81b4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_-T7IDP5xb7umjR9WZxJK-OxvWnfDJeep5gIuR1OVYWMN1rFtlsVeSrR6PZaLp4W0RCZRoWKkrpRIptQ5hycMEJF02wCw4aJ2mF-hJIFwCsejmnDRoRGkT_CCY7y-81Id-OvcCxsPfL4RftGKCLbKbLQmLUfrSGQXRoo_zDGI3oJ203SdsAzroEMmCg/s320/ab6765630000ba8aacd4ee26bfa816d1117c81b4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Anytime I try a new show, I give it three episodes to find its groove before passing judgement. <i>Sherlock & Co.</i> is one of the rare shows that had me sold by the end of the first episode. The sound quality and acting is impeccable. The plan is to modernize the entire Canon, and each case takes two to three episodes to complete, so the creators are playing a long game here. There is a lot to enjoy in this show that I could go on and on about: John's abilities as a podcaster, "Mrs. Hudson," Archie, Mrs. Watson, etc. <div><br /></div><div>I'm a stickler for canonical fidelity, and <i>Sherlock & Co.</i> nails it. But what I enjoy the most are all of the updates that keep these cases fresh. How does "Thor Bridge" tie in to Instagram and and video games? I won't spill the beans, but will tell you that it was done brilliantly. And Baron Gruner? Oh man, <i>Sherlock & Co.'</i>s version of him is unnervingly true to life and bothersome.<p></p><p>Now, when you hear, "modernize," comparisons to <i>Sherlock </i>and <i>Elementary </i>are inevitable. I'm going to stake my claim right here and now and say that <i>Sherlock & Co. </i>is hands down better than either of them. I strongly recommend anyone who enjoys Sherlock Holmes to check out <i>Sherlock & Co.</i> Give it a few episodes and see what you think. </p><p>So my mini-review here has all been a way to pave the road for an interview with the show's creator, Joel Emery. Joel was happy to talk about his new project via email, and I think anyone who is already enjoying the show or is interested in it will enjoy what he has to say about his process:</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwrROqmCzwIA7LZjGMIwcKgOjblLUD5EMkDCA-06v_lIVFN21avG0fsw-nNbCzHWIqh5GFx3lydp-Dn6QWnofd3oyYY88aM63Mf3c17P0oMGRJjssnOxNGbzGzrLloIhPybpSobozTShhaO7wJx_szwvRuxWO9SxoW4aXV378PgWlF9n8CVvxwUxXYiw/s400/hheAELUq_400x400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwrROqmCzwIA7LZjGMIwcKgOjblLUD5EMkDCA-06v_lIVFN21avG0fsw-nNbCzHWIqh5GFx3lydp-Dn6QWnofd3oyYY88aM63Mf3c17P0oMGRJjssnOxNGbzGzrLloIhPybpSobozTShhaO7wJx_szwvRuxWO9SxoW4aXV378PgWlF9n8CVvxwUxXYiw/s320/hheAELUq_400x400.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />How did you get into audio production?</b><p></p><p>I suppose, at this risk of sounding cynical about the media industry - we had no money or connections! So we needed a field of the industry that required neither of those things to get our work out there. Podcasting was and remains free for the most part and overheads are very manageable, so we put together a show that we had always wanted to do called <i><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-offensive/id1428145927" target="_blank">The Offensive</a></i>. It followed a fictional Premier League football team in a documentary style. It was very sweary, very coarse, a satire of the modern game and it ran every week for five years. It was obviously rushed together in our spare time, we cast hundreds of actors over that time and by the end of it we had acquired a bunch of skills that we threw into the next project and the next and the next. And now, thank god, we don't do it in our spare time - we do it for a living.</p><p><b>Americans don't naturally gravitate to audio dramas. How would you sell this form of storytelling to those of us across the pond?</b></p><p>Neither do Brits I can tell you! Audio drama remains an acquired taste (I find anyway). We're often looking at ways into presenting stories that are audio dramas but ultimately don't feel like them. It often requires deconstructing the form a little and latching the shows onto a more recognised form. For example, John Watson is a true-crime podcaster, he constantly speaks to the listener and I will deliberately put together dialogue that reads as real as possible. He makes mistakes, he has technical issues, things crop up that he wasn't expecting, we're limited by his editing, his microphone coverage and so on. This, believe it or not, is familiar ground for the average podcast listener - and this vehicle is what we try and use as a gateway drug to audio drama. Yes it's an audio drama - but be assured we're doing everything we can behind the scenes to make it not feel like one. </p><p>I would sell audio drama like this - it's great for improving focus. Lots of exercises out there to improve focus are boring and difficult, so if you want to work on how you consume media and flex your imagination muscles - do it with something that has a story, do it with something fun and interesting. Audio drama is right up there as a fun workout for your brain. I believe also colouring books are as well, but you're going to look like an idiot in public if you're doing that. Unless you're aged 7 and under of course.</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsroShURWEMW27itxfdtbHXX-oz-IWAax2ail7WfEwRh64azAPsK45_xjhrLmcz30zMPS-2nu4Umyblxc64mbikekvzo6Ei6vZUoQ-8yGbrrUhzti-4gbN7TcZlNmNglHhR7uS3f6-oo23RitaY7czzv4WUhyt29p5g-jBLwf3b_5mpvZfw_CNh_fH5w/s1920/MV5BOThmZmQ5ZWItYjc4ZC00ZTdmLTkxOTEtZTJkMGVmNjQzODllXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyOTMyMjYwNTA@._V1_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1920" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsroShURWEMW27itxfdtbHXX-oz-IWAax2ail7WfEwRh64azAPsK45_xjhrLmcz30zMPS-2nu4Umyblxc64mbikekvzo6Ei6vZUoQ-8yGbrrUhzti-4gbN7TcZlNmNglHhR7uS3f6-oo23RitaY7czzv4WUhyt29p5g-jBLwf3b_5mpvZfw_CNh_fH5w/s320/MV5BOThmZmQ5ZWItYjc4ZC00ZTdmLTkxOTEtZTJkMGVmNjQzODllXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyOTMyMjYwNTA@._V1_.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />With all of the characters out there, what drew you to Sherlock Holmes and John Watson?</b><p></p><p>Goalhanger Podcasts (the production company that owns the show) told us to! It was not something that occurred to us. I think for Sherlock outsiders it can often look like a very saturated market, we couldn't really understand why Goalhanger saw this gap to exploit. That was until Tony Pastor at Goalhanger showed me the full Sherlock catalogue, all those short stories that had basically been neglected by mainstream broadcasters and movie studios for an entire generation. After reading "The Red Headed League" we were completely on board. I think if you don't know the stories you always start with the characters. And what great characters. Watson is perfect for this form, a realist, an everyman story-teller, and Sherlock is the perfect counterweight to that.</p><p><b>What is the typical process of adapting a story for the podcast?</b></p><p>Read it about 4 times, listen to Stephen Fry narrate it a couple of times. I actually listened to <i>I Hear Of Sherlock Everywhere </i>with Raymond G. Farney and I ended up buying his book <i><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/a-study-in-sherlock-watson-s-notebook-raymond-g-farney/15080183?ean=9781684981250" target="_blank">A Study In Sherlock</a></i> and it's really handy as a writer as it works as Watson's casebook. It compiles each adventure into details, evidence, perpetrators, timeframes, locations, dates - everything just brought down to key points. All the while, even from the first reading, I'll be noting down how it would work in modern day, how it would work in audio and how we can add something refreshing as well. Also comedy, our show is a light comedy most of the time so I'm also looking for those moments. We're only a few weeks ahead of the latest uploaded episodes so we'll make sure the cast get the scripts at the earliest window possible. Once it's all edited together we'll talk about pickups, how clear is the mystery, how formed are the new characters for this story, what lines need to be tweaked etc.</p><p>(<i>Joel appeared on </i><a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2023/10/episode-275-sherlock-co.html" target="_blank"><i>episode 275 of </i>I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere</a>, <i>and is definitely worth a listen.</i>)</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnbEelUaFBVWGhb69rvYBxzCKZCr7qEuUnXRP_0F22Af5855GGWhDKUqm3ICP7KaSdZjEXzCTeY-UlqM7kLJ8BKW0o9_ujsmdP7tRhwVoPuoWKwr9PSvOY9hTnarZRY-bKY323JA2PhevCpdylX_jngTlrKs-fK03W_CHPpee_g8ehnJcfNhSlys2ALw/s1600/MV5BODMwYTdhMDctMjhiNC00MWE5LTg4ZWYtMjYyYWYyZWQyNTNkXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyOTMyMjYwNTA@._V1_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnbEelUaFBVWGhb69rvYBxzCKZCr7qEuUnXRP_0F22Af5855GGWhDKUqm3ICP7KaSdZjEXzCTeY-UlqM7kLJ8BKW0o9_ujsmdP7tRhwVoPuoWKwr9PSvOY9hTnarZRY-bKY323JA2PhevCpdylX_jngTlrKs-fK03W_CHPpee_g8ehnJcfNhSlys2ALw/s320/MV5BODMwYTdhMDctMjhiNC00MWE5LTg4ZWYtMjYyYWYyZWQyNTNkXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyOTMyMjYwNTA@._V1_.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />How do you decide the chronology of your stories?</b><p></p><p>It's a great question with a boring answer I'm afraid. Sherlock Holmes has a number of different types of story, and it was important for us that we presented that variation of form right from the off. If we had started with 4 murder cases in a row, we would have cultivated an audience that was expecting blood and guts. But a lot of the time Sherlock Holmes stories are characters needing something looked into, needing a problem solved. Sometimes Sherlock is just re-collecting a story. And that's the reason we started with "Illustrious Client" - there's a hint of a murder, but mostly it's something that needs to be solved. Then we did "Noble Bachelor," no murder, just intrigue. By the time we came to "The Problem of Thor Bridge" and for our first murder investigation, our Watson is terrified at the idea of being involved with something so unusual to his modern sensibilities, army surgeon or otherwise - so it gives us a little growth in that sense. And from this point onwards we're trying to show people who aren't familiar with the original stories just how varied Conan Doyle made these adventures. How they bounced around from all sorts of places, to all sorts of problems, from all sorts of villains and victims. It's not just about Moriarty vs Sherlock, there's so much out there so we just want to really keep them on their feet. It was a big decision at the time, to break the original order and actually ignore the chronology of Watson's accounts and to find our own route through the canon. We don't regret our decision at all, it is a lot of fun deciding the next place to go.</p><p><b>Which character is the most fun to write for?</b></p><p>Watson. 100% Watson. Sherlock Holmes is intellectually intimidating! Watson is brilliant too but Sherlock Holmes uses efficient, accurate language, his deductions are lengthy but precise and it can take me a while to put them together... yes I may be prouder of Sherlock's lines but Watson is definitely more fun. </p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg35VZdxsGDEqe1Rs-vJJRyCH-9fpI0ZfGI6kE9tgYL7JTRDZESpBh1HYROamsODcDFvHo90saLYP4zcvsy4VOECKNI7JZ9QDgXtfs8U3iLrtacrabERq34lJ23a1tCtl6Ovo3mIB5tMH6uxo6AJIK5F4GbohdSs8R9l6eYzLvYr3I6sGvGqORzX3rPQ/s1920/MV5BZjdhNGQ3NTgtOThhYi00YWJmLTk1ZTktNzA1ZjgwZGY0MGYwXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyOTMyMjYwNTA@._V1_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1920" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg35VZdxsGDEqe1Rs-vJJRyCH-9fpI0ZfGI6kE9tgYL7JTRDZESpBh1HYROamsODcDFvHo90saLYP4zcvsy4VOECKNI7JZ9QDgXtfs8U3iLrtacrabERq34lJ23a1tCtl6Ovo3mIB5tMH6uxo6AJIK5F4GbohdSs8R9l6eYzLvYr3I6sGvGqORzX3rPQ/s320/MV5BZjdhNGQ3NTgtOThhYi00YWJmLTk1ZTktNzA1ZjgwZGY0MGYwXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyOTMyMjYwNTA@._V1_.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />What is your favorite of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories?</b><p></p><p><i>Baskervilles </i>I find really, really cool. The scale of it, branching out from something so small captivates me... But it's a different trip to Dartmoor that I prefer; "Silver Blaze" is the one I have enjoyed the most. I expect this to change, I'm constantly reading the stories, over and over. And I'm constantly reading analysis on the stories so I can absolutely picture myself falling in love with another adventure but that one is currently the leader of the pack for me. It's intrigue wrapped in fun and that's exactly what we like to get our hands on.</p><p><b>Can you give a hint of what's in store for Sherlock & Co. in 2024?</b></p><p>Well we're closing in on our first million downloads, so it looks like the show will grow from strength to strength. Maybe there will be some well-known voices, that's something we're looking into. For our super-fans we're putting together our fan club and subscriber-only content and getting merch designs off the ground. But as for the stories - I can definitely promise the novels, which one we'll start with.. we're not sure. But that's taking some of our focus now, how do we package them, how many parts do we release in order to tell those stories.. the list goes on! We're so fortunate to be working with this material and to be the biggest audio drama in the UK right now is reflective of our hard work, our amazing cast and Conan Doyle's flamboyant, brilliant, gripping adventures.</p></div>Rob Nunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02126012014516886064noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70253573396693005.post-40500651203536847032023-12-17T17:57:00.000-08:002023-12-17T17:57:17.850-08:00Interesting Interview: Jerry Kegley<p>For the final Interesting Interview of 2023, let's get to know one of the friendliest and most outgoing Sherlockians out there, Jerry Kegley. Jerry has been running a scion for longer than some Sherlockians have been alive and every time I see him, his fires seem to be burning brighter and brighter! Seriously, this guy seems to never flag in his devotion to Holmes and Watson.</p><p>Jerry and his wife Chrys run one of the BSI Weekend's biggest events, and it was created as a way to include everyone. Folks, Jerry Kegley is the personification of a big tent Sherlockian. And if you've ever gotten to meet him in real life, that holds true in every way. Jerry welcomes everyone in this hobby and never makes a newbie feel like they need to prove themselves to be included in his fun. I think you'll see that this attitude continues through his answers this week!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNtnJalpNVL7oH3edxkKvB-hgBYtE6lD7orQPRAs9LkiAglkMTh6_6sRuA3MVl4zs3Yy_MhQN-0VRc3HNjrNijb-eCQa_cw5MS98nTCzoMVKRsxigBX9gDdcjwQjQCgtrZ8dhWBZumx3O5L9iiiQqFMVQckHSqcu05eNF-wydD9c_AZn1PJgK94_MtxA/s850/Jerry%20Kegley%20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="638" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNtnJalpNVL7oH3edxkKvB-hgBYtE6lD7orQPRAs9LkiAglkMTh6_6sRuA3MVl4zs3Yy_MhQN-0VRc3HNjrNijb-eCQa_cw5MS98nTCzoMVKRsxigBX9gDdcjwQjQCgtrZ8dhWBZumx3O5L9iiiQqFMVQckHSqcu05eNF-wydD9c_AZn1PJgK94_MtxA/s320/Jerry%20Kegley%20.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><p><b>How do you define the word “Sherlockian”? </b></p><p>This answer has evolved over time. When I was new to this community, I thought a Sherlockian was someone with more than a passing acquaintance with Sherlock Holmes. A Sherlockian was a scholar, or an erudite individual who studied the Canon and had specialized knowledge on related topics. This somewhat strident view has softened considerably as my association with Mr. Holmes creeps toward its sixth decade. People come at things in many ways and my feeling now is all Holmes is good Holmes. If you sit at the table, then you’re a Sherlockian. A vast feast is laid before you and it’s your choice on how much or how little to partake. </p><p><b>How did you become a Sherlockian?</b></p><p><span style="white-space: normal;">As a youth, the Universal films of Rathbone and Bruce were my gateway drug. Note, that the 20th Century Fox offerings were not a part of the early equation. My Holmes was a “Noir” adjacent Nazi hunting Detective/Spy very much of the era in which the movies were produced. This changed when my now Brother-in-law handed me a copy of Doubleday’s <i>The Complete Sherlock Holmes</i>. Mind blown! </span></p><p><span style="white-space: normal;">I entered the gaslit Victorian world of Sherlock Holmes where a part of me has resided ever since. The second part of this story involved relocating to California from Illinois when I was eighteen. With few friends early on, and little social interaction, I discovered the local scion society and met some kindred spirits. Many of these people are in my own scion, <a href="https://ccobs.homesteadcloud.com/about" target="_blank">The Curious Collectors of Baker Street</a>, and are among my closest friends to this day. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtO1cU-Y1Q3zj_kpdF_P5WAUjfpIDhbwA0hxSmspD9NrrpS7ScbnaImaJl6FHdnrJddvCZui1YbUlDnO-VPK2tIygDDpG7ZKPY2sbFjrod21g2MrfXoycj4wTTaFOX9bTYySt18ggMHIipIEHz7Drki67MSOj5J9mEF3AW8s31gkJdLt2YAnXYO-WJLA/s863/Bob%20&%20Jude.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="612" data-original-width="863" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtO1cU-Y1Q3zj_kpdF_P5WAUjfpIDhbwA0hxSmspD9NrrpS7ScbnaImaJl6FHdnrJddvCZui1YbUlDnO-VPK2tIygDDpG7ZKPY2sbFjrod21g2MrfXoycj4wTTaFOX9bTYySt18ggMHIipIEHz7Drki67MSOj5J9mEF3AW8s31gkJdLt2YAnXYO-WJLA/s320/Bob%20&%20Jude.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><b>What was your profession and does that affect how you enjoy being a Sherlockian?</b></p><p>I am a retired Assistant Vice President, Communications Regional Manager for Bank of America. In retirement, I do commission painting of wargame miniatures under the moniker of Colonel Winky’s Warriors. </p><p>The funny thing is that being a Sherlockian might have been a big part of getting my foot in the door at BofA in the first place. Part of my resume contained copies of the CCOBS’ newsletter as samples of my writing. As a bit of an aside, before entering the corporate world I worked five years as a Private Investigator doing sub rosa work. You might say this question is backwards as being a Sherlockian has affected how I enjoyed my profession. </p><p><b>What is your favorite canonical story?</b></p><p>Hands down <i>Hound of the Baskervilles</i>. Going back to the gifting of <i>The Complete Sherlock Holmes</i> from my Brother-in-law, he recommended that I start with HOUN. Most of the literature that I was interested in then was of the gothic or horror genre like <i>Dracula</i>, <i>Frankenstein</i>, or <i>Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde</i>. <i>Hound’s</i> milieu hit that touchstone and left an indelible mark. The Sherlock Holmes as he was written came to life and as I said above, mind blown!</p><p><b>Who is a specific Sherlockian that you think others would find interesting?</b></p><p>Jeff Hart, BSI. If you want to talk to a font of knowledge on topics from Sherlock Holmes, film, TV, comic books, and literature in general and back along a divergent route, then spend some time with Jeff. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmZ4jx4ZGQf0s0uMu5kTvQPguaWEqAmXPrRWPbO_6Sg8hohZR39AHPcxsEaDR4LQbgkld_UViH5RsKm5WIraugncjDLJjviEw8rsdno-ZV6QfjK2up0YCCq13ciFARQpxlU6CNbfkztWH6OcXZjcIM7_69bFJfjp7Gn6iIQO3eYsiki3LktKxiL81AaQ/s1923/Bookplate.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1923" data-original-width="1578" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmZ4jx4ZGQf0s0uMu5kTvQPguaWEqAmXPrRWPbO_6Sg8hohZR39AHPcxsEaDR4LQbgkld_UViH5RsKm5WIraugncjDLJjviEw8rsdno-ZV6QfjK2up0YCCq13ciFARQpxlU6CNbfkztWH6OcXZjcIM7_69bFJfjp7Gn6iIQO3eYsiki3LktKxiL81AaQ/s320/Bookplate.JPG" width="263" /></a></div><p><b>What subset of Sherlockiana really interests you?</b></p><p>Victorian Military History. In this case, Watson’s adventures in Afghanistan, the Indian Mutiny, Boer War, Colonel Sebastian Moran, etc. I’ve written about Watson’s wound, who he might be inspired by, and a myriad of articles on Canonical military matters. I am also an avid tabletop historic miniatures wargamer so this era in colonial warfare is often of inspiration. I’d have to say it’s my second passion next to Mr. Holmes. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgZVNnW4sG6z7uYbCkoU99_DK_mHFZs_4T8W_SU5VFKHqKoatGltTmWaKFe-g7oyqS-77lXntxvGuoEatqgHQ5SyJBp7F2dhoBV-rrMsrkQom82trkvAj3nQkDxtcExM7f1s1AL7opPbdphjvCdSZjnj6had45dBZpRo8yb8X4QqLjGflBt5q69dXOLA/s1361/Jerry%20&%20Chrys.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="1361" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgZVNnW4sG6z7uYbCkoU99_DK_mHFZs_4T8W_SU5VFKHqKoatGltTmWaKFe-g7oyqS-77lXntxvGuoEatqgHQ5SyJBp7F2dhoBV-rrMsrkQom82trkvAj3nQkDxtcExM7f1s1AL7opPbdphjvCdSZjnj6had45dBZpRo8yb8X4QqLjGflBt5q69dXOLA/s320/Jerry%20&%20Chrys.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><p><b>You and your wife Chrys serve as co-presidents of The Curious Collectors of Baker Street. What is it like running a scion with your spouse?</b></p><p>Special! To be able to share a labor of love with the one you love is a blessing. Chrys and I have been at the helm of the CCOBS for 32 years, which is one less than we’ve been married. We kid each other that marriage is a blood sport and the CCOBS has caused some of that blood to be shed but we would not have it any other way. Having Chrys at my side and vice versa is of immense benefit, as we can function as sounding boards for ideas, issues, and the like. The fact that we hold this strong of a common interest in what is supposed to be a hobby is rare to me. </p><p>One of the proudest moments of my life was when Mike Whelan called her name and invested her in the BSI. Not because she is my wife… (Okay, I love that my wife is a BSI), but because I know how hard she worked to deserve the honor.</p><p>Coincidentally, the insert item that I sent to the BSI for inclusion in the 2024 BSI Dinner packets is a write up of Chrys and my 32 years with the CCOBS. </p><p><b>Lost in New York with a Bunch of Sherlockians has become a BSI Weekend mainstay. How did that start and how have you seen it evolve over the years?</b></p><p><span style="white-space: normal;">As one attends the BSI Weekend from year to year, the cadre of likeminded individuals grows and flourishes around you. The only drawback is finding a space you can all hang out in. By 2002 (I’ve been attending the BSI Weekend since 1995, Chrys since 1996) this had become evident to us, and the question was now how do we manage Saturday night? As we sat in our hotel room on Wednesday of that year’s bacchanalia, that very question was posed. Chrys, to the rest of our disbelief said, “Let’s have an event.” She proceeded to pull the phone book (yes, there still was such a thing) out of the bedside table and looked up restaurants with banquet rooms. One of the first she came across was the now defunct Kennedy’s on West 57th. Phone calls were made, and we stopped by and set up the first Lost. </span></p><p>It would be an overstatement to say our first gathering was a resounding success. Through word of mouth, we rounded up fourteen of our Sherlockian friends in the Library Room at Kennedy’s. There would be ten more dinners there and eleven more in three different locals that have come to be known as “Lost In New York With A Bunch Of Sherlockians.” The event had been established as a Saturday night refuge for the “disjecta membra” of the BSI Weekend, it now has become a sold-out nightcap. </p><p>Lost is another labor of love for Chrys, and I. It’s our way of giving back to a community that has given us so much. </p><p><b>What book would you recommend to other Sherlockians?</b></p><p>That’s a tough one, there are so many deserving of a plug. Beyond the rabbit hole inducing classics like <i>Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street</i> or <i>The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes</i>. I must give a nod to Mitch Cullin’s <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/a-slight-trick-of-the-mind-mitch-cullin/16636830?ean=9781400078226" target="_blank">A Slight Trick of the Mind</a> (2005). Mitch’s take on an aging Holmes losing those mental faculties he was renowned for was both moving and insightful. The film Mr. Holmes with Ian McKellen was based on this book.</p><p><b>Where do you see Sherlockiana in 5 or 10 years from now?</b></p><p>Right where it should be, vibrant and strong. Although, I hope during that time, we see another shot in the arm (pun intended) akin to the one that took place more recently with the Downey Jr. films, BBC <i>Sherlock</i>, and <i>Elementary</i> on TV and the plethora of reading material the “Free Sherlock” movement brought us. We have seen the Golden and Silver Age of Sherlockiana, how about Platinum?</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWGwYa6WpZqMwHqOdtJTBFb53v4KM7pBtbFwvpscAE3FAU4bQgMKa4Gqiowuie2FdOcjOnha1url0S2nBW77HAagpvbCPznSljy92dN044zxuNQc5CRkwmr_KvqQJeScBNV-adFwX62ZX_Lx9-MGkr5ajLIKDusbwKBxvnqsu1T7fL3DfUQs4CSSO-8w/s3072/Lost%20fun.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2304" data-original-width="3072" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWGwYa6WpZqMwHqOdtJTBFb53v4KM7pBtbFwvpscAE3FAU4bQgMKa4Gqiowuie2FdOcjOnha1url0S2nBW77HAagpvbCPznSljy92dN044zxuNQc5CRkwmr_KvqQJeScBNV-adFwX62ZX_Lx9-MGkr5ajLIKDusbwKBxvnqsu1T7fL3DfUQs4CSSO-8w/s320/Lost%20fun.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Rob Nunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02126012014516886064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70253573396693005.post-76475098879911695272023-12-10T19:01:00.000-08:002023-12-10T19:01:53.797-08:00I Was Sufficiently Conversant with Holmes's Methods [RESI]The general public will often write off Dr. John H. Watson as a doofus. Portrayals like Nigel Bruce, Dudley Moore, and John C. Reilly haven't helped matters much. And in "The Creeping Man," Watson goes so far as to say such negative things about himself as that Holmes may as well talk to his bedstead instead of him for all he did to help. But I argue that those aren't true accounts of the man who wrote the Canon and that a better account of of Dr. Watson's intelligence can be viewed in "The Resident Patient."<div><div><br /></div><div>First of all, this man can WRITE. Just the opening line of this story will get you to take notice:</div><div><br /></div><div><i>In glancing over the somewhat incoherent series of memoirs with which I have endeavoured to illustrate a few of the mental peculiarities of my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I have been struck by the difficulty which I have experienced in picking out examples which shall in every way answer my purpose.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>No dullard is putting out prose like this. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmO7dCOfY39IQp8aLFpeOzaHjb8vtfz9hB61lWh6vy23PSYvrFLXB_wfLykoLUlaGiqzR_17N94UkipOCVnODO7p3bN6XcWrt9yC6TolV7S1bIb8fNV10AVrRekL4V4vhLIlA1RXyS9LT3hS0Z8vmMgZDIKtNhA7ojxkYcNMeMPRamQSGOSzST0nGGlA/s899/641px-The-strand-magazine-1893-08-the-adventure-of-the-resident-patient-p129-illu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="899" data-original-width="641" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmO7dCOfY39IQp8aLFpeOzaHjb8vtfz9hB61lWh6vy23PSYvrFLXB_wfLykoLUlaGiqzR_17N94UkipOCVnODO7p3bN6XcWrt9yC6TolV7S1bIb8fNV10AVrRekL4V4vhLIlA1RXyS9LT3hS0Z8vmMgZDIKtNhA7ojxkYcNMeMPRamQSGOSzST0nGGlA/s320/641px-The-strand-magazine-1893-08-the-adventure-of-the-resident-patient-p129-illu.jpg" width="228" /></a></div><br />But as we get into the story, you see Watson display his intelligence throughout. When Holmes and Watson return from their walk, a brougham was parked in front of their building. Holmes deduces that a general practitioner, who has not been in practice for long, has come to consult them. Watson is able to follow Holmes's deductions by</div><div><br /></div><div><i>see[ing] that the nature and state of the various medical instruments in the wicker basket which hung in the lamp-light inside the brougham had given him the data for his swift deduction. The light in our window above showed that this late visit was indeed intended for us.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>This is a far cry from the man in "The Red-Headed League" who said "I was always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings with Sherlock Holmes." No, the Watson we read about in RESI is keeping pace with his friend here.</div><div><br /></div><div>And how has Watson been spending his free time before this case starts? Reading yellow-backed novels or staring off into space? No, this man has been reading monographs on obscure nervous legions. I don't know how many of us are reading arcane pieces of writings related to our professional fields, but this is a sure sign of Watson's intelligence as far as I'm concerned.</div><div><br /></div><div>Another argument against "Stupid Watson" is that Sherlock Holmes wouldn't tolerate a dummy following him everywhere. In fact, Sherlock Holmes values Watson and his time. He recognizes that Watson has better things to do than follow him around on pointless errands. If Holmes viewed Watson as a hapless sidekick, I doubt he would have felt the need to apologize to his friend for bringing him out on a fool's errand for their first visit to Brook Street.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNTNQ2xyLwfQYw7IeT62jc-S4bDxfLnd0T-j4o3bOuIK-KxEIN7FmC2pbTzla0hBQptzvA4SJX_njygcX_Ca5ErK5v2_yaBNT0UVUdwhOOT3w0Ty040Dy1GzBQPqSrjM-2pjCDf9eQ-OPbMjxFQuIYdLoG9kc8s-LIXN0SY0ukYLaPf8Aenfd5XvUoKQ/s900/863px-The-strand-magazine-1893-08-the-adventure-of-the-resident-patient-p137-illu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="863" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNTNQ2xyLwfQYw7IeT62jc-S4bDxfLnd0T-j4o3bOuIK-KxEIN7FmC2pbTzla0hBQptzvA4SJX_njygcX_Ca5ErK5v2_yaBNT0UVUdwhOOT3w0Ty040Dy1GzBQPqSrjM-2pjCDf9eQ-OPbMjxFQuIYdLoG9kc8s-LIXN0SY0ukYLaPf8Aenfd5XvUoKQ/s320/863px-The-strand-magazine-1893-08-the-adventure-of-the-resident-patient-p137-illu.jpg" width="307" /></a></div><br />Watson does have a suggestion to make to Holmes along the way. He offers that the story of the Russian and his son were made up by Trevelyan and that the doctor is behind all of the trouble. Although Holmes disproves Watson's theory, he admits that "it was one of the first solutions which occurred to me." Although Watson is a step or two behind Holmes in deducing things, he's clearly not lost during all of this.</div><div><br /></div><div>And once there's a dead body involved, Watson's medical knowledge is of use. He states that Blessington had been dead for about three hours by the time that they arrived, judging by the rigidity of the dead man's muscles, aligning with Inspector Lanner's report that the death occurred around five a.m.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, am I saying that Dr. Watson is ready to strike out and begin solving crimes on his own? Probably not. But I think we should all appreciate that this man is not only a great writer and brave companion, but also a worthy partner in the adventures of Sherlock Holmes.</div></div>Rob Nunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02126012014516886064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70253573396693005.post-84520672037505850782023-11-29T19:44:00.000-08:002023-11-29T19:44:53.060-08:00Interesting Interview: Daniel Stashower<p>Do you have a friend-of-a-friend that you don't know all that well, but think very highly of? In the Sherlockian world for me, that's Daniel Stashower. Award winning author, man who wowed the BSI dinner last year, and one of my favorite writers. But here's the thing, when I talk about Mr. Stashower to other Sherlockians that know him, they always say something like, "Oh yeah, he's a great guy!" They don't mention his Edgar Award or his Agatha Award. Nothing about the myriad of places he's been published or his ability to bring history to life on the page. People just like to talk about how friendly and nice he is. </p><p>So I reached out and asked Dan for an interview. Sure enough, his reply was just as friendly as advertised. And you know what? The guy is funny too! (I'll let you guess which line in this week's interview made my wife ask me why I was giggling.) If you're already friends with Dan Stashower, kick back and enjoy. And if you've only admired him from afar, now's your chance to get to know him a little better with this week's Interesting Interview!</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVONbVesdH2XZeuca4fXLzy4DQ-tr_PBn4IjKZAa06rnymEYCoO-y7OoEiJvLmlZg3MLkX1dPvxYRFRC-Z4XhrxFNWSXXnq6EvmwkfM6SVk07YJUmkRvUyMYpMSlX7JQz99fManV7Y3G_uGvUAKSDfpT0azP_C_mHJQZUY9r13XZjV_dL2Kdx69a0uUA/s1000/Stashower%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1000" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVONbVesdH2XZeuca4fXLzy4DQ-tr_PBn4IjKZAa06rnymEYCoO-y7OoEiJvLmlZg3MLkX1dPvxYRFRC-Z4XhrxFNWSXXnq6EvmwkfM6SVk07YJUmkRvUyMYpMSlX7JQz99fManV7Y3G_uGvUAKSDfpT0azP_C_mHJQZUY9r13XZjV_dL2Kdx69a0uUA/s320/Stashower%201.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />How do you define the word “Sherlockian”?</b><p></p><p>Broadly. When I was younger, I’d have probably given you a prescription of learned texts, but people seem to be coming in through a lot of different doors these days, and that’s all to the good. One could do worse than to follow the example of Peter Blau, who has been running the Red Circle of Washington, D.C., for roughly 50 years. If you show up and fill out your name tag, you’re in. Here’s me wearing the tag I filled out in 1985.</p><p><b> How did you become a Sherlockian?</b></p><p>My friends are tired of hearing me tell this story, but here goes. My hometown theater, the Cleveland Play House, put on a production of the Gillette play when I was eleven or twelve years old. I auditioned for the role of Billy. I already had a pretty serious case of Baker Street fever at this stage – I’d read the stories and watched re-runs of the Rathbone films – and I came to the audition wearing a deerstalker hat, thinking that this would give me an edge. </p><p>It didn’t. I didn’t get the part, so I decided to make my mark on the theater by writing a play. Remember: I was eleven or twelve. The play was called “Sherlock Holmes Versus the Lizard People.” It may not have been strictly canonical. It found Holmes and Watson struggling to fend off an invasion by a formidable army of lizard people, who had the advantage of hovering space ships and laser pistols. I recall only one line of the dialogue: “Look out, Holmes! That lizard has a grenade!” It’s too much to say that it launched my career as a writer – it’s too much to say that anyone even read it – but I came away from the experience more in love with Sherlock Holmes than ever.</p><p><b>What is your profession and does that affect how you enjoy being a Sherlockian?</b></p><p>Hell yes! Being a writer in the Sherlockian community is a pleasure and a privilege. You get to rub elbows with some of the best writers in the business today, and you’re carrying on a tradition that stretches back to the founders. Here I am with two of my favorites – Jan Burke and S.J. Rozan. (That’s me in the middle.)</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2eAR7PlXLLuyyObjhWUOsN5Nm7o9wzF7hseBB90ouaHICZFA5M2nJn1apcUUHLbzmY1V_2Ayo-RRFja5hDPQ6oePFBAaajOaHr-tyhlDUF-NpgGKENMRqpnjHec5To3xYusi4raNN8PFoZwLYvxwkQb7SXvulAkfgDw32q8ZFKUuypXxk-V04_GfyiA/s1280/Stashower%203.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="956" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2eAR7PlXLLuyyObjhWUOsN5Nm7o9wzF7hseBB90ouaHICZFA5M2nJn1apcUUHLbzmY1V_2Ayo-RRFja5hDPQ6oePFBAaajOaHr-tyhlDUF-NpgGKENMRqpnjHec5To3xYusi4raNN8PFoZwLYvxwkQb7SXvulAkfgDw32q8ZFKUuypXxk-V04_GfyiA/s320/Stashower%203.jpeg" width="239" /></a></b></div><b><br />What is your favorite canonical story?</b><p></p><p>SCAN. I love everything about this story, and it’s the one that lit the fuse when I was a kid. That first paragraph is the high-water mark of the canon for me. I love every word of it. Believe me, I’m not throwing shade at “the footprints of a gigantic hound” or “the curious incident of the dog in the night-time” – all of the stories throw off sparks. But SCAN rises to the top every time.</p><p><b>Who is a specific Sherlockian that you think others would find interesting?</b></p><p>I regret that today’s younger Sherlockians will never have the opportunity of getting to know Jon Lellenberg, my friend and collaborator on such projects as <i><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/arthur-conan-doyle-a-life-in-letters-jon-lellenberg/11718108?ean=9780143114338" target="_blank">Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life in Letters</a></i> and <i><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/dangerous-work-diary-of-an-arctic-adventure-arthur-conan-doyle/1889?ean=9780226009056" target="_blank">Dangerous Work: Diary of an Arctic Adventure</a></i>. We spent many hours in various Irish pubs talking of anything and everything — P.G. Wodehouse, Confederate cipher disks, the films of William Powell, the perfect martini olive, the Polyphonic Motets of Lassus — everything. I never got his limits, to coin a phrase. Our sodality – a word he favored – is poorer for his absence. </p><p><b>What subset of Sherlockiana really interests you?</b></p><p>It’s amazing how many Sherlockians also have an interest in magic and magicians. I can’t explain it – and Holmes would remind us that a conjurer gets no credit when once he has explained his trick – but it astonishes me. We have many top hats scattered in among the deerstalkers.</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX5xGEjtGt-n97H3hnoMdSYeE1zila9v4sYhLbCbVgPb4XON3rWpEjocwWobnHBHHYQnIICyOspwZCtyCVqsz9omTlw8tVuMaIURb4DOjh0AuKun-9V9PPnllDYqChanwGor5Ef_hlLBND5cRXVO8fjs_5AC10FOR8iHDpMY6MEnmDluW-W9lPWGm6wg/s2067/9781466863156.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2067" data-original-width="1400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX5xGEjtGt-n97H3hnoMdSYeE1zila9v4sYhLbCbVgPb4XON3rWpEjocwWobnHBHHYQnIICyOspwZCtyCVqsz9omTlw8tVuMaIURb4DOjh0AuKun-9V9PPnllDYqChanwGor5Ef_hlLBND5cRXVO8fjs_5AC10FOR8iHDpMY6MEnmDluW-W9lPWGm6wg/s320/9781466863156.jpg" width="217" /></a></b></div><b><br />As someone who has written a biography about Arthur Conan Doyle, what's something you wish more Sherlockians knew about the man?</b><p></p><p>When I wrote <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Teller-Tales-Arthur-Conan-Doyle/dp/0805050744/ref=sr_1_1?crid=32FSJYG8N6DNB&keywords=teller+of+tales+stashower&qid=1701313806&sprefix=teller+of+tales+stashower%2Caps%2C91&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Teller of Tales</a></i>, I wanted to throw some light on Conan Doyle’s belief in spiritualism. As I said in the book, I hoped to examine that aspect of his life with sympathy rather than derision. </p><p><b>How has your role as a historian influenced the way you enjoy the Canon?</b></p><p>There’s a bit in Conan Doyle’s memoir where he talks about his love of history against the backdrop of his early days in Southsea: </p><p><i>“The history of the past carries on into the history of today, the new torpedo-boat flies past the old </i>Victory<i> with the same white ensign flying from each, and the old Elizabethan culverins and sakers can still be seen in the same walk which brings you to the huge artillery of the forts. There is a great glamour there to any one with the historic sense — a sense which I drank in with my mother's milk.”</i></p><p>How great is that? He makes you feel the sweep of history, even as you’re reaching for a dictionary to look up “culverins” and “sakers.”</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcjcZ8gp_me0JJDimvNQo5xhj1q3xlP6KdajAosJ34y5ZeL2wWQXoB54X4ti_PY8TtyZv3UDtJIv6wAdtTzkXImbjBWeZPWVCwnvrGyxV33P2XQKuRzL8qLphlEEYPlzDZeXZHcS9pJQFRtRzaSJ89g6YwonEo9l5S5_9O-bstgVcQkgjHkcrIY959RQ/s1280/Stashower%209.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="748" data-original-width="1280" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcjcZ8gp_me0JJDimvNQo5xhj1q3xlP6KdajAosJ34y5ZeL2wWQXoB54X4ti_PY8TtyZv3UDtJIv6wAdtTzkXImbjBWeZPWVCwnvrGyxV33P2XQKuRzL8qLphlEEYPlzDZeXZHcS9pJQFRtRzaSJ89g6YwonEo9l5S5_9O-bstgVcQkgjHkcrIY959RQ/s320/Stashower%209.jpeg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />What book would you recommend to other Sherlockians?</b><p></p><p>Over the weekend I came across a bound volume of <i>The Strand</i>. I love reading the pieces that run alongside the Holmes stories – it’s a wonderfully eccentric time capsule. So I’ve been reading up on the use of phonographs to train parrots, and “Picture Forgers and Their Methods,” and the correlation between “Inches and Eminence,” illustrated by photos of famous authors arranged shortest to tallest. (Bad luck, Kipling! Sorry, Thomas Hardy! Even in this, Conan Doyle towers above.)</p><p><b>Where do you see Sherlockiana in 5 or 10 years from now?</b></p><p>Bear with me; this is a roundabout answer. I am distantly related to an old-time science fiction editor named Hugo Gernsback, who published <i>Amazing Stories</i> magazine, and for whom the “Hugo” award is named. Each year at the holidays, Gernsback put out a trifling monograph called “Forecast,” in which he predicted future scientific marvels such flying cars and interplanetary travel. In that spirit, I’m calling for a scion on Mars by 2040. Let’s make this happen, people. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie2WyWMnbSwIARvLBnl1vYDsIh5mbHi2C54iMz6Kx1eQGQUjTyX58qYaybgBn8yb0_2GIYfOEtu7Meak1FmJnAMhn9s98jxPzp8-Y2ywWyExlFvQTY2UPNIElAEbiYC_Qa_ZK853HnDP1tX1O2XPLt9uasbFCAKIDV_lOwTE4KvQZ2c4HRkiRgQuLrxQ/s1550/Stashower%2010.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1550" data-original-width="1130" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie2WyWMnbSwIARvLBnl1vYDsIh5mbHi2C54iMz6Kx1eQGQUjTyX58qYaybgBn8yb0_2GIYfOEtu7Meak1FmJnAMhn9s98jxPzp8-Y2ywWyExlFvQTY2UPNIElAEbiYC_Qa_ZK853HnDP1tX1O2XPLt9uasbFCAKIDV_lOwTE4KvQZ2c4HRkiRgQuLrxQ/s320/Stashower%2010.png" width="233" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Rob Nunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02126012014516886064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70253573396693005.post-77800228261411810532023-11-12T13:59:00.000-08:002023-11-12T13:59:14.110-08:00The History of This Terrible Business [GLOR]<p><i>"The case might have been dealt leniently with, but the laws were more harshly administered thirty years ago than now, and on my twenty-third birthday I found myself chained as a felon with thirty-seven other convicts in 'tween-decks of the bark Gloria Scott, bound for Australia."</i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt7a-3AzjDMLmYerM7X1UYtKc8bL2T_Q8tXNHLsJLUz9g0Ux5ReSkge4jf-MB6fkQwk-_hfs-mKQzOCwZe_iwQ6zeNDo0xPyftCGnphvst_JAf5-LsUVXAKtvZfcrCgE3qmEzhoyHeUpYqTVlW10cFMCLxL3mJYyA12qiHPMmvsCaypsfGXDMlPPASxw/s405/Illus-glor-paget-05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="405" data-original-width="220" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt7a-3AzjDMLmYerM7X1UYtKc8bL2T_Q8tXNHLsJLUz9g0Ux5ReSkge4jf-MB6fkQwk-_hfs-mKQzOCwZe_iwQ6zeNDo0xPyftCGnphvst_JAf5-LsUVXAKtvZfcrCgE3qmEzhoyHeUpYqTVlW10cFMCLxL3mJYyA12qiHPMmvsCaypsfGXDMlPPASxw/s320/Illus-glor-paget-05.jpg" width="174" /></a></div><br />James Armitage was far from the first person to face penal transportation for his crimes. England had been shipping out its convicts for over 200 years by the time Armitage was unable to pay his debts in 1855. Transportation was assigned for almost every crime conceivable, but the overwhelming majority of prisoners were transported for small thefts (such as food and clothing) and unpaid debts. Terms of punishment were typically for 7 years, 14 years, or life.<p></p><p>More than 40,000 prisoners were sent to the American colonies before the Revolutionary War, but once America became independent, Australia was the new destination for British convicts. The British government hoped that their new convict destination would deter crime, as it was a place that was considered the most remote place on Earth and was a three- to four-month journey by ship.</p><p>As Armitage said, "the old convict ships had been largely used as transports in the Black Sea" during the Crimean War. Armitage and co. were lucky to have the <i>Gloria Scott</i> as their transport ship, as conditions on the average one were much more harsh. Convicts typically were four to a cell and the security stricter than what that this group was able to overcome. The hatchways would only be wide enough for one person to pass at a time and each watch would require ten soldiers with guns loaded. Hardly the crew of men trying to affix bayonets to their muskets as prisoners rushed them that we read about in this tale.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwgvkWlxFfOYgVuSCL-Or5s46ReWyTTpISowrdJSfcsYF6jyPn7rKduVACYCEkRp9pXJVsWT_xwEpfHWuXasUxFcPAUukfJZe1eySfUmUsOuBhmM39UGwIS038jyxjaBJwq0meKHaP7B9sXEGThjNjlb2rmNE68wJ8AapyM49LqArM7mgPpNqnd8ug2Q/s329/Illus-glor-paget-06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="314" data-original-width="329" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwgvkWlxFfOYgVuSCL-Or5s46ReWyTTpISowrdJSfcsYF6jyPn7rKduVACYCEkRp9pXJVsWT_xwEpfHWuXasUxFcPAUukfJZe1eySfUmUsOuBhmM39UGwIS038jyxjaBJwq0meKHaP7B9sXEGThjNjlb2rmNE68wJ8AapyM49LqArM7mgPpNqnd8ug2Q/s320/Illus-glor-paget-06.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Once in Australia, the majority of convicts built roads or worked for land owners as free labor Monday through Saturday, sunrise to sunset. If convicts were well-behaved during their terms, they could be issued a ticket-of-leave which allowed them freedom outside of their prescribed work hours each day. But any misbehavior was quickly met with flogging of up to 300 lashes.<p></p><p>When their terms ended, the majority of convicts stayed in Australia and populated the country; booking passage back to England was out of the question for the overwhelming majority of ex-cons. And when the British government offered them free land, seed, food, and other resources to populate the colony, it was an easy decision for many of them.</p><p>By Armitage's time, transportation was beginning to slow. Prisons were being built in England and the discovery of gold in Australia brought an influx of "respectable" citizens to the colony. 1868 saw the last transport ship unloading her passengers. By then, over 160,000 convicts had been transported to Australia for crimes ranging from murder to pickpocketing, and in 2015 20% of Australian citizens could trace their heritage to convict transportation.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhddK7ZbLUTMCzncnYXiMGVHo9Y-2-urhe5yJyXc6eXF4njZVUUFTakXcff6UmxwrDtPTVmNU8Lfja5j1AWi9YGEPL_Vsh09Jq_tEopaKEHgaA_YLg3AbO1qpzNcuRPWmqdUejPRcYtW8UP6xIkpg-rNvuk0qftq82xPVD5qmsqY7baOsV4mQi017_U-g/s322/Illus-glor-paget-07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="322" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhddK7ZbLUTMCzncnYXiMGVHo9Y-2-urhe5yJyXc6eXF4njZVUUFTakXcff6UmxwrDtPTVmNU8Lfja5j1AWi9YGEPL_Vsh09Jq_tEopaKEHgaA_YLg3AbO1qpzNcuRPWmqdUejPRcYtW8UP6xIkpg-rNvuk0qftq82xPVD5qmsqY7baOsV4mQi017_U-g/s320/Illus-glor-paget-07.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />So while James Armitage's escape from captivity was a bloody and terrifying one, the future that lay ahead for the convicts aboard the <i>Gloria Scott</i> was nothing to look forward to. And if the mutiny had not happened, James Armitage never would have returned to England and had his son, Victor Trevor who became friends with Sherlock Holmes. And Sherlock Holmes never would have shown off his "merest hobby" of observation to James Armitage, prompting the man to say the words that launched Sherlock Holmes on his destiny:<p></p><p><i>"...[I]t seems to me that all the detectives of fact and of fancy would be children in your hands. That's your line of life, sir.."</i></p><p>And we Sherlockians are better for it.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkn3OZFoOwOukXsuSf9QYlo2DvNIy3q4zIsaIWljGAHYoUaQZW9zseQj9_8qlhYJNlc-mJ5R1P86VNCFr3DBf7Egji7Q13sWXNDOJepqXGsIKHwAFr9rm482TAGrJltbJkNmGdKl3SNMJCcOzvygzckal2tG1qxW7yZHdP7snRzk7pNb_vetIB6rzhwg/s350/Illus-glor-paget-04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="259" data-original-width="350" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkn3OZFoOwOukXsuSf9QYlo2DvNIy3q4zIsaIWljGAHYoUaQZW9zseQj9_8qlhYJNlc-mJ5R1P86VNCFr3DBf7Egji7Q13sWXNDOJepqXGsIKHwAFr9rm482TAGrJltbJkNmGdKl3SNMJCcOzvygzckal2tG1qxW7yZHdP7snRzk7pNb_vetIB6rzhwg/s320/Illus-glor-paget-04.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br />____________________________________</p><p>Constitutional Rights Foundation: https://www.crf-usa.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-11-2-a-beyond-the-seas-the-transportation-of-criminals-to-australia#:~:text=Another%20option%20was%20to%20banish,they%20worked%20off%20their%20sentences.</p><p>National Museum of Australia: https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/convict-transportation-peaks</p><p>Stain or badge of honour? Convict heritage inspires mixed feelings: https://theconversation.com/stain-or-badge-of-honour-convict-heritage-inspires-mixed-feelings-41097</p>Rob Nunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02126012014516886064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70253573396693005.post-39873531466089789892023-10-22T19:00:00.001-07:002023-10-22T19:00:22.940-07:00Interesting Interview: David Harnois<p>There are some Sherlockians who pop into the zeitgeist for a moment and then have to settle back into the real world, much to the chagrin of our hobby. David Harnois is a prime example of this phenomenon. In 2014, he began the podcast, <a href="https://iamlostwithoutmyboswell.com/" target="_blank">I Am Lost Without My Boswell</a>, and for the following few years he was everywhere: being interviewed on podcasts, speaking at conferences, etc. David has stayed active in local and regional Sherlockian activities in Iowa and the Midwest, but the greater Sherlockian world misses his dulcet tones and fun energy since life has settled him a bit.</p><p>David is one of those guys who is just a delight to be around. He's one of the first people I want to add to every event invite list. The guy charms everyone in the room while still energizing those around him. If you haven't had the privilege to of meeting him in person, please enjoy this interview with everyone's favorite Sherlockian voice, David Harnois!</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWYBXXj7xAlhkJHJ_vVbHW4iK9ECogpCJS_ich4ipXtmT7B8SXg-WwjyW8QdXAQh-g7v8TjNJ9x2ehjd9xi-KzI9v2CLqRaTnmZYjVsNC7268yfa8cJqWHIKzQ23VRPL6YK67UVmQ6skFsm0YsJQtRYhXYc6CAzBSyUHnIBAv4h_jRacp9t6tAHNb_eA/s1400/david4-1-e1565618218871.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1379" data-original-width="1400" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWYBXXj7xAlhkJHJ_vVbHW4iK9ECogpCJS_ich4ipXtmT7B8SXg-WwjyW8QdXAQh-g7v8TjNJ9x2ehjd9xi-KzI9v2CLqRaTnmZYjVsNC7268yfa8cJqWHIKzQ23VRPL6YK67UVmQ6skFsm0YsJQtRYhXYc6CAzBSyUHnIBAv4h_jRacp9t6tAHNb_eA/s320/david4-1-e1565618218871.webp" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />How do you define the word “Sherlockian”?</b><p></p><p>At this point, I'd say at bare minimum someone who engages with a local scion, be that in person or online. It indicates an interest in the character and stories beyond just a casual enjoyment of them. There are people who have been attending scion meetings for decades, and have never gone beyond that, but I'd still call them Sherlockians. Not everyone can, or has the interest, to venture beyond their home scion, and there is absolutely nothing that diminishes your status as a Sherlockian in that. Some people go the opposite direction, and hook as many Sherlockian events as they can straight into their veins</p><p><b>How did you become a Sherlockian?</b></p><p>After playing Holmes onstage in 2013, and starting Boswell in 2014 I eventually got linked up with Monica Schmidt and the Younger Stamfords via Dick Caplan in 2015 I believe, and it was all downhill from there. </p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyUBdtrwGSpD7AKxzV9hU3LQk2Q9adgmkpnrmwAy1EMPJu-s019GUAOtT2KcpeTCzyn3NY-GPfppPTbW9fSflJ4xHqebVnyObXhjcBgBDGlVCD0F_gZlQBTKR0bj1VgxqwxilCfN8zKSEGgaAkAaVoffPYdv1ZFAlDlBps2mLkVq361x2UUVrGFXHoig/s4752/Brad%20(43).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3168" data-original-width="4752" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyUBdtrwGSpD7AKxzV9hU3LQk2Q9adgmkpnrmwAy1EMPJu-s019GUAOtT2KcpeTCzyn3NY-GPfppPTbW9fSflJ4xHqebVnyObXhjcBgBDGlVCD0F_gZlQBTKR0bj1VgxqwxilCfN8zKSEGgaAkAaVoffPYdv1ZFAlDlBps2mLkVq361x2UUVrGFXHoig/s320/Brad%20(43).jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />What is your profession and does that affect how you enjoy being a Sherlockian?</b><p></p><p>I work for a local print shop called Copyworks, and I also work for the University of Northern Iowa Theatre Department as the scenic studio supervisor. The latter certainly makes it hard to turn off my critical brain on the occasion I get to take in Holmesian media either on stage or screen. It's hard not to critique performance and design elements of shows under normal circumstances, but it's even harder when it's material you're much more familiar with. </p><p><b>What is your favorite canonical story?</b></p><p>Oh boy, that's a good question. Right now, I'd say BLUE. The ending is always such a nice moment where we get a moral struggle in Holmes, and you see past his usually clinical exterior. Mercy vs the letter of the law; who doesn't enjoy a good moral conundrum?</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJXDySgTam_sA3ODpAJfKXfhAD5blgMeTlWyuPZeBaIkh3MPXkDVlrwHLx2VEwbe55gGXEkSwiBXDpxeO2NIunwG0bSWADI2HUGgItRyZb4FDW_Rvj8GfBEjf8dHJ-s4S2Byjp8UBzHu_R7SL-TAxoAqWMAejjhGt0EdwIybZ9b81gjb3QZ2X3v3HA4A/s350/The_Adventure_of_the_Blue_Carbuncle_08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="247" data-original-width="350" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJXDySgTam_sA3ODpAJfKXfhAD5blgMeTlWyuPZeBaIkh3MPXkDVlrwHLx2VEwbe55gGXEkSwiBXDpxeO2NIunwG0bSWADI2HUGgItRyZb4FDW_Rvj8GfBEjf8dHJ-s4S2Byjp8UBzHu_R7SL-TAxoAqWMAejjhGt0EdwIybZ9b81gjb3QZ2X3v3HA4A/s320/The_Adventure_of_the_Blue_Carbuncle_08.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />Who is a specific Sherlockian that you think others would find interesting?</b><p></p><p>Tiffany Knight. She's a fellow theatre professional, who knows more about costuming than I ever will. In tandem with that, she has an amazing sense of fashion, which parlays into her extravagant formalwear, as well as her incredibly impressive cosplay she puts together. She's also just a delightful person to be around and talk to, not to mention listen to if you have the chance to hear her wonderful singing. AND last but not least, she's also performing in our future production of BERY, so you get to hear her voice acting as well. She's just a sweet, talented person, and we're all lucky for knowing her.</p><p><b>What subset of Sherlockiana really interests you?</b></p><p>Granada Holmes will always have a special place in my heart as an area of interest. Jeremy Brett is my hands down favorite onscreen Holmes, and it will take a LOT to unseat him from that spot. In other media, comic book adaptations are (generally) a fun avenue to explore. Dynamite was publishing an original series in the vein of the canon at one point that I found rather enjoyable. Wildstorm (now under the DC umbrella) had a great far more fanciful pair of stories involving the undead. Dark Horse has translated French comics that pitted Holmes against vampires; tested his sanity against the Necronomicon; and had him tracking down abducted writers around London. IDW also did a fun adaptation of <i>The Seven-Per-Cent Solution</i> which is worth a read. That's a very deep rabbit hole to go down. </p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoIzs5CofsS4FX94GDi7DU-Pv5uQQqejmk87YY007LrrGO1p1sxQnkr6PfrOvXshbdhfetJ85MzOkAj0NEOBa2PvpwY8i0I-hUWnPkF4IFncWELjRqbLIYGiR1AsEFvRds_PY7lzLsXgUHtAv7x_p0xj6YGh8Jzvq4uaKEOv6l2l-YPzdQEA4tr_NeEQ/s256/fdd4f226c3e87ce4ab83478487f345e1b9af259e61a35e2bd7803f5276a21c08%20(1).jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="256" data-original-width="256" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoIzs5CofsS4FX94GDi7DU-Pv5uQQqejmk87YY007LrrGO1p1sxQnkr6PfrOvXshbdhfetJ85MzOkAj0NEOBa2PvpwY8i0I-hUWnPkF4IFncWELjRqbLIYGiR1AsEFvRds_PY7lzLsXgUHtAv7x_p0xj6YGh8Jzvq4uaKEOv6l2l-YPzdQEA4tr_NeEQ/s1600/fdd4f226c3e87ce4ab83478487f345e1b9af259e61a35e2bd7803f5276a21c08%20(1).jpeg" width="256" /></a></b></div><b><br />There are plenty of newer Sherlockians who have come along since <i>I am Lost Without My Boswell</i> aired. How would you describe the production to folks who haven't heard of it yet?</b><p></p><p>Some jerk in Iowa plays Sherlock Holmes, and gets other people to come along for the ride. Kidding aside, the actual description is that Boswell is an entirely volunteer driven effort to produce audio dramatizations of the entire canon. It doesn't matter where you are in the world, or your level of experience. As long as you can get me decent sounding audio, and take direction well, you can help further this project. </p><p><b>As someone who played Sherlock Holmes for five years, how did that period influence how you enjoy the Canon?</b></p><p>It's hard to not read things in my own voice, or think about how I'd want a passage to sound with other actors, or thinking about how a sound effect moment would play out. I sort of mentally live adapt while reading, and that's basically impossible to turn off at this point.</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR1KJvGfwArVT75qw1hB6jyUdf2vu7RPDnCC_TreO4kYWKsa1gNmsoW01Bi7SR7XO9G74yOGA2N5PF2Lf0iXMtq0H6g3BuDiMAwPFMYno0ayTRmK6icdIBJGqdepNcQwZEu7gVlXW7icLnd_pNUP2nK0M6YDY8IdF7cYYZvsqEB1jOV7o_Z2Fy_oby0g/s586/eito.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="586" data-original-width="369" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR1KJvGfwArVT75qw1hB6jyUdf2vu7RPDnCC_TreO4kYWKsa1gNmsoW01Bi7SR7XO9G74yOGA2N5PF2Lf0iXMtq0H6g3BuDiMAwPFMYno0ayTRmK6icdIBJGqdepNcQwZEu7gVlXW7icLnd_pNUP2nK0M6YDY8IdF7cYYZvsqEB1jOV7o_Z2Fy_oby0g/s320/eito.webp" width="202" /></a></b></div><b><br />What book would you recommend to other Sherlockians?</b><p></p><p>As I brought up comic books, and it is October, I'm going with <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Victorian-Undead-Sherlock-Holmes-Zombies/dp/1401228402/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3TL07ARHHE7PZ&keywords=Victorian+Undead&qid=1698024136&sprefix=victorian+undead%2Caps%2C141&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Victorian Undead: Sherlock Holmes VS Zombies!</a></i> There is also <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Victorian-Undead-II-Ian-Edginton/dp/140123268X/ref=pd_bxgy_sccl_1/132-9281518-9089917?pd_rd_w=ncAQL&content-id=amzn1.sym.21b577c4-6435-4581-8b53-49da41e27328&pf_rd_p=21b577c4-6435-4581-8b53-49da41e27328&pf_rd_r=PAEFM59DG9QZD24B9VQB&pd_rd_wg=JvUB5&pd_rd_r=6da6ff0e-5cf8-4a69-8cf6-1b4c3945fee5&pd_rd_i=140123268X&psc=1" target="_blank">a sequel vs Dracula</a>. Both have a fun story, and some really nice art to go along with them. So track them down and do some Halloween reading. </p><p><b>Where do you see Sherlockiana in 5 or 10 years from now?</b></p><p>Still chugging along. Depending on the wider media world, we may get another influx of younger folks, which is certainly good to help sustain things. I'm sure there will still be books, articles, and essays being written; disagreements about chronology; and people just enjoying the stories we all love so much. </p>Rob Nunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02126012014516886064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70253573396693005.post-47335158793095700382023-10-10T19:29:00.003-07:002023-10-10T19:58:48.446-07:00Interesting Interview: Mary Alcaro<p>Man, are you in for a treat this week! Mary Alcaro is an east coast Sherlockian that is well-known throughout the region. Whether it's attending ASH events or overseeing The Sons of the Copper Beeches scion, many folks know and admire her for her energy, wit, and intelligence. But if you're not from that part of the country, this week's Interesting Interview subject may not be too familiar.</p><p>Well, let's rectify that. I've talked with Mary a handful of times at Birthday Weekend events in January and have always found her to be a wonderful person to spend time with. She's the type of person you wish you could spend just another hour or so with because you're having such a great conversation. And that's why I'm excited about the following interview. From pre-teen interest in Holmes to a life in academia, Sherlokiana has been a part of Mary's life for a while. This week's answers are wide-ranging and can take you down quite a few rabbit holes. So settle in, and get to know Mary Alcaro a little better!</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-vOyKnANVGCPrDQnE9gQqkG-h176yuk6awkEi6LFTeo46jj2d48eXz8drymLEIXAGgpCiAYSOgrrRemivuzOawrS_qMi3toVcHG8t9YYe0dgmElXFpZqugWawxrTfSvIfaok9ypfaLxZ1NrKRWeQkNvKr1Y63TvnNKzgzLp-S1nlzoAnB0TuZ7Lyi6A/s2048/83753536_10157137131618981_4318560401760452608_n%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1365" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-vOyKnANVGCPrDQnE9gQqkG-h176yuk6awkEi6LFTeo46jj2d48eXz8drymLEIXAGgpCiAYSOgrrRemivuzOawrS_qMi3toVcHG8t9YYe0dgmElXFpZqugWawxrTfSvIfaok9ypfaLxZ1NrKRWeQkNvKr1Y63TvnNKzgzLp-S1nlzoAnB0TuZ7Lyi6A/s320/83753536_10157137131618981_4318560401760452608_n%20(1).jpg" width="213" /></a></b></div><b><br />How do you define the word “Sherlockian”?</b><p></p><p>To me, a Sherlockian is anyone who loves Sherlock Holmes or his world– regardless of whether they come to it through the Canon or through film or fan work, whether they play the Game or approach it through a scholarly lens. There’s a certain social element, I think, to being a Sherlockian that separates it from loving Sherlock Holmes– but you don’t have to belong to a scion or a group to be a Sherlockian. You might be a shy Sherlockian who just hasn’t found their people yet!</p><p><b>How did you become a Sherlockian?</b></p><p>I think my story is very similar to many others. I was a shy, bookish kid, precocious, anxious; when I was twelve, at a particularly difficult period of time in my life, I discovered my dad’s copy of the Canon in our house. I devoured it. And then I took to the Internet to find more. I tell people that I found Sherlockiana at possibly the best time to be on the Internet. It was 2002 so the Internet was just big enough that you could find information about Holmes and the BSI and all the history and lore around it, but not so vast that you couldn’t read pretty much everything if you wanted to. The Baker Street Webring was still around and active, but a lot of Sherlockiana felt a bit like a secret society, or something underground. From where I was sitting, it felt like it was something for men of a certain age and status, and I was awestruck. I distinctly remember subscribing to the <a href="https://bakerstreetirregulars.com/the-baker-street-journal/" target="_blank"><i>BSJ </i></a>under my first initial only, and not wanting anyone in my real life to know what a huge obsession Sherlockiana was for me, while also not wanting anyone in the Sherlockian world to know that I was a preteen girl. </p><p>Eventually, when I was twenty, I submitted a paper I had written to the <i>BSJ</i>, totally on a whim. And this larger-than-life Sherlockian figure who I had only read about, Editor <a href="http://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2021/10/interesting-interview-steven-rothman.html" target="_blank">Steven Rothman</a>, took a chance on this total nobody and published it. Shortly thereafter, <a href="http://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2019/03/interesting-interview-lyndsay-faye.html" target="_blank">Lyndsay Faye</a> reached out to me on Facebook to say she had read my piece (!) and invited me to an <a href="https://ash-nyc.com/" target="_blank">ASH Wednesday</a> in New York, where I was also living at the time. That’s when I really felt I had “become” a Sherlockian. </p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwltRuow2xlYri-rCGsEyG1IcqJYtB-MjO08mtJY4ZiixdbutjhS3o0-U34OQ5JqREFGbvywRkVLL0iCbirvwQS_4AmJnXSvNgsT6IAg-G1LYYZ_ocjYcY_1e3o-N7eStfCs7dpwKSkT32_oZ1RfvgnRtETOyNk7SnzYuyvR_5jLzo2c4BZpeFG_Oh_g/s960/50286990_10157033933513033_7524538937428148224_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="540" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwltRuow2xlYri-rCGsEyG1IcqJYtB-MjO08mtJY4ZiixdbutjhS3o0-U34OQ5JqREFGbvywRkVLL0iCbirvwQS_4AmJnXSvNgsT6IAg-G1LYYZ_ocjYcY_1e3o-N7eStfCs7dpwKSkT32_oZ1RfvgnRtETOyNk7SnzYuyvR_5jLzo2c4BZpeFG_Oh_g/s320/50286990_10157033933513033_7524538937428148224_n.jpg" width="180" /></a></b></div><b><br />What is your profession and does that affect how you enjoy being a Sherlockian?</b><p></p><p>So I used to teach high school English, and now I’m in academia, currently finishing a PhD in English Literature (specifically medieval literature) at Rutgers University. Typically, this means that I also teach college writing or literature courses, but at the moment I’m lucky enough to be on a dissertation fellowship so for now I’m “just” writing. </p><p>I think working in the academy has affected how I come to the stories; I tend to really notice certain themes or trends, like social class dynamics or imperialistic views that bleed through the stories. I’ve always been interested in the way that gender norms factor into the plots and characters’ relationship dynamics. But there are also aspects of Sherlockiana that are just plain fun to me, and reading and analyzing literature for a living hasn’t tainted that enjoyment at all– if anything, it’s enhanced it. </p><p><b>What is your favorite canonical story?</b></p><p>Hmm, this is a tough question! I think that <i>The Sign of Four</i> is my favorite because I love Holmes and Watson’s dynamic, and of course, there’s a TON of weird, problematic stuff happening with race and class to unpack– and there’s Toby! But one of my dark horse favorites is “The Blanched Soldier;” I find that story to be so deeply moving, and so, so often overlooked because it’s in <i>The Casebook</i>. </p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoR_4AnmD17cSNjfSUVi0OmN91O8OfKWpEigdAtTYfZED9H83FCC3vSraVZvcq4AYKJg-A3vaYGwaRgosqOifenxSPdLIeBAP4gsRXhf31GLQMvAzO9UuaFFUQ6cvS2CZWaYw7BlQq09ar_B-81Vsh2osrbBJSOpiMfbyBNiJpkhhZUI-i9izAsCC1jQ/s5184/Sherlock%20Holmes%20Presentation.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="5184" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoR_4AnmD17cSNjfSUVi0OmN91O8OfKWpEigdAtTYfZED9H83FCC3vSraVZvcq4AYKJg-A3vaYGwaRgosqOifenxSPdLIeBAP4gsRXhf31GLQMvAzO9UuaFFUQ6cvS2CZWaYw7BlQq09ar_B-81Vsh2osrbBJSOpiMfbyBNiJpkhhZUI-i9izAsCC1jQ/s320/Sherlock%20Holmes%20Presentation.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />Who is a specific Sherlockian that you think others would find interesting?</b><p></p><p>Oh my goodness there are so many interesting Sherlockians, many of whom are much better known than I am. I will just say that it was a great honor and pleasure that I got to know <a href="http://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2020/04/interesting-interview-susan-rice.html" target="_blank">Susan Rice</a> in her lifetime. She was the perfect Sherlockian– knowledgeable, and welcoming, and warm, and brilliant, and funny. She was a wonderful human being. This interview got me thinking about the future of Sherlockiana, and so I will say, if knowing her personally is impossible, then I hope that everyone who comes to Sherlockiana will know about her, for many years to come.</p><p><b>What subset of Sherlockiana really interests you?</b></p><p>I suppose I’m very “academic” about the way I come to Sherlockiana, because that’s my background, but I will also say I’m here for the queer stuff :) There is so much in the Canon itself that is queer, and also a large number of LGBTQIA Sherlockians– and none of that is new! It’s wonderful to look through the old scholarship, and see those strains of criticism, but also been around for ages, in <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/holmes-and-watson-june-thomson/11625603?ean=9780749011383" target="_blank">June Thomson’s Sherlockian biographical work</a>, in Internet fanfic, in the people who have founded the most influential Sherlockian groups… I think there’s a lot of potential work to be done, too. <a href="https://downqueerstreet.com/?i=1" target="_blank"><i>So Far Down Queer Street</i></a> is a really exciting project that’s still in its infancy, and I hope there's space for me to get involved with that in the future. </p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm9iO-YX_t5IGeNXuVIGX14fDbn25V1S2jfTMdsXO-iHsOPnpM0mRKRmOojStJ9S2kR5xyPUvbFDDAYvtRhesEWJyl_AREu-htimqNpN6jn7ef8qeKXgFL6LX29Y_u0AkG71pRd1pIlFFP7-YOSM21AHSkWjYuc8oe7OojPuxgWUUSrKHOSVF63sRsVQ/s304/download.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="166" data-original-width="304" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm9iO-YX_t5IGeNXuVIGX14fDbn25V1S2jfTMdsXO-iHsOPnpM0mRKRmOojStJ9S2kR5xyPUvbFDDAYvtRhesEWJyl_AREu-htimqNpN6jn7ef8qeKXgFL6LX29Y_u0AkG71pRd1pIlFFP7-YOSM21AHSkWjYuc8oe7OojPuxgWUUSrKHOSVF63sRsVQ/s1600/download.jpg" width="304" /></a></b></div><b><br />As one of the cohosts of <a href="https://rosenbach.org/events/sherlock-mondays/" target="_blank">Sherlock Mondays at The Rosenbach</a>, what can viewers look forward to in future sessions?</b><p></p><p>Ed Pettit is brilliant at this, all his Biblio-ventures have been amazing, and I’m among excellent company with <a href="http://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2020/03/interesting-interview-monica-schmidt.html" target="_blank">Monica Schmidt</a>, <a href="http://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2021/02/interesting-interview-anastasia.html" target="_blank">Anastasia Klimchynskaya</a>, and <a href="http://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2019/01/interesting-interview-curtis-armstrong.html" target="_blank">Curtis Armstrong</a> as co-hosts. It’s a really approachable way to get into the stories and to Sherlockiana as a whole. What’s nice about doing short stories is that it’s low commitment– you can drop in on weeks that work with your schedule and not have to commit to reading a whole novel. And of course, you get to try all the cocktails I’ve been making up for the stories we’re reading (I’ve also trained as a bartender). I know we also have some special guests lined up, but you’ll have to tune in to see who those folks are!</p><p><b>Your repertoire of talks and papers touch upon plague and disease quite often. How do you think the canonical stories would differ if that aspect of everyday life showed up more frequently?</b></p><p>You know, I’m actually always surprised at how little disease shows up as a plot point in the Canon, especially considering the fact that Conan Doyle was a physician and that he lived through a time when there were some pretty nasty epidemics out there, including several virulent strains of influenza, as well as typhoid when he was in South Africa. A lot of what we see of disease in the Canon is fictionalized, like the Tapinuli Fever Holmes pretends to have contracted in “The Dying Detective,” which is a made up disease (I’ve argued that it might be based on “enteric fever”) or else a disease not acting the way it “should,” like the bizarre nature of “pseudo-leprosy” in “The Blanched Soldier.” Holmes restores order to Victorian society when crime or scandal threatens that order, but he is no match for the microbe. I suspect if Conan Doyle had included more disease, Watson might have more to do, and that might steal some of Holmes’s thunder.</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCrcCUVPc74zia0gzeatqFs5jBziCdYJNlefh-95PXhogevP6H_DWba1HANF0csHx2bbqODYwGKO9pNR4i86c0tZRmyPLURKcCi83O7vMuY1vrbk8q2JBlTFIhfHxl0xD91zbi8C-OWt4lpbE1kX87Yjavy8oAxEdC25nvS6jsgI2Dm1jNdXCwxzq7FA/s2024/50007566_10218800854749280_7625314095851372544_n-2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1518" data-original-width="2024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCrcCUVPc74zia0gzeatqFs5jBziCdYJNlefh-95PXhogevP6H_DWba1HANF0csHx2bbqODYwGKO9pNR4i86c0tZRmyPLURKcCi83O7vMuY1vrbk8q2JBlTFIhfHxl0xD91zbi8C-OWt4lpbE1kX87Yjavy8oAxEdC25nvS6jsgI2Dm1jNdXCwxzq7FA/s320/50007566_10218800854749280_7625314095851372544_n-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />What book would you recommend to other Sherlockians?</b><p></p><p>To be honest, I am really not a big fan of mystery as a genre– I love the Canon because of the characters. I love a character-driven narrative, with an immersive environment. I suppose I can suggest a couple crime-oriented books. So in that vein, I recommend <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-devil-in-the-white-city-murder-magic-and-madness-at-the-fair-that-changed-america-trade-book-erik-larson/586167?ean=9780375725609" target="_blank">Erik Larson’s <i>Devil in the White City</i></a>, which is actually a nonfiction account of H.H. Holmes (presumably no relation to our Holmes?), a serial killer at the Chicago World's Fair of 1893. In a somewhat different genre– though there is a crime element– I always recommend <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-secret-history-donna-tartt/7827917?ean=9781400031702" target="_blank">Donna Tart’s <i>The Secret History</i></a>. It’s a dark, moody book about a bunch of very intelligent college students who make very stupid choices with dire consequences. It’s gorgeously written, very atmospheric, so in that regard, I think it might have some similarity to the Canon.</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZIdCH4_msDQklLhQa29kIjMg8lR26OUtQtizYX01xc8DlQAQlkLBNOy7bzANUlDv9BmBCTinBeS6YFUaB2Tu2iVhjtyHO0ogbgQwubbOvFJjGZ5cmapZ4YxxdXXDeTacoggu6Iufs2x-8a4bWKmTOVsu82H_qTeaSfxRrJ2TboXcvRIVQcCQ2vjWFBw/s960/50003277_10157033933253033_4323157421221478400_n-3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZIdCH4_msDQklLhQa29kIjMg8lR26OUtQtizYX01xc8DlQAQlkLBNOy7bzANUlDv9BmBCTinBeS6YFUaB2Tu2iVhjtyHO0ogbgQwubbOvFJjGZ5cmapZ4YxxdXXDeTacoggu6Iufs2x-8a4bWKmTOVsu82H_qTeaSfxRrJ2TboXcvRIVQcCQ2vjWFBw/s320/50003277_10157033933253033_4323157421221478400_n-3.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />Where do you see Sherlockiana in 5 or 10 years from now?</b><p></p><p>Sherlockiana is growing and expanding all the time– and most wonderfully, I see it moving away from Hollywood and back into the realm of the amateur enthusiast. <a href="https://lettersfromwatson.substack.com/" target="_blank">Letters from Watson</a> is a great way to get people involved in Sherlockiana, and I’ve really been enjoying podcast work like <i><a href="https://www.howeverimprobablepodcast.com/" target="_blank">However Improbable</a></i>, which is incredible– I hope the future of Sherlockiana has more Marisa Mercurio and Sarah Kolb. Things are ever so slowly getting more diverse, across age, gender, race, sexual orientation, etc. It’s not actually 1895, and as much as we want to keep that world alive, some things should not look like 1895. In that regard, our little bubble still has a bit of a ways to go to become more inclusive, particularly to people with lower incomes, or to people from different social classes. Sherlockiana is for everyone, and I hope we continue to see people from all walks of life coming to Holmes.</p><p>For my part, running a group like The Sons of the Copper Beeches is a balancing act of keeping our old traditions alive while creating space for new ones to be born. It’s exciting to be leading a 75+ year old BSI scion society, and I see my BSI and ASH investments as a tremendous honor and privilege. I love this world and want to keep it alive. We have such a rich history, full of fascinating figures, and some truly wonderful people– I think of the old guard, <a href="https://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2020/02/interesting-interview-bob-katz.html" target="_blank">Bob Katz</a>, Steve Rothman, <a href="http://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2018/07/interesting-interviews-ray-betzner.html" target="_blank">Ray Betzner</a>– who handed the scion over to me, <a href="https://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2023/02/interesting-interview-jenn-eaker.html" target="_blank">Jenn Eaker</a>, and <a href="http://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2021/01/interesting-interview-ross-davies.html" target="_blank">Ross Davies</a>, as like, my Sherlockian godfathers. I also want to be someone who helps bring Sherlock Holmes to the next generation, who makes sure that we breathe life into it and keep the conversation running for generations to come. </p>Rob Nunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02126012014516886064noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70253573396693005.post-78395786404731826212023-09-23T20:59:00.004-07:002023-09-24T14:07:04.321-07:00Interesting Interview: James O'Leary<p>I'm going to bet that the name James O'Leary is familiar to many Sherlockians. But how many of us know the actual man? He and I have crossed paths on the Internet and have had pleasant conversations at Sherlockian events, but I've never felt like I got to know James. That was a big reason I wanted him to be a part of this Interesting Interview series. </p><p>If you have met James or read any of his writings, you'll know that he is a very intelligent guy with heartfelt opinions. He's written<a href="https://www.johnhwatsonsociety.com/product/monograph-two/" target="_blank"> a great monograph</a> that the John H. Watson Society put out a while back, has been an active writer on the <a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/search/label/James%20O%27Leary#.Uucu28Qo5w0" target="_blank">I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere website</a>, and pops up in all kinds of Sherlockian conversations on the Internet. His writings are always focused on a canonical subject, but this week the subject is James himself! So let's get to know one of the newest members of The Baker Street Irregulars, James O'Leary!</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFZ2VPKpLlTmNjINjPm-fBR8vvtIjq919dFFcCFj4j3I839SntaxVZtOIel4S_i4Bnw0hnffdjOYzjJUM1hvQYprXxxXyPMRyVBbGbgUcfq7THUnu3FNJ3BkoXSovx_bURDzFVGGK889_M7Rn5ccEwdg0hnHDj2kKOOe6lLz2bGtITNMuIoslWRDzQRw/s192/Class%20of%202023.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="192" data-original-width="181" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFZ2VPKpLlTmNjINjPm-fBR8vvtIjq919dFFcCFj4j3I839SntaxVZtOIel4S_i4Bnw0hnffdjOYzjJUM1hvQYprXxxXyPMRyVBbGbgUcfq7THUnu3FNJ3BkoXSovx_bURDzFVGGK889_M7Rn5ccEwdg0hnHDj2kKOOe6lLz2bGtITNMuIoslWRDzQRw/s1600/Class%20of%202023.jpg" width="181" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700; white-space-collapse: preserve;">How do you define the word “Sherlockian”?</span><p></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-e71d0852-7fff-a1c8-3169-55d163d07827"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I can only answer as to how I define myself as a Sherlockian. For me it's a literary pursuit, and playing the Games as honoring the genius of Arthur Conan Doyle; by reading Sherlock Holmes and John Watson as real people and the adventures as true events lightly fictionalized by Watson. That's not to say that I don't appreciate or enjoy pastiche or visual and audio representations of the pair, just that my desert island pick would be the Canon and Higher Criticism. I respect the differences of an individual's personal Sherlockian experience.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">How did you become a Sherlockian?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">While I had seen Daddy Duck and Mr. Magoo on TV and read Encyclopedia Brown, America's Sherlock Holmes in sneakers, I first met Holmes in the sixth grade (back when that was in elementary school) when the class read HOUN. In middle school I found </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Adventures</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> and </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Memoirs</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> then in high school the rest of the Canon and the Higher Criticism. That's when I considered myself a Sherlockian. I subscribed to the </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://bakerstreetirregulars.com/the-baker-street-journal/" target="_blank">BSJ</a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://bakerstreetirregulars.com/the-baker-street-journal/" target="_blank"> </a>and the </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Baker Street Miscellanea</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">. This was during the Great Boom of the '70s--a heady time to be a budding Sherlockian.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyKKtBl6alpqGvLPhc7F-tIkinidhZLm-8VbTG6xvx1TIhq6J8wjXRz1ElkxGITuYdTaY8YdLc5Dl0TIHoW4sGdvlqEBPoRZxpPxUpla7nKxAs_9FcRKgFa3WXQJPw8rIiJRSMRxU4bnl7mwpTpMrPY8nEQHnEkdyR4XTcCe6YpSImiCX608Fhcep4Lg/s534/53453-800x445.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="221" data-original-width="534" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyKKtBl6alpqGvLPhc7F-tIkinidhZLm-8VbTG6xvx1TIhq6J8wjXRz1ElkxGITuYdTaY8YdLc5Dl0TIHoW4sGdvlqEBPoRZxpPxUpla7nKxAs_9FcRKgFa3WXQJPw8rIiJRSMRxU4bnl7mwpTpMrPY8nEQHnEkdyR4XTcCe6YpSImiCX608Fhcep4Lg/s320/53453-800x445.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b>What is your profession and does that affect how you enjoy being a Sherlockian?</b></span><p></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I've worked for the United States Postal Service for ten years and work and non-work do not intersect.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">What is your favorite canonical story?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I‘ve decided that if I'm forced to pick one story then I have chosen CREE as my designated answer. You could look at it as the perfect pastiche--strange goings on in a suburban or exurban house, puzzling most members of the household, a damsel in distress and weird sexuality. It is not science fictional; ignore Holmes' musings about thick and horny knuckles and survival of the least fit prolonging their worthless lives with a fountain of youth--Watson has the last word when he says that this is a case best left to an alienist, though he buries it in the middle of the story with lumbago--rejuvenescence was a topic ripped from the headlines with rich and famous males using monkey glands to restore physical and sexual vitality. There's a lot going in the story people miss.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWEqdVEczf1A-hJvqUplhB4bp9QcXIuLgYZ2A7PsyvwiN6BQBeegmpnHJNsJ0S6dl0DCYukcazlPNfwKPf1CYfxS7e9n910D9w8AmXTLEHf7XQXIFQTw-yuEXlLITPITs85KmXqTCjJvLcroCFWsp1WctOnDSuqScG_o-cKsaOpfrC8GqUPTzZ1FoZgA/s1018/The_Adventure_of_the_Creeping_Man_by_Frederic_Dorr_Steele_1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1018" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWEqdVEczf1A-hJvqUplhB4bp9QcXIuLgYZ2A7PsyvwiN6BQBeegmpnHJNsJ0S6dl0DCYukcazlPNfwKPf1CYfxS7e9n910D9w8AmXTLEHf7XQXIFQTw-yuEXlLITPITs85KmXqTCjJvLcroCFWsp1WctOnDSuqScG_o-cKsaOpfrC8GqUPTzZ1FoZgA/s320/The_Adventure_of_the_Creeping_Man_by_Frederic_Dorr_Steele_1.jpg" width="251" /></a></div><br /><b>Who is a specific Sherlockian that you think others would find interesting?</b><p></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">What a tough question! I don't think I could narrow it down to a couple dozen people. I'd suggest listening to <i><a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/p/show-archives.html" target="_blank">I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere</a></i> and Steve Doyle's <i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@bakerstreetjournal1642" target="_blank">Fortnightly Dispatch</a></i>. Or attend a local scion society meeting. You're bound to meet someone interesting.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">What subset of Sherlockiana really interests you?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Chronology.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH6Yo_BOKhpe0Tqo5cJ0k3a_5Usn_Uv3pOmouGAK75Ot7ZmXVqjhcWO4TcpTTI5GlC2jz2yAzIxBzgM5QgyE6Mqrswq9IIW6JOFLatas1NupzSfXXW4UX0r-uYuhy0DRLOjAx2FW5oiUT-eLbgsqAO0_lL1P5hommXowmdSM-OuAqnTY9BxBkjoVhrGg/s1382/Screen-Shot-2022-03-05-at-10.05.34-AM.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="801" data-original-width="1382" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH6Yo_BOKhpe0Tqo5cJ0k3a_5Usn_Uv3pOmouGAK75Ot7ZmXVqjhcWO4TcpTTI5GlC2jz2yAzIxBzgM5QgyE6Mqrswq9IIW6JOFLatas1NupzSfXXW4UX0r-uYuhy0DRLOjAx2FW5oiUT-eLbgsqAO0_lL1P5hommXowmdSM-OuAqnTY9BxBkjoVhrGg/s320/Screen-Shot-2022-03-05-at-10.05.34-AM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b><br /></b><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>As an active chronologist, what can the average Sherlockian learn from paying attention to the discussion around the dating of the stories?</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">This is an example of why chronology is important and it has nothing to do with the date of any individual story. You will hear some Sherlockians say that Watson's writings are responsible for Holmes' fame—think of the film </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> taking place in 1887 and Watson’s </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Strand</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> stories a public hit (</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Strand</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> started in January 1891)—but that is chronologically impossible. While Watson wanted to write up </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A Study in Scarle</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">t to let the public know of Holmes’ role in solving the Stangerson/</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Drebber murders, he could not sell his manuscript until 1886 and it wasn’t published until November 1887, six months after “Europe was ringing with his name and when his room was literally ankle-deep with congratulatory telegrams” with the press disclosure of the “whole question of the Netherland-Sumatra Company and of the colossal schemes of Baron Maupertuis.” Holmes was famous of his own accord before the less-than-best-sellers STUD and SIGN saw print and presumed dead when the public sensation </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Strand</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> series started in July 1891. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">After Holmes returned in 1894, he forbade Watson to publish until he was on the eve of retirement. These facts have baring when Mycroft says, “I hear of Sherlock everywhere since you became his chronicler,” in GREE; when Stapleton says, “It is useless for us to pretend that we do not know you, Dr. Watson. The records of your detective have reached us here, and you could not celebrate him without being known yourself,” in HOUN; or when John Douglas says, “I've heard of you. You are the historian of this bunch. Well, Dr. Watson, you've never had such a story as that pass through your hands before, and I'd lay my last dollar on that,” in VALL.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">You were an avid promoter of Elementary during its run. What argument would you make to a newer Sherlockian to sell them on this show? </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Forget about the arguments made in 2012 that the BBC is a quality outfit and </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Sherlock</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> is made by fanboys for fans while American network TV is schlock made by hacks trying to turn out a knockoff to make bucks. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Elementary</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> wanted to tell its own Holmes story through the lens of the Canon and the lens of the mythos fans built around it. Through seven seasons the teams behind the show demonstrated deep knowledge of the Canon and the acting was uniformly excellent if almost never recognized at award time. I would direct anyone interested to check out my blog posts at IHOSE <a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2013/10/addiction-elementary-and-doyle.html" target="_blank">“Addiction, Elementary and Doyle”</a> from October 4, 2013</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, <a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2016/03/elementary-and-hound.html" target="_blank">“Elementary and the Hound”</a> from March 25, 2016</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, and <a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2016/06/elementarys-mycroft-and-morland-holmes.html" target="_blank">“Elementary’s Mycroft and Morland Holmes — A Tale of Doyle's Two Mycrofts”</a> from June 25, 2016</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhclRWhKEzczyThy5ae7hSYTpCYK8u8AkdNmWF-rIdWSPQ86ENDvvN2zJ6374wIM3ssiLH3hnDHTUNrruqA1BOpRQNVeSmpd3TmN8G2K7qozzF_rviLfN5GiBgb0mQZPGXFBBbY5BHpYcYqr9NDrfHdtil2v8mEOUUOqIjIj87Edt4JUhP-h8mEYUzWQA/s1440/MV5BMDEyN2U1YTItNDY1Zi00YjljLWI5YzItNWU3YWViYjhiZTgxXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjg4NzAyOTA@._V1_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhclRWhKEzczyThy5ae7hSYTpCYK8u8AkdNmWF-rIdWSPQ86ENDvvN2zJ6374wIM3ssiLH3hnDHTUNrruqA1BOpRQNVeSmpd3TmN8G2K7qozzF_rviLfN5GiBgb0mQZPGXFBBbY5BHpYcYqr9NDrfHdtil2v8mEOUUOqIjIj87Edt4JUhP-h8mEYUzWQA/s320/MV5BMDEyN2U1YTItNDY1Zi00YjljLWI5YzItNWU3YWViYjhiZTgxXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjg4NzAyOTA@._V1_.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>What book would you recommend to other Sherlockians?</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I would recommend The</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Grand Game Volumes I</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> and </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">II</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> from the BSI Press and </span><a href="https://www.sherlock-holmes.org.uk/product/the-best-of-the-sherlock-holmes-journal-volume-two/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Best of the Sherlock Holmes Journal Volumes I</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> and </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">II</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> from the Sherlock Holmes Society of London. You’ll be reading the best Higher Criticism of the last 120 plus years.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Where do you see Sherlockiana in 5 or 10 years from now?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">. (I can write that better than I can pronounce it!) I think the essence of Sherlockiana has been remarkably consistent; the comradery, fellowship and genericity. The tent has gotten larger and that is a trend I hope continues.</span></p><div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div>Rob Nunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02126012014516886064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70253573396693005.post-20380167901517311762023-09-10T18:14:00.001-07:002023-09-10T18:14:35.182-07:00Interesting Interview: Ann Kimbrough<p>This week's Interesting Interview is with a Sherlockian a lot of folks might not know yet, Ann Kimbrough. Ann is relatively new to Sherlockiana, so now is everyone's chance to get to know her so that we can all say, "I knew her way back when..."</p><p>I first met Ann at <a href="http://www.agratreasurers.net/holmes--doyle----friends--2024.html" target="_blank">Holmes, Doyle, and Friends</a> in March. She presented on her new Sherlockian middle grade series that allows tradition to interact with today. I've read a lot of Sherlockian books, and I've never seen Ann's take on the canonical tales before. An added bonus is that they are told through graphic novels, so I immediately knew I wanted them in my classroom library! Ann's <a href="http://www.annkimbrough.com/Text-Me-Mystery.html" target="_blank">new take on the Canon </a>would be enough to warrant an interview, but she was so energetic and friendly in Dayton and St. Louis, that she simply must be promoted. If you ever see Ann Kimbrough at a future Sherlockian event, make sure to say hi. Your day will be much better for doing so!</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmxG9KtqHzeH5H8lCAIhwT5xTjaxsvk0K9Q7UmJZevAKjm2l5Q6ofPsS-p5oBzZfuu_Rre4Qqh4RamqVtcDJU8g6v8BSIHqV0dEYs09epvPb7HUdMIuxC-PMXsNAR-_e_fc4LposF4icnV-ebb9dwfh6lXqAcatr5zjlwayTFWz889a6XHaW2hi_MzQQ/s240/unnamed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="240" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmxG9KtqHzeH5H8lCAIhwT5xTjaxsvk0K9Q7UmJZevAKjm2l5Q6ofPsS-p5oBzZfuu_Rre4Qqh4RamqVtcDJU8g6v8BSIHqV0dEYs09epvPb7HUdMIuxC-PMXsNAR-_e_fc4LposF4icnV-ebb9dwfh6lXqAcatr5zjlwayTFWz889a6XHaW2hi_MzQQ/s1600/unnamed.jpg" width="240" /></a></b></div><b><br />How do you define the word “Sherlockian”?</b><p></p><p>A Sherlockian is a real human being who believes a fictional human being is real, and devours all things about this person and his sidekick, Dr. Watson.</p><p><b>How did you become a Sherlockian?</b></p><p>I haven’t officially converted, but perhaps it’s a status that just creeps up on you, until you say to yourself: “Ah, yes, it has happened.” I guess I could say that now. Today. Oh, wow, what a moment! I am a Sherlockian. Okay, cool. Knew it would be official, eventually. Glad you were here to witness it. Witnesses are very important in Sherlock’s world. However, it all must have started for me during the Pandemic. I needed something to inspire me, you see, and I’d read an article on stories that had just entered the public domain—which meant anyone could use them for anything! That intrigued me, and led to reading my first Sherlock Holmes adventure.</p><p><b>What is your profession and does that affect how you enjoy being a Sherlockian?</b></p><p>I’m a writer, now, working for myself; but I used to work in Los Angeles making TV commercials and music videos. Remember Madonna’s "Vogue" video? I was there. Being a writer has a big impact on my Sherlockian-mindset, as I can never get too far away from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s incredible skill as a storyteller.</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-QCvQ5Vb4K7tTr_8nivkB-uDP0zRjeDcRiuKkVWI9C0rx95D5sWHm-oSmOVC9zoRioWWR7Zds5OQgunD8G4XCxL1lIfNDE-oQqCWyv0ZdNpKWnR7NkgSeCp35ygAjNWtN5VYqVa10_xNeoY8d-rfXpNTP_a6285yxv2gata793fcKBI63WWbyzft2Og/s646/0a3a1f45dcc43e5e808eb467fd5d93f1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="646" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-QCvQ5Vb4K7tTr_8nivkB-uDP0zRjeDcRiuKkVWI9C0rx95D5sWHm-oSmOVC9zoRioWWR7Zds5OQgunD8G4XCxL1lIfNDE-oQqCWyv0ZdNpKWnR7NkgSeCp35ygAjNWtN5VYqVa10_xNeoY8d-rfXpNTP_a6285yxv2gata793fcKBI63WWbyzft2Og/s320/0a3a1f45dcc43e5e808eb467fd5d93f1.jpg" width="248" /></a></b></div><b><br />What is your favorite canonical story?</b><p></p><p>I like "Silver Blaze." The horse did it! Who’d have thought? But as I continue to go through the Canon, that might change.</p><p><b>Who is a specific Sherlockian that you think others would find interesting?</b></p><p>I’m impressed by <a href="http://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2020/03/interesting-interview-monica-schmidt.html" target="_blank">Monica Schmidt</a>. I want to be her, when I grow up. She’s what they used to call—a dame—and a smart cookie; not to mention, she has the best Ginger. I’d have to say, Monica and her husband Bill (the Ginger) are two amazingly fun people, and that’s saying a lot since I have many favorites that have welcomed me into the fold, like <a href="http://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Rich Krisciunas</a>, the Pied-Piper of keeping newbies like me in the know about Sherlockian events; <a href="http://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2021/06/interesting-interview-steve-mason.html" target="_blank">Steve Mason</a>, who is a Sherlockian guru (see <i><a href="https://www.beaconsociety.com/sherlocks-spotlight-gazette.html" target="_blank">Sherlock's Spotlight</a></i>); Tom Campbell of the Sherlock Holmes Society of Cape Fear, who welcomes everyone on Zoom; and the classy and lovely couple—<a href="http://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2019/10/interesting-interview-dan-andriacco.html" target="_blank">Dan</a> & Ann Andriacco… did you know we’re starting a very unofficial Ann Club. It’s called Sherlocki-Anns. And there’s always Rob Nunn to add a little style to the gang, along with his teaching skills that seem to be needed everywhere. I honestly haven’t met a Sherlockian that didn’t impress me! So much so, I can’t stop at one.</p><p><b>What subset of Sherlockiana really interests you?</b></p><p>The subset written for kids. My Sherlockian writing was sparked from the fact that no one really teaches us how to think. Maybe they should, and why not teach kids to think like Sherlock?</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE7-BgU87z5psHxe8Vjzb3pPRUa603pFXTf_WylKZm5_aRNmzi_dvn6IkmM_2YP-KGCfiveOUJcdXFzmYxPh8lr-Irqi9il-PoKr2z0XC6lE8vTCOiUNRfqUFtvR4pJg4aZlgbpyQU3Y20gWR77XEX-l1-s0m6IFyIm-Fu_kTuWRaK5Fr7PXu35HsC1Q/s240/unnamed.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="240" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE7-BgU87z5psHxe8Vjzb3pPRUa603pFXTf_WylKZm5_aRNmzi_dvn6IkmM_2YP-KGCfiveOUJcdXFzmYxPh8lr-Irqi9il-PoKr2z0XC6lE8vTCOiUNRfqUFtvR4pJg4aZlgbpyQU3Y20gWR77XEX-l1-s0m6IFyIm-Fu_kTuWRaK5Fr7PXu35HsC1Q/s1600/unnamed.png" width="240" /></a></b></div><b><br />Where did the idea for your <i><a href="http://www.annkimbrough.com/Text-Me-Mystery.html" target="_blank">Text Me Mysteries</a></i> come from?</b><p></p><p>Boredom. As I mentioned, I needed something new to write during the pandemic. Everything I’d been working on was based in normal daily life, and suddenly, the norm seemed to be gone. Sherlock is timeless, and I was just struck by the idea of what if Sherlock was text messaging with modern-day teenagers? Maybe they could help him with a case, and learn something about deductive reasoning along the way.</p><p><b>As someone who's attended some of her first Sherlockian events recently, what would you say to encourage others to join you at future events?</b></p><p>Attending a Sherlockian event changed everything, for me, and I recommend it. You get to meet the coolest people, and it’s so wonderful to be around other people that get this part of you. Zoom meetings, too, are a great way to join this group, but attending in person is so much fun. Everyone is welcoming, and you’ll make a lot of friends!</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzAZJL43k03Ene_5z0oTZSoZLhp1uVlNT56Py2_ubqDsng_naVFR8k79osXAq5lTkomMysKfDqVZfhYpAiw-WcvxFlSNRllm81430tFgMC7kAK1gB20aUbniJlb_YuhruhvdMLs5oFgkKoOVzx0IzXz6v9MWHjgBV4hMFc4gvuY6xBLE9Gw0qKypuL4Q/s1920/thumbnail_IMG_1026.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1920" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzAZJL43k03Ene_5z0oTZSoZLhp1uVlNT56Py2_ubqDsng_naVFR8k79osXAq5lTkomMysKfDqVZfhYpAiw-WcvxFlSNRllm81430tFgMC7kAK1gB20aUbniJlb_YuhruhvdMLs5oFgkKoOVzx0IzXz6v9MWHjgBV4hMFc4gvuY6xBLE9Gw0qKypuL4Q/s320/thumbnail_IMG_1026.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />What book would you recommend to other Sherlockians?</b><p></p><p>Would it be wrong to recommend my own graphic novels? LOL At least, I recommend them to that middle-grader to young adult in your life. For the rest of us, I’ve just been reading <i><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/arthur-conan-doyle-a-life-in-letters-jon-lellenberg/11718108?ean=9780143114338" target="_blank">Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life in Letters</a></i> by Jon Lellenberg, Daniel Stashower & Charles Foley. It’s mostly the letters that Conan Doyle wrote to his mother, but some are to friends and other family. They encompass his adult life and are fascinating! A real look inside at the man and the writer.</p><p><b>Where do you see Sherlockiana in 5 or 10 years from now?</b></p><p>I see it continuing—forever! So far, there have been so many versions of Sherlock, why would the future be any different? At their core, the original stories still hold up. More Watsons and more Sherlocks, I say! </p>Rob Nunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02126012014516886064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70253573396693005.post-69955811046583981902023-09-03T19:06:00.001-07:002023-09-03T20:00:04.533-07:00This Great International Affair [REIG]<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8lXxjMDCmaU75VlMGhKdAPW1VBIGkvSPSLjz0ZbvXHlxBmPysV-2H_mcx5qjcF9OqF8i0AGtRfhjhYKLn_9YMBTKQzQ6wghRLWGr1U1yzd_6CjfNc4CKFBI4jPqpY-uX-QVhG97xt3rLWoT1QDp26TlnPNrHE4fDzHO-0uXm2dTgIA_0N4eLmUNZMKg/s849/746px-The-strand-magazine-1893-06-the-reigate-squires-p607-illu.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="849" data-original-width="746" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8lXxjMDCmaU75VlMGhKdAPW1VBIGkvSPSLjz0ZbvXHlxBmPysV-2H_mcx5qjcF9OqF8i0AGtRfhjhYKLn_9YMBTKQzQ6wghRLWGr1U1yzd_6CjfNc4CKFBI4jPqpY-uX-QVhG97xt3rLWoT1QDp26TlnPNrHE4fDzHO-0uXm2dTgIA_0N4eLmUNZMKg/s320/746px-The-strand-magazine-1893-06-the-reigate-squires-p607-illu.jpg" width="281" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>I needed a topic to talk about for a scion meeting this month, so I thought a quick rundown of the history of the title change in "The Reigate Squires" would be an easy one. Maybe define the word for other boorish Americans and quote some folks. Easy peasy. But just to make sure I wasn't missing anything that was common knowledge with apocryphal story of the name change, I told my wife I needed just a few minutes with my books to check some things.</p><p>Over the years, there has been plenty of confusion with the title of the seventh case in <i>The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes</i>. Is it "The Reigate Squires" or should "Squires" be singular? And haven't I seen it listed as "The Reigate Puzzle"? Turns out, it's an international dispute.</p><p>According to D. Martin Dakin's entry for this story in <i>A Sherlock Holmes Commentary</i>:</p><p>"This first appeared in <i>The Strand</i> as <i>The Reigate Squire</i> (singular); but evidently soon after, this name struck Watson as inappropriate for the two men concerned, and in <i>The Memoirs</i> it was changed to <i>The Reigate Squires</i>. In the American editions it has usually been altered to <i>The Reigate Puzzle</i>: it is believed that the first American editors feared that the word 'Squires' would be offensive or even incomprehensible to the Sons of the Free."</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQnELsgaMq_XH7697qT1kQgciCsNOqF1ZMfyFz836qlEtof6yQ1qmKFsDmRdmt72rNkhtffzUxIZHg37-EaMIS1bZb0Rs5SJJ9fYFkD5GtAvTj11klGrdenZXkopzeKYyOZwkY96k5umW_y1rmpUaNPP5Dsy2nXFBTR6-cNw0EEMUxPeIAb10AxVuMvw/s500/s-l500.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="324" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQnELsgaMq_XH7697qT1kQgciCsNOqF1ZMfyFz836qlEtof6yQ1qmKFsDmRdmt72rNkhtffzUxIZHg37-EaMIS1bZb0Rs5SJJ9fYFkD5GtAvTj11klGrdenZXkopzeKYyOZwkY96k5umW_y1rmpUaNPP5Dsy2nXFBTR6-cNw0EEMUxPeIAb10AxVuMvw/s320/s-l500.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><br />Thinking on Dakin's quote, I have to admit that it felt off because in GREE, Holmes famously told Watson that “My ancestors were country squires, who appear to have led much the same life as is natural to their class." Why can Americans be expected to understand it in this context but not in a story's title?<p></p><p>But Dakin's theory has been the explanation given for as long as I can remember. And like many other things in Sherlockiana, I've trusted those that have come before me as they are always smarter than me and usually correct.</p><p>And only one page of the manuscript exists, and that isn't the title page. So we can't go to the source material for this one. So I delved a little deeper into this, and came across an article from <i>Baker Street Miscellanea</i>, Number 35, Autumn 1983. Ann Byerly reports that in Sidney Paget's account book from March 1893 says "7 drawings S.H. (Reigate Puzzle)".</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHBna2JTXQ-zZ7hhBeDEGkefRBn8806NGlHXU08UZcE7rZQ5Y7pJPI8EpEuGtD1b7Lr-bdrVsYlrk1HTQ_Sewi7vr-v18XBtuLbV7BQHc3Bo9sww6Rh5KnCqdF0sWK_RWNXdVCqp3xZvowtezy2BbH4uIkXZNcBoDj7vcjz55-wjfUkYyTaEqjL4Y4rw/s800/The-strand-magazine-1893-06-the-reigate-squires-p609-illu.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="788" data-original-width="800" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHBna2JTXQ-zZ7hhBeDEGkefRBn8806NGlHXU08UZcE7rZQ5Y7pJPI8EpEuGtD1b7Lr-bdrVsYlrk1HTQ_Sewi7vr-v18XBtuLbV7BQHc3Bo9sww6Rh5KnCqdF0sWK_RWNXdVCqp3xZvowtezy2BbH4uIkXZNcBoDj7vcjz55-wjfUkYyTaEqjL4Y4rw/s320/The-strand-magazine-1893-06-the-reigate-squires-p609-illu.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />It seemed odd that Paget would use "Puzzle," but that could be brushed away as Paget is connected with so many Sherlock Holmes stories. Surely his contact at the American magazine, <i>Harper's Weekly</i>, reported this title to him at some point.<p></p><p>But Paget didn't illustrate the American edition.</p><p>As with so many Sherlock Holmes stories published in <i>The Strand</i> magazine, Sydney Paget illustrated the tale. But <i>Harper's Weekly</i> in America commissioned W. H. Hyde for two illustrations. There is no connection between the British illustrator and the American title.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrrfZzR0cO5JKxf0WJmhsmzuQiWnYMAMBMVLl1-4K2yMhgSkvb32mNw7xS83DCebWcFCHUE5UYBKNWGxinqsHSTx3ZlhfaAhJCeyQgL3D2eQpGa3osETn7axc0ZYDaTlGKoBRtWwYPU2YWrgVQfXGwIhgqkpO6ZcqiH3HsDIeQODW1KOfUHvx0w8sntw/s1155/Harper-s-weekly-1893-06-17-p575-the-reigate-puzzle-illu2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="747" data-original-width="1155" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrrfZzR0cO5JKxf0WJmhsmzuQiWnYMAMBMVLl1-4K2yMhgSkvb32mNw7xS83DCebWcFCHUE5UYBKNWGxinqsHSTx3ZlhfaAhJCeyQgL3D2eQpGa3osETn7axc0ZYDaTlGKoBRtWwYPU2YWrgVQfXGwIhgqkpO6ZcqiH3HsDIeQODW1KOfUHvx0w8sntw/s320/Harper-s-weekly-1893-06-17-p575-the-reigate-puzzle-illu2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />So why would Sydney Paget refer to this story as "The Reigate Puzzle"?<p></p><p>Byer posited in her article that Doyle originally titled the story "Puzzle" but after sending his submission to America, changed his mind and changed the manuscript title to "Squire." Four years after this article was published, Richard Lancelyn Green stated the same theory in his essay on the story in <i>The Baker Street Dozen</i>. Lancelyn Green hypothesized that Doyle wrote to <i>The Strand</i> editor and requested the title be changed. (Constantine Rossakis later told me in an email that Green changed his mind, but I've yet to see documentation on that point.)</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic712xNYa6IeG4Q4QEbWibpLazMyCu5NKgw8Q_S2m6wKfTC6hOlP82KfBbz35WjsROuJvwL07MNY1cHGPIZHsk2zMjrEyNxtHW0sZWXFoLOUYp5PCXHCyc4fudcasmz3HvxsZYkcI7UWO1mov7W_ColzZAKU82JR1odaOX6gSv0nXUvOsLD1-BMbRNbA/s346/41+eaGKCIIL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="228" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic712xNYa6IeG4Q4QEbWibpLazMyCu5NKgw8Q_S2m6wKfTC6hOlP82KfBbz35WjsROuJvwL07MNY1cHGPIZHsk2zMjrEyNxtHW0sZWXFoLOUYp5PCXHCyc4fudcasmz3HvxsZYkcI7UWO1mov7W_ColzZAKU82JR1odaOX6gSv0nXUvOsLD1-BMbRNbA/s320/41+eaGKCIIL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" width="211" /></a></div><br />(Lancelyn Green also pointed out that there can only be one squire, as <i>The Oxford English Dictionary</i> defines the word "squire" as meaning "one who is the chief land-owner, magistrate, or lawyer in a district." So the plural edition that we've all been using is incorrect. Confused yet? Me too.)<p></p><p>At the time of this writing, I have spent two hours in this rabbit hole and have dug through: <i>A Sherlock Holmes Commentary</i>, <i>Baker Street Miscellanea</i>, <i>The Baker Street Dozen</i>, <i>From Holmes to Sherlock</i>, <i>The Oxford Annotated</i> edition of <i>The Memoirs</i>, <i>The Sherlock Holmes Reference Library</i> edition of <i>The Memoirs</i>, <i>The Baker Street Journal</i>, <i>The Green Bag Almanac</i>, a few emails, and numerous websites. So much for "just a few minutes with my books."</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw2z_u6QY3HzZTFQqmhRJVvIKjj8CBnjkEMpQi5sQCEEAr50UO4AvW_JqMYzI-6RDkHSgHlc9oHQ8gnn3UO09f-jf_YE5ECSfJwhNmfrl-fsjGGQiXBXhLHnl9igeBkIfTrcSMtZ52K0dNxEd-eijKxRkI0ayguVjbwqx6mpPa9QthS3xDLnDILpG3ag/s1512/IMG_1359.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1185" data-original-width="1512" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw2z_u6QY3HzZTFQqmhRJVvIKjj8CBnjkEMpQi5sQCEEAr50UO4AvW_JqMYzI-6RDkHSgHlc9oHQ8gnn3UO09f-jf_YE5ECSfJwhNmfrl-fsjGGQiXBXhLHnl9igeBkIfTrcSMtZ52K0dNxEd-eijKxRkI0ayguVjbwqx6mpPa9QthS3xDLnDILpG3ag/s320/IMG_1359.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />After all of this, you know what I've come up with? <p></p><p>The American title is the right one and the British version is incorrect. USA! USA! USA!</p>Rob Nunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02126012014516886064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70253573396693005.post-46796581291790235522023-08-27T19:05:00.002-07:002023-08-27T19:05:35.323-07:00Interesting Interview: Rich Krisciunas<p>If you've been anywhere around Sherlockiana over the past few years, you've seen the name Rich Krisciunas. He started popping up in a bunch of Zoom meetings during Covid and seemed like a nice guy. Turns out, that's not an act. Rich has been to plenty of Sherlockian gatherings once the world opened back up and everyone who's met him, myself included, agree that he is a joy to spend time with.</p><p>And Rich's work pops up all over the place! He's active in his local scion, is resurrecting another, and was just published in a recent issue of <i>The Baker Street Journal</i>. He runs the John H. Watson Society's annual treasure hunt. He gives a monthly presentation on law at the Crew of the Barque Lone Star Zoom meetings. He is one of the founding members of The Legion of Zoom. He presented at Holmes in the Heartland. And if a scion society is hosting a meeting online, you can count on him being there and contributing to the discussion. Did I forget something? Probably. There's no keeping up with this guy. But you can get to know him a little better in this week's interview!</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3VxWeqIeMPXeb2g_pJ9x6mO2gLFbpUf41ZixYz4cu__Od3OAgwLSUyppe4PSlmrvl-Z1LDWVuous9WsmQ9hXg5mW8O8vW_9bX-zv8YyCKm--e-hcAK0ooTrmYKaV51qpgM1ZBAyNpuEUG6gXHohm700sMsePiSY-0Y7E0-au0aJIS0Qzn99N03zBV7g/s1047/IMG_2974.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1047" data-original-width="876" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3VxWeqIeMPXeb2g_pJ9x6mO2gLFbpUf41ZixYz4cu__Od3OAgwLSUyppe4PSlmrvl-Z1LDWVuous9WsmQ9hXg5mW8O8vW_9bX-zv8YyCKm--e-hcAK0ooTrmYKaV51qpgM1ZBAyNpuEUG6gXHohm700sMsePiSY-0Y7E0-au0aJIS0Qzn99N03zBV7g/s320/IMG_2974.jpg" width="268" /></a></b></div><b><br />How do you define the word “Sherlockian”?</b><p></p><p>I’m a simple guy. I look at a “Sherlockian” as anyone who enjoys any facet of Sherlock Holmes from the Canon, pastiches, movies, to any TV series and who is part of our community. </p><p><b>How did you become a Sherlockian?</b></p><p>I was introduced to Sherlock Holmes in the early 60’s when a local TV station showed the Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce movies. I loved his deductions. I don’t recall reading the stories because I mostly read stuff about baseball. </p><p>In the 1970’s, my wife bought me the Annotated Sherlock Holmes for Christmas and she gave me a different Sherlock Holmes book every year that I read during the Christmas break. One year it was Nicholas Meyer’s <i>The Seven-Percent-Solution</i>, another year Loren D. Estleman’s Sherlock Holmes versus Dracula or <i>The Adventures of the Sanguinary Count</i>. </p><p>I had a framed <i>Hound of the Baskervilles</i> movie poster that I hung in my office and another lawyer saw it and invited me to a meeting of The Amateur Mendicant Society of Detroit. I attended several meetings and enjoyed the camaraderie playing The Game but had to drop out after I was promoted to a special unit where I tried only First Degree Murder cases and didn’t have time for recreational reading. </p><p>After I retired from the active practice of law, I discovered that the Mendicants were still meeting and there were three other societies in Michigan. I began attending their meetings and rekindled my love for the Canon. I hate to admit it but because of the Covid pandemic, I was able to attend numerous virtual meetings each week and made Sherlockian friends I never would have met.</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHkLDpVjmuPdekpqDAex4FcV4xbsb1gLYZn96nBV8NNypcj4ifjrZBOTvN7v6Xb-F55ZXskEI-Fk4U9iGazpk7ybGVYtJKAZUDwZCq9WSyxGOQCiUfcqqbre5dejzifrlvBEbIFlbRXmLamVWe7lHvTglhaNa_zU-NanjwW8Ml-C5eQTlnUUqe55ndXg/s355/IMG_3731.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="355" data-original-width="231" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHkLDpVjmuPdekpqDAex4FcV4xbsb1gLYZn96nBV8NNypcj4ifjrZBOTvN7v6Xb-F55ZXskEI-Fk4U9iGazpk7ybGVYtJKAZUDwZCq9WSyxGOQCiUfcqqbre5dejzifrlvBEbIFlbRXmLamVWe7lHvTglhaNa_zU-NanjwW8Ml-C5eQTlnUUqe55ndXg/s320/IMG_3731.jpg" width="208" /></a></b></div><b><br />What is your profession and does that affect how you enjoy being a Sherlockian? </b><p></p><p>I am a lawyer and have been involved in criminal law for 48 years. I joined the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office in Detroit after graduation in 1975. After retiring as the Chief of the Trial Division in 2004, I was hired, full-time, by my alma mater, the University of Detroit, where I have taught Trial Practice as an adjunct professor since 1983. I began defending court-appointed clients so I could take my students to court with me. I did that for 12 years and handled a couple thousand cases. Currently, I work as a city attorney at a local district court, six minutes from my house, one morning a week. </p><p>I’ve found a niche doing Sherlockian Law 101 for the Crew of the Barque Lone Star every month. When I read the canon, I always think about how I would prosecute or defend the people Holmes suspected of crimes. Which witnesses could testify? What evidence would be admissible? What would I argue to a jury? I have enjoyed writing articles and making presentations about prosecuting Sherlock Holmes and defending people like Beppo, Adelbert Gruner and Captain James Clayton.</p><p><b>What is your favorite canonical story?</b></p><p>Charles Augustus Milverton. “The worst man in London.” Blackmail. Holmes disguised as a plumber. Engaged! Poor Agatha. Holmes deciding to commit a burglary. Loyal Watson refusing to let Holmes do it alone. Milverton isn’t asleep and both are trapped. The surprise shooting of Milverton. Holmes’ refusal to help Lestrade. “My sympathies are with the criminals.” Holmes playing with Lestrade, “My, it might be a description of Watson.” The most fun for me was writing a paper proving that a “regal and stately lady” didn’t kill Milverton but the real shooter was, actually, Sherlock Holmes.</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9Sf7ssQOxzk6pIU3oIsGMYw9M-pAS3wYo2yec9nKTy3jSymzJvcYvsFRCfMaQb5lfk-xusRMEAHQOxvIR92OdTa7bQERNyDiSf-RjAgXQkyAZ4vVg2K0yYJdUSy4qATMFrqOzm85_7VXZfTaSIaW-03JvgwtRxvqNzBAtjZzh7IyentN33flWwRUw0w/s402/Illus-chas-paget-03.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="402" data-original-width="250" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9Sf7ssQOxzk6pIU3oIsGMYw9M-pAS3wYo2yec9nKTy3jSymzJvcYvsFRCfMaQb5lfk-xusRMEAHQOxvIR92OdTa7bQERNyDiSf-RjAgXQkyAZ4vVg2K0yYJdUSy4qATMFrqOzm85_7VXZfTaSIaW-03JvgwtRxvqNzBAtjZzh7IyentN33flWwRUw0w/s320/Illus-chas-paget-03.jpg" width="199" /></a></b></div><b><br />Who is a specific Sherlockian that you think others would find interesting?</b><p></p><p>I can’t limit it to one. Without a doubt, it’s Bob Katz, Paul Thomas Miller and Mike McSwiggin. They all influenced and inspired me and made me laugh whenever they did a presentation. They all came up with clever and unique perspectives that no one had thought of before. </p><p>For years, I read writings about the writings that were serious and then I heard their presentations. They were thoroughly researched, plausible and funny, and it hit me to think about what hasn’t been done before. Katz’s paper on Dr. Watson being at Gettysburg when he was a youth inspired me to look at everything in the Canon differently. Miller’s blog, <i><a href="http://shingleofsouthsea.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">The Shingle of Southsea</a></i> is brilliant. They inspired me to write things like the disgusting and despicable Baren Adelbert Gruner was, simply, “The Most Misunderstood Man in the Canon.” </p><p><b>What subset of Sherlockiana really interests you?</b></p><p>I love the legal aspects in the stories. I like to read the writings about the writings and I love the BSI Professional Series like <i><a href="https://bakerstreetirregulars.com/2018/12/28/canon-law/" target="_blank">Canon Law</a></i> and <i><a href="https://bakerstreetirregulars.com/2015/12/30/nerve-and-knowledge/" target="_blank">Nerve and Knowledge</a></i>. Whenever I read a canonical story, I enjoy going down rabbit holes after finding something that intrigues me or I don’t understand. I love finding the back stories in every adventure. Thank goodness for the Internet. For instance, when I read about doctors Palmer and Pritchard, the “first of criminals,” in "Speckled Band," I researched who they were and who they poisoned so I could do a presentation at my local scions or on Zoom for other groups. </p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzp99nfjQxA3goVkJhNodKIx303eQLVT9FEZG2Q1gDhdjpXDn50mBVExnXfjLa5jAMvMvnCUSfAKHlpuwbrgHWtbmF6nyMgM-J311NiIm0U3TNiW_iC3Mi9IUZSEd0H9FYGVCBo9zklFWX2YkPqmGDQ40Pi5gaOQjiJBYVWnwyRSY_8xsOo9c4nP_wUw/s640/IMG_6296.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzp99nfjQxA3goVkJhNodKIx303eQLVT9FEZG2Q1gDhdjpXDn50mBVExnXfjLa5jAMvMvnCUSfAKHlpuwbrgHWtbmF6nyMgM-J311NiIm0U3TNiW_iC3Mi9IUZSEd0H9FYGVCBo9zklFWX2YkPqmGDQ40Pi5gaOQjiJBYVWnwyRSY_8xsOo9c4nP_wUw/s320/IMG_6296.jpg" width="240" /></a></b></div><b><br />Your monthly presentations on Sherlockian Law 101 are always fun and informative. How do you juggle the differences in British vs. American law?</b><p></p><p>Thank you and thanks to Steve Mason and the Crew of the Barque Lone Star for inviting me to present. American law is based largely on the Common Law of England so there are not a lot of differences. Thanks to the Internet and the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law library, I have access to law books and legal search engines that enable me to read old law review articles, statutes and court cases from the nineteenth century. </p><p>I’ve enjoyed doing legal research since I attended law school in the 70’s so it’s all fun and not work at all. Being retired, if I’m not golfing or watching hockey, I’m doing legal research for Sherlockian Law 101 or some future Sherlockian presentation on Zoom or for my local scions, like the Ribston-Pippins.</p><p><b>How do you go about preparing the <a href="https://www.johnhwatsonsociety.com/treasure-hunt/" target="_blank">John H. Watson Society's treasure hunt</a>? That seems like a HUGE undertaking!</b></p><p>OMG How did I ever think volunteering to do the treasure hunt was a good idea? It’s like running a marathon. I start at the beginning of each new year. I try to come up with a topic and do the research for that set of questions. I complete one set every month. One funny thing is that no matter how thorough I think my preparation has been, I am always surprised when someone comes up with an answer I didn’t anticipate and I have to give credit for the answer.</p><p><b>What book would you recommend to other Sherlockians?</b></p><p>I really like two volume set <i>The Grand Game</i> for the historical perspective on the stories and Mattias Bostrom’s “From Holmes to Sherlock” so you can see what was going on in Conan Doyle’s life during the time he was writing certain stories.</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe3TClhR7HlHkERcx-0sDk56YvvtDYYsmkNlgdJCwSeQja9uxr_LqeshE1GV9H1YaG9hYM0iqhy1LhoALjRIbRncxhxpeTJfFhC3SssZnuKBbfVJWnnPXAlIY367CHRaGHD08m8RwUAJINL42gjRrxrEtL1DZkrp1Sn8YH5uBdIpPZc38XypAMzF0seA/s351/grand-game-v2-cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="351" data-original-width="247" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe3TClhR7HlHkERcx-0sDk56YvvtDYYsmkNlgdJCwSeQja9uxr_LqeshE1GV9H1YaG9hYM0iqhy1LhoALjRIbRncxhxpeTJfFhC3SssZnuKBbfVJWnnPXAlIY367CHRaGHD08m8RwUAJINL42gjRrxrEtL1DZkrp1Sn8YH5uBdIpPZc38XypAMzF0seA/s320/grand-game-v2-cover.jpg" width="225" /></a></b></div><b><br />Where do you see Sherlockiana in 5 or 10 years from now?</b><p></p><p>I hope I’m still around to see it. We need to figure out a way to attract more people, especially younger readers, to attend society meetings in person or virtually on Zoom, and to subscribe to publications like <i><a href="https://bakerstreetirregulars.com/the-baker-street-journal/" target="_blank">The Baker Street Journal</a></i>, <i><a href="https://www.wessexpress.com/html/SHreview2022.html" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes Review</a></i>, <i><a href="https://www.torontobootmakers.com/canadian-holmes/" target="_blank">Canadian Holmes</a></i> and <i><a href="https://www.beaconsociety.com/sherlocks-spotlight-gazette.html" target="_blank">Sherlock’s Spotlight</a></i>. </p><p>I’m worried about the future as most of us are getting older. There’s a scion in Michigan that’s been around since 1946 that stopped meeting in person after the pandemic began. I contacted its 45 members and am trying to resuscitate the group but only a dozen have agreed to attend a future meeting. I see a lot of the same faces at various conferences and virtual meetings on Zoom. Will we be able to attract new people and younger readers into our community? </p><p>I would anticipate more movies and TV programs because the character, Sherlock Holmes, has so much appeal. He is unique and clever and sees things that others can’t. I anticipate more pastiches because there are more people writing stories but are they being read? Everyone is being pulled in different directions. We need to make it convenient to attend meetings virtually. As a member of the <a href="https://www.dfw-sherlock.org/the-legion-of-zoom-scion-society.html" target="_blank">Legion of Zoom</a>, I have attended over 600 meetings of over 30 different societies and met people from around the world. Hopefully, the future will include larger virtual groups. </p><p>I know people like to meet in-person and socialize, but it is sad that a great presentation at an in-person meeting of the Parallel Case of St. Louis or Speckled Band of Boston is seen only by that group’s members and then is lost and never seen again by other Sherlockians around the world. We need to find a way to capture the presentations and make them available online to other Sherlockians who can watch it at their convenience. How many people are out there who don’t live near a scion and can’t attend an in-person meeting but would love to see these presentations? </p><div><br /></div>Rob Nunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02126012014516886064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70253573396693005.post-40508847021190714742023-08-06T12:55:00.001-07:002023-08-06T12:55:07.673-07:00Interesting Interview: Mark Alberstat<p>This week's Interesting Interview is with the man, the myth, the legend: Mark Alberstat. Mark and his wife JoAnn have been editing <a href="https://www.torontobootmakers.com/canadian-holmes/" target="_blank"><i>Canadian Holmes</i></a>, the Journal of The Bootmakers of Toronto, for well over a decade. I love this journal and you can tell that the Alberstats focus on putting out a good quality product every three months. Mark will look familiar to most of us who were active during the Zoom boom of Sherlockiana, as he was a much sought after speaker for his many different talks on Arthur Conan Doyle and sports. </p><p>Canadians are known for their friendliness, and let me tell you, Mark fits that mold! He's published a few of my pieces in <i>Canadian Holmes</i>, and my interactions with him are always lovely. He's also a contributor to an upcoming anthology I'm co-editing and the emails between us have been just as great when our roles have been reversed. In fact, he's even nicer in those! Mark is a guy who loves to promote others, but doesn't promote himselfe enough as far as I'm concerned. So please take a few minutes today to appreciate a really great guy, Mark Alberstat!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkR6jmNsIqGjvc4xI1-Dm5mclnNF_kmK_89W4E0uQWW91m8MsrAN09l0jGhe8XNIpUe7EeqZOG_ivxq_TGWt9afXTNqpcXzG2KpxgninJ6DLAZPyEpvvtdH_T7wUNT6P3BcveEDQFKZ3xCUa-JIPuRtVzjl8USQYXO6t5kb_GDBKkjkFbcVJakg-X6Dg/s960/312631856_10160583827513023_8931837549140272282_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkR6jmNsIqGjvc4xI1-Dm5mclnNF_kmK_89W4E0uQWW91m8MsrAN09l0jGhe8XNIpUe7EeqZOG_ivxq_TGWt9afXTNqpcXzG2KpxgninJ6DLAZPyEpvvtdH_T7wUNT6P3BcveEDQFKZ3xCUa-JIPuRtVzjl8USQYXO6t5kb_GDBKkjkFbcVJakg-X6Dg/s320/312631856_10160583827513023_8931837549140272282_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><b>How do you define the word “Sherlockian”?</b></p><p><span style="white-space: normal;">I have a very loose definition of Sherlockian. For me it is anyone who enjoys the Sherlock Holmes stories. If that is in their original <i>Strand </i>form, great! If it is through BBC’s <i>Sherlock</i>, wonderful! If it is enjoying Brett’s interpretation on the character, superb! If it is spending six months researching and writing a scholarly article for <i>Canadian Holmes</i> or some other journal, more power to you! In our local club we have people who have 100s of books and we have some with fewer than a dozen. For me, they are all Sherlockians and friends. The more the merrier, the wider the better.</span></p><p><b>How did you become a Sherlockian?</b></p><p><span style="white-space: normal;">I first came across the stories in my childhood by flipping the super thin pages of my Dad’s Doubleday 2-volume edition. I have a clear memory of being in grade school and bringing in the first volume for the teacher to read from to the class. I have a vague recollection that it was “A Scandal in Bohemia,” but a stronger memory of the teacher holding my Dad’s volume and reading about this detective with an odd name.</span></p><p><span style="white-space: normal;">I read the stories, from those two volumes in my early teens, but when I was 15 or so I was in a used bookstore and stumbled across DeWaal’s <i>World Bibliography</i>. I was fascinated and surprised at all the entries and pleased to find that Doubleday edition. In the back there was a listing of Sherlockian societies. In those pre-internet days, I sat down and wrote to each one, in alphabetical order, and introduced myself and asked them what a Sherlockian society does. It was just my good fortune that one of the first societies to respond was The Brothers Three Moriarty run by John Bennett Shaw. That first letter from John sparked an almost monthly correspondence that lasted a decade or more. About five or six times a year John would also send me a manila envelope crammed full of Sherlockian clippings, journals, and almost anything else he could put inside. Thanks to these magical packages I soon realized what a wide world the Sherlockian one was. John also encouraged me to form a local club and, knowing I was a sports fan, to pursue that avenue as my specialty in the Sherlockian world.</span></p><p><b>What is your previous profession and does that affect how you enjoy being a Sherlockian?</b></p><p><span style="white-space: normal;">I recently retired after 30 years in IT, most recently writing and maintaining provincial government websites. I am not sure the profession gave me any extra enjoyment as a Sherlockian but when I had to write some programs and create unique variable names, I did, on occasion, use Sherlockian references. There may still be small web-based programs running on the provincial website using variable names of Holmes, Watson and BakerStreet.</span></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC0PXgdeWeOZRubgXEyizYcNseeSHAuGaQWhfXebMxDzW9FcPvZRNTlZot07fUHJq42EOqQfG1mI6IgLZ_OrBjfy7BT-Ih6GDDI8TE-r_4nxvIQgdUNpj7ZAHXL66uE1CWQNBHlPZaeCj2kCmKCRAPvY3jLyNyH7IJTyEMAZjsVy57GzkLzXW_YW78oQ/s750/235557864_10158228722078359_6163486413462460797_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="734" data-original-width="750" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC0PXgdeWeOZRubgXEyizYcNseeSHAuGaQWhfXebMxDzW9FcPvZRNTlZot07fUHJq42EOqQfG1mI6IgLZ_OrBjfy7BT-Ih6GDDI8TE-r_4nxvIQgdUNpj7ZAHXL66uE1CWQNBHlPZaeCj2kCmKCRAPvY3jLyNyH7IJTyEMAZjsVy57GzkLzXW_YW78oQ/s320/235557864_10158228722078359_6163486413462460797_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />What is your favorite canonical story?</b><p></p><p><span style="white-space: normal;">For this answer I have to cheat a little and name two, but let me explain why. My all time favourite to read and re-read is “The Man with the Twisted Lip.” Twisted Lip and twist at the end surprised me so much when I first read it the shock has stayed with me. Also, the thought of a journalist making more begging for pennies then on his set salary interested me enough, and who knows, may have helped me along to getting my degree in journalism and meeting JoAnn along the way.</span></p><p><span style="white-space: normal;">The other story that I always have a fondness for is “The Adventure of the Copper Beeches.” Picture yourself as a young teen, in a small Canadian city on the east coast of Canada, a few stones throw from the Atlantic ocean. You are reading the tales of the world’s most famous detective. He dashes around London, beating the criminals and sees through the Victorian fog. You begin to read Copper Beeches for the first time and in the opening few paragraphs you come across the name of the city where you are sitting. A thunderclap couldn’t have been louder in my mind. When I read: “I have been a governess for five years,” said she, “in the family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the Colonel received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his children over to America with him..” I was amazed. Sherlock Holmes knows of Halifax? How could I not have this story as a favourite. There are also century-old copper beech trees in our neighbourhood.</span></p><p><b>Who is a specific Sherlockian that you think others would find interesting?</b></p><p><span style="white-space: normal;">This is a difficult question to answer since editing a journal all these years we have come across so many interesting Sherlockians, some well known, some not so. However, I am going to suggest <a href="http://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2020/11/interesting-interview-mark-jones.html" target="_blank">Mark Jones</a>. Not only does he have a great first name, he is personable and writes a regular column on Conan Doyle’s non-Sherlockian works in <i>The Strand</i> for <i>Canadian Holmes</i>. Many Sherlockians will know Mark from <a href="https://www.doingsofdoyle.com/" target="_blank">the podcast he co-hosts</a> with Paul M. Chapman, another name I could have easily featured in this answer, and cleverly just did! Mark’s knowledge of Conan Doyle’s works, influences and legacy makes his Doings of Doyle podcast a joy to listen to and an education at the same time.</span></p><p><b>What subset of Sherlockiana really interests you?</b></p><p><span style="white-space: normal;">This is a tough question to answer as I have been a Sherlockian for so long my interests have changed. During my early days as a Sherlockian, and being a friend of John Bennett Shaw, collecting anything and everything related to Holmes was my focus. Any book, magazine, game, t-shirt or item that had a Sherlockian connection was brought into my collection. Because of those years my collection isn’t a large one on the international stage, but still dominates one room in our house. Many years later, after meeting more and more Sherlockians I realized my collection would never be a really large or important one and my interest shifted to writing and editing. Today I have a focus on Conan Doyle’s life with a particular interest on sports. Editing <i>Canadian Holmes</i>, however, can sometimes shift your interest for a while as you delve deeper into a topic on which an article has been proposed or submitted. The Sherlockian mine is a deep one and on any day I might follow a new vein.</span></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHnj8twKqzYf9fDlN_oQKhzgPsTmmRy90UM4NEQ2mgOzaecUzfPsZlk1JqKJgCkoq1uvqhxu0qSj6lArTV9ArzF63nTZlyLmjIEJS3vXajgTvPvwIS-EFdFYuAkV7pqDhAX7y2dHLZatH7Z-zCgp_gS7M-9pO8ddkXHSvFgYWXsca7VYjQakt1d2eWqw/s2048/290378643_10158233310962303_3665622597035089915_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHnj8twKqzYf9fDlN_oQKhzgPsTmmRy90UM4NEQ2mgOzaecUzfPsZlk1JqKJgCkoq1uvqhxu0qSj6lArTV9ArzF63nTZlyLmjIEJS3vXajgTvPvwIS-EFdFYuAkV7pqDhAX7y2dHLZatH7Z-zCgp_gS7M-9pO8ddkXHSvFgYWXsca7VYjQakt1d2eWqw/s320/290378643_10158233310962303_3665622597035089915_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />What are some fond memories you have from your years of editing <i>Canadian Holmes</i>?</b><p></p><p><span style="white-space: normal;">My wife JoAnn and I have been editing this quarterly journal for over 55 issues, that’s a lot of years and a lot of articles. Some years ago we started putting artwork from amateur artists on the cover. This has brought a bit more prominence to these artists. I take a lot of pleasure when I hear back from an artist about the positive responses they have had over their work being on our cover.</span></p><p>Working with prominent Canadian Sherlockians is always fun for a journal based in Canada but also making the journal an international one has also been rewarding. When you know your work is being read and enjoyed around the globe the hours and hours of work which goes into each 40-page issue seems to fall away.</p><p><b>You are known for your interest linking Arthur Conan Doyle to sports. What does research for combining those two topics look like?</b></p><p>A lot of the time, it looks like me at the computer searching and searching and searching newspaper archives, memoirs and sport histories. I believe that if we really want to know about the life of Conan Doyle we have to consider more than just his literary influences but also what he did and enjoyed day to day and without a doubt that is sport.</p><p>In 1999 I wrote to Dame Jean Conan Doyle and asked for some time to interview her about her father. From the reply I could tell she wasn’t that keen on it. When I mentioned that I wasn’t interested in talking about Sherlock Holmes but wanted to discuss her father and his love of sport, she agreed. What followed was a delightful conversation of her fond memories of an active and loving father. Of the long skis in the hallway and playing cricket on the lawn of their home. It was her interest in me wanting to tell that side of her father which assured me that I not only had the right topic for years of writing and research, but one that needed telling in a careful and detailed way.</p><p>When I am writing about ACD and baseball, cricket, cycling or any of the other topics I have written and researched about what I am really doing is contributing to our overall understanding of our favourite author. What made him place our dynamic duo on Baker Street? Certainly, it is in central London but it is also a short stone’s throw to Lord’s Cricket Ground. When he made Holmes a boxer, was he considering some of his own traits? This is a man who had a boxing ring built in his garage after all.</p><p>To know Conan Doyle, we have to understand his love and obsession with sport. It is a small niche but one I have found fun to dig into. After all, I also have a background as a sports reporter.</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihriTnuqqaKsqEDrb8a2U-awnI64GN-1y9HNyXtyXdjMaBwv9VpWHKVnbGFtNzDiWJIp2LrRhwVQrwNU--h2ldvzyLJErTMziQgZ6yET8D--3wpB7PdP5yL_Mh6_gViPQDozJBfwg0Q3tNw3N4gfygAYf0RkpFjxkshP47sUyo9ogmjqB7SzCnHGzaWA/s2048/285995504_10160338613953023_1696744663290762102_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihriTnuqqaKsqEDrb8a2U-awnI64GN-1y9HNyXtyXdjMaBwv9VpWHKVnbGFtNzDiWJIp2LrRhwVQrwNU--h2ldvzyLJErTMziQgZ6yET8D--3wpB7PdP5yL_Mh6_gViPQDozJBfwg0Q3tNw3N4gfygAYf0RkpFjxkshP47sUyo9ogmjqB7SzCnHGzaWA/s320/285995504_10160338613953023_1696744663290762102_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />What book would you recommend to other Sherlockians?</b><p></p><p>With shelves and shelves of books it is difficult to lay my hand on just one to recommend, but if I had to, it would be <a href="http://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2019/06/interesting-interview-mattias-bostrom.html" target="_blank">Mattias Boström</a>’s <i><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/from-holmes-to-sherlock-the-story-of-the-men-and-women-who-created-an-icon-mattias-bostrom/15277990?ean=9780802126603" target="_blank">From Holmes to Sherlock</a></i>. For me this book takes a unique view at a world that had been examined many times before. It is also a book which, I feel, exists because of the many books, articles and essays that went before it.</p><p>Mattias found a voice and an angle into our Sherlockian world which would interest even the most casual of Sherlockians, and could, with any luck, turn them into rabid, blog reading, podcast listening, meeting attending, researching Sherlockians who will then add to our world in their own way. I should also note that Mattias and I work together on the <i><a href="https://www.wessexpress.com/html/newspaper2.html" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes and Conan Doyle in the Newspapers</a></i> series of books published by Gasogene.</p><p><b>Where do you see Sherlockiana in 5 or 10 years from now?</b></p><p>I think our hobby is now on a curve of change, along with society. No longer do we have to attend far off conferences to hear this person or that person speak. We can stay home, turn on a Zoom meeting and meet Sherlockians from all over the world, hear their voices, see their faces and listen to their views on a wide variety of topics.</p><p>You no longer need deep pockets to fly here and there for a weekend of Sherlockian talks and fun. You can stay home and be just as well informed. You can reach out via email or social media and correspond with your favourite pastiche article, editor or writer.</p><p>I think in 5 or 10 years, many local clubs will have folded or morphed into occasional meetings of like-minded friends, and Sherlockians will find more and more ways to meet across the digital landscape.</p>Rob Nunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02126012014516886064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70253573396693005.post-51083727875471750802023-07-30T21:23:00.000-07:002023-07-30T21:23:05.146-07:00Forming Most Devoted Friendships [SIGN]<p>Wow.</p><p>What a weekend.</p><p>Holmes in the Heartland ended a few hours ago, and after coming home and taking a nap, I can finally start to reflect on the weekend. And it was a great weekend.</p><p>First and foremost, the planning committee, Brad Keefauver, Heather Hinson, Kristin Mertz, Adam Presswood, Cindy Brown, Joe Eckrich, and Stacey Bregenzer, put in a ton of work and had to put up with a lot of emails and deadlines from me over the past year. So I want to publicly say thank you to them for helping to make a great event.</p><p>A detailed recap of the weekend will be posted on The Parallel Case of St. Louis blog in August, so I'm just going to highlight a few points on this post.</p><p>After all of the planning and finagling it seems weird to say that my favorite moment of the weekend came from an unscheduled moment, but that's the way it worked out.</p><p>After the speakers' program ended on Saturday, we had a two hour break before the dinner banquet so I ran up to my hotel room for a minute. Coming back down to the lobby, the elevator doors opened up and I saw the lobby bar PACKED with Sherlockians. All of our local Sherlockians were mingling with out-of-towners. People were spending time with their old friends. People were meeting new folks, some that they had only interacted with online or read the name of as a mention or byline in an article.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMruHA79hOzKA21TQKqXmpf5S1bky2AXZepobdhmpQ3r_yYxpBaEeF6dHs32EbCqbKDRfkac-kjhm7ohM9Ae4Xy7KcgH1lKbT--F_w0P2JO3AO_xoxUoto-WMUuP7iIcu2GYlLCfswwJZQ3-jB2oDGBoIObEWyBDeJq1-JDVlmicLydjYpgpKU3qTFHA/s2048/IMG_1007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMruHA79hOzKA21TQKqXmpf5S1bky2AXZepobdhmpQ3r_yYxpBaEeF6dHs32EbCqbKDRfkac-kjhm7ohM9Ae4Xy7KcgH1lKbT--F_w0P2JO3AO_xoxUoto-WMUuP7iIcu2GYlLCfswwJZQ3-jB2oDGBoIObEWyBDeJq1-JDVlmicLydjYpgpKU3qTFHA/s320/IMG_1007.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />And a huge smile spread across my face. We created that moment. If we hadn't planned Holmes in the Heartland and enticed people to visit St. Louis in July, those people would not have been enjoying their time together right there and then. Some people never would have met the folks they did this weekend. Great conversations with old friends would've gone un-had. The smiles and laughs during that time would've been spent somewhere else with other people. But instead, almost a hundred Sherlockians were able to get together for a few days and enjoyed each other's company.<p></p><p>I've said it over and over, but spending time with other Sherlockians is my favorite part of this hobby. When we first started planning this Holmes in the Heartland, I wanted to make sure that people had plenty of time to spend with one another and I think we really pulled that off. So to everyone who was at the Sheraton Westport in St. Louis this weekend, I hope you had a great time with great people. Because that's what these events are all about.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgYMDbst5FU8bEGSyx4E72tw81b7aoBktEA0aCySrGMCnME-00Yv8lTI_PIk17t5F4SWLE5EEi4CNbirGuvAAkvdaHwDF2gZs2a4iPItoYMVBYeYyomajp6giPRViGd-YYyQmtPv6Mo10RpGyWLbkK4YzOZYE4chhJCYC1tZ6X_9Gl4hjGvSuW8z6AKA/s892/image000000%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="662" data-original-width="892" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgYMDbst5FU8bEGSyx4E72tw81b7aoBktEA0aCySrGMCnME-00Yv8lTI_PIk17t5F4SWLE5EEi4CNbirGuvAAkvdaHwDF2gZs2a4iPItoYMVBYeYyomajp6giPRViGd-YYyQmtPv6Mo10RpGyWLbkK4YzOZYE4chhJCYC1tZ6X_9Gl4hjGvSuW8z6AKA/s320/image000000%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * </p><p>But, dang, did we have some great things happening as well! Here are some quick highlights from the weekend:</p><p>The small groups that found places to hang out as people arrived in town</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6m8PjJ91SY4oxI0INbprLVdyuQqMYwWAYDxRYyxVhcZSlA-yJnaf1COU6l5PDJOsb25ucbABP1Q_5YLdc7M0lDoRr3NNLK4z9svqTxy6np28_mCJrS41ttjsppDc2AhVWN9-kUDMIR7FypUTsE9IfPeKy49LF88ThpZJ9qdIibeGIvNKHBt8-EBO00A/s2016/IMG_0937.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6m8PjJ91SY4oxI0INbprLVdyuQqMYwWAYDxRYyxVhcZSlA-yJnaf1COU6l5PDJOsb25ucbABP1Q_5YLdc7M0lDoRr3NNLK4z9svqTxy6np28_mCJrS41ttjsppDc2AhVWN9-kUDMIR7FypUTsE9IfPeKy49LF88ThpZJ9qdIibeGIvNKHBt8-EBO00A/s320/IMG_0937.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcpt0JAatC3vjz6cOrznIaIiFeAHPj4kvW73aQTgkDW7aQ_NOveGnYoIBbCq9Ne1OQDfHio_VKKyGl41m3LmgAUP13e-S_YBy3slGJBg-LkuSivQM31oaokJ08BPG8xDnaxwtlqtmVqnKfjg8FSpMyesOb2SHz8Fki_ZnutTmid8Ow_hWZni3EcXo4KQ/s2016/IMG_0938.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcpt0JAatC3vjz6cOrznIaIiFeAHPj4kvW73aQTgkDW7aQ_NOveGnYoIBbCq9Ne1OQDfHio_VKKyGl41m3LmgAUP13e-S_YBy3slGJBg-LkuSivQM31oaokJ08BPG8xDnaxwtlqtmVqnKfjg8FSpMyesOb2SHz8Fki_ZnutTmid8Ow_hWZni3EcXo4KQ/s320/IMG_0938.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT1UPNBiM3mN5ZOg3J-yKDfqIIZ-ZMBK8lejsBX9xvn64wDRJHsc5KPZ6UfoK9Z26zF2HzWfsfIRKdFLN3vTy0HSozP17vTX7XDY05bH-c64Z0WH25oAzKNJLEnwAV-Lmbi5jRsDTzq1-hZCFaQBujp1Ee1uVobARBwP0r5xODG7OjykxxtK70TAACtQ/s1280/IMG_0967.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT1UPNBiM3mN5ZOg3J-yKDfqIIZ-ZMBK8lejsBX9xvn64wDRJHsc5KPZ6UfoK9Z26zF2HzWfsfIRKdFLN3vTy0HSozP17vTX7XDY05bH-c64Z0WH25oAzKNJLEnwAV-Lmbi5jRsDTzq1-hZCFaQBujp1Ee1uVobARBwP0r5xODG7OjykxxtK70TAACtQ/s320/IMG_0967.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWRnYMcaWWBpgQl6s9h_FABorggbmLoizHlVzMfel-tNAASBFXSPZWsjYpKS8-z6dNGmIpPkRETMyB2Q3kn90XZ9_8WeenunZBvt_kj_SxRQezpdc0Jh4u36eUx5RSNAve-P94gHVkeyspn1ibzPLq75VWQDj98XFodJlec-FzT2qXEO3n7QIt57JwXQ/s1280/IMG_0968.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWRnYMcaWWBpgQl6s9h_FABorggbmLoizHlVzMfel-tNAASBFXSPZWsjYpKS8-z6dNGmIpPkRETMyB2Q3kn90XZ9_8WeenunZBvt_kj_SxRQezpdc0Jh4u36eUx5RSNAve-P94gHVkeyspn1ibzPLq75VWQDj98XFodJlec-FzT2qXEO3n7QIt57JwXQ/s320/IMG_0968.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>Saturday night's dinner. Hotel banquet food had no right to taste as good as that stuff did.</p><p>Hearing people marvel at how beautiful the St. Louis Public Library building is</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqzTeJJaU-t8iFgSvPhdZJJhH6zVZ-wuOXoOwi9S3pYC1CczlOSIdVDlN2D4ruIK3lhuv2taHUE0hoSw7E9m7X7DSwiVxsnat88dKwTSDNvRGpk3r9NG_hOvyd2E20GTVoZiegGIhdhy6NtXWNpRDdS3owzkrOF5REoD-N7nAYo9F5F86g0HHDljs4Tw/s2016/IMG_0944.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqzTeJJaU-t8iFgSvPhdZJJhH6zVZ-wuOXoOwi9S3pYC1CczlOSIdVDlN2D4ruIK3lhuv2taHUE0hoSw7E9m7X7DSwiVxsnat88dKwTSDNvRGpk3r9NG_hOvyd2E20GTVoZiegGIhdhy6NtXWNpRDdS3owzkrOF5REoD-N7nAYo9F5F86g0HHDljs4Tw/s320/IMG_0944.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Seeing vendors fill people's hands with treasures. (One vendor completely sold out of every item they brought!)</p><p>The joy on people's faces when they'd win a door prize</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi4ZStVSp8EQj0uSaAVWdK_hPQ6K66EYIBcItQOc6xUVBSjwuuCOgmgo0KkHmHhVzl_CR-Up8sc-RnP7DmMC0awthDDJhKhskwjf9cqWsE8oNgMXjZwv4fLbDyg8Wj7oUdWlV1H_Ypd6MQBSw-Zz_KflLR2C168wV4lBigiIj2agLB9Qx52Rn2FBkhTw/s2016/IMG_0966.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi4ZStVSp8EQj0uSaAVWdK_hPQ6K66EYIBcItQOc6xUVBSjwuuCOgmgo0KkHmHhVzl_CR-Up8sc-RnP7DmMC0awthDDJhKhskwjf9cqWsE8oNgMXjZwv4fLbDyg8Wj7oUdWlV1H_Ypd6MQBSw-Zz_KflLR2C168wV4lBigiIj2agLB9Qx52Rn2FBkhTw/s320/IMG_0966.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJAcTraDAVhR1p232fT0sldNGDdtYJGqH9z2K3xiU2ens1VAMh3lS8m5zXcYbxg4zWkSJaO0pJWP4DhkDD5RGDz9aTx7Cxg8bTRISfehYzB-zvq4cm3OLYwbVOt-vFznXXGeb-hmqZSJBMRbAumCpmCFuFc1atCeU8xlf6IUsKour1xJWZyhH7fXhxiw/s2016/IMG_0975.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJAcTraDAVhR1p232fT0sldNGDdtYJGqH9z2K3xiU2ens1VAMh3lS8m5zXcYbxg4zWkSJaO0pJWP4DhkDD5RGDz9aTx7Cxg8bTRISfehYzB-zvq4cm3OLYwbVOt-vFznXXGeb-hmqZSJBMRbAumCpmCFuFc1atCeU8xlf6IUsKour1xJWZyhH7fXhxiw/s320/IMG_0975.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><br /></p>Watching Madeline Quinones dominate in Sherlockian trivia<p></p><p>Watching Steve Mason waddle around the dinner tables dressed as a goose</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwu5DyQw9maQu23284crynN5It9P7MxsjNbYp6OLAyaEeRuz3wZhIBGIzPvGwb0KG6wgqaZCGz5hhk8Up47DPoKgQ8dZt2NMuchOUS_Afmn2UqXtR4ICClILYM1R1FI26I847zpPZhsQQJbgIuXfnrfcGHRuQhXJTNGhwDeOdsKX6MkOLUAvDAniHKnQ/s2016/IMG_1001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwu5DyQw9maQu23284crynN5It9P7MxsjNbYp6OLAyaEeRuz3wZhIBGIzPvGwb0KG6wgqaZCGz5hhk8Up47DPoKgQ8dZt2NMuchOUS_Afmn2UqXtR4ICClILYM1R1FI26I847zpPZhsQQJbgIuXfnrfcGHRuQhXJTNGhwDeOdsKX6MkOLUAvDAniHKnQ/s320/IMG_1001.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Seeing everyone appreciate and enjoy the history of St. Louis at the St. Louis Arch<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOtfCshVkPHqQszt3FKHetIuB0xalrrN2nsz1doBipXNcvLyPzNyUuT32P0_yOnmh9-raGIOz6hEiAQ3imfNnqqvctSha41BtvnrjQtwCh2CeKM1vBsX-Mt6EO42UMi5-_fIU7PRUC1LY8o2UyU2H6rrCFufBJcGbbHFjpjoFsrZCrHIrVMaPVPS98xg/s2016/IMG_1010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOtfCshVkPHqQszt3FKHetIuB0xalrrN2nsz1doBipXNcvLyPzNyUuT32P0_yOnmh9-raGIOz6hEiAQ3imfNnqqvctSha41BtvnrjQtwCh2CeKM1vBsX-Mt6EO42UMi5-_fIU7PRUC1LY8o2UyU2H6rrCFufBJcGbbHFjpjoFsrZCrHIrVMaPVPS98xg/s320/IMG_1010.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Gpp1cLoBIsXr0TrocaAJu6Snfl56iOF_meSQLSUdxMdU6B-HeXZTh14QaFMlqjeV6kjFxQRIhOPVzFw5hjn_v7SX1peHgIUqCyx_a3z0TGy4yCi3NUZo678Tc9abOgAz706L7rfjc8mxxxVooRN2ASzOUyvDh-0yDaFF1FCNwkDzIwtP-KCxzH7DvQ/s2016/IMG_1012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Gpp1cLoBIsXr0TrocaAJu6Snfl56iOF_meSQLSUdxMdU6B-HeXZTh14QaFMlqjeV6kjFxQRIhOPVzFw5hjn_v7SX1peHgIUqCyx_a3z0TGy4yCi3NUZo678Tc9abOgAz706L7rfjc8mxxxVooRN2ASzOUyvDh-0yDaFF1FCNwkDzIwtP-KCxzH7DvQ/s320/IMG_1012.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9nJMzknpCXZHW5uJwS5pC58HRmZ5thHqp-Sp3AFwQwHJkieidqpTR-7C8pMpMhB7SeUwMhka9McypiY-XxWSdEj0rifleOxzEiBkhV9-5IZ4aY-z_9Podj7eAm1kCGM5U3Vg0K_NGFZotpGYXnB9umT0MEJ0NaEAIEKllY0VX27bZK-ZK1wTIQVcWLg/s2016/IMG_1015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9nJMzknpCXZHW5uJwS5pC58HRmZ5thHqp-Sp3AFwQwHJkieidqpTR-7C8pMpMhB7SeUwMhka9McypiY-XxWSdEj0rifleOxzEiBkhV9-5IZ4aY-z_9Podj7eAm1kCGM5U3Vg0K_NGFZotpGYXnB9umT0MEJ0NaEAIEKllY0VX27bZK-ZK1wTIQVcWLg/s320/IMG_1015.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis26PTRU0Sn0Nqb1JtUbvS8AaxMIhHz-InUPrO_Ill04ml7JCd-m3goS2_wJ2bnpCv4fcOG2GgYN4IxkaEJwu1s1pNuD_Euhua9U2e6XbYcBN7nFlxIoeUpTYBa7SCZLYrP_JQB_ENKNQp2I463XI9vBTuet01nzZuo9-By3-gxUx9cI7EHC2nxGwfRQ/s2016/IMG_1026.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis26PTRU0Sn0Nqb1JtUbvS8AaxMIhHz-InUPrO_Ill04ml7JCd-m3goS2_wJ2bnpCv4fcOG2GgYN4IxkaEJwu1s1pNuD_Euhua9U2e6XbYcBN7nFlxIoeUpTYBa7SCZLYrP_JQB_ENKNQp2I463XI9vBTuet01nzZuo9-By3-gxUx9cI7EHC2nxGwfRQ/s320/IMG_1026.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />The presentations! So many great moments, but I will just highlight one from each presenter:<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU-ltjg17gRNi7pH66gyooBuyX2ZaeYQPgzATtAe3eoQe6n29kGy9NbvlWxGSp53L9yb--jaUkbh7K6BArrMlrtajYvV1bDDUkui5rWDlJ_zgUUChwHuiLDD4BUQJhsrPy4bfI8R__McJgkQL6P1u5RJE-SLwCRaxWIAe2OUqBRQxCBZPVKLTyC_Zkhg/s2016/IMG_0982.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU-ltjg17gRNi7pH66gyooBuyX2ZaeYQPgzATtAe3eoQe6n29kGy9NbvlWxGSp53L9yb--jaUkbh7K6BArrMlrtajYvV1bDDUkui5rWDlJ_zgUUChwHuiLDD4BUQJhsrPy4bfI8R__McJgkQL6P1u5RJE-SLwCRaxWIAe2OUqBRQxCBZPVKLTyC_Zkhg/s320/IMG_0982.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Ray Betzner being eminently likeable while talking about a despicable man character<p></p><p>Watching Kristin Mertz deliver her first-ever speech and looking like she's done it a million times</p><p>Cindy Brown connecting Victorian crimes to their present day counterparts and making us see we readers aren't so much smarter than these folks</p><p>Steven Doyle giving the complete opposite talk than what I thought (and worried) he was going to give</p><p>Mike McSwiggin complaining that he's tired of giving Sherlockian talks during the summer when he should be vacationing</p><p>Beth Gallego making me want to add too many titles to my already too long TBR list</p><p>Monica Schmidt getting a nice surprise at the end of her presentation</p><p>Joe Eckrich, Rich Kriscuinas, and Michael Waxenberg somehow making a 150 year-old court trial a hilarious recap of the day's events</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5fQ5T4Xaj5KRATDo7iGYRO5gh6zirLyAiaAdbwxL3zbxsEv6ZJWrluwUT7K6ESTqF2e4nKAwCCQGc2k8FIfO48FA93jB3aiiQNkSOuikjA7T8DtEfBtopCg8Qzjezc7b67gYT23K1eCvx9c3sI-anGAqcrmGUHwf9Bq_YrNtmEmkWn11Get1v3Rug9A/s2016/IMG_0988.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5fQ5T4Xaj5KRATDo7iGYRO5gh6zirLyAiaAdbwxL3zbxsEv6ZJWrluwUT7K6ESTqF2e4nKAwCCQGc2k8FIfO48FA93jB3aiiQNkSOuikjA7T8DtEfBtopCg8Qzjezc7b67gYT23K1eCvx9c3sI-anGAqcrmGUHwf9Bq_YrNtmEmkWn11Get1v3Rug9A/s320/IMG_0988.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Thanks again to everyone who came to Holmes in the Heartland 2023. For those of you traveling back home today or tomorrow, I wish you an easy trip. And for those of you on the planning committee, get some rest. You deserve it!<p></p>Rob Nunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02126012014516886064noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70253573396693005.post-51359527640981858492023-07-23T12:54:00.002-07:002023-07-23T12:54:08.487-07:00Interesting Interview: Catherine Cooke<p>Catherine Cooke is a name I've always heard in Sherlockiana, but never got to know until recently. Lately, Catherine and I have been emailing on a project and she comes across as an immensely knowledgeable and professional lady while still conveying genuine charm and likeability through her communications. She's also been on a few episodes of the <a href="http://www.casebook.org/podcast/listen.html?id=300" target="_blank">From Adler to Amberley</a> podcast, and from listening to those episodes, it's clear that her good qualities abound in any form you get to enjoy her in!</p><p>For anyone who isn't yet familiar with Catherine, she is a very well-respected person in our hobby Catherine has managed Westminster's Sherlock Holmes Collection for over forty years. She is currently the chair of The Sherlock Holmes Society of London and has been an active member of that group since 1980, and has won their Tony Howlett Award and Tony and Freda Howlett Literary Award. But her Sherlockian bona fides aren't restricted to England! She is a member of ASH and BSI, has won the BSI Morley-Montgomery Award, and the Bootmakers of Toronto's Derrick Murdock Award.</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzCQuMHL1QvURq9jEZ_NFHkftnQQP6MQ5LMU5-gMTW7e3yh15vAB-YYu8-_73mZIOHqxw7BxDQh53RinCLkvN6AUb0ntBTZ4lYlv69EAGl3ln6Wsrb89paDk5IqpGH28d98769_QZ2KmRCdWEXHpDdCKtWtZmzRCmVl1u2dScSLzDXnGohY1XZvuXNFw/s632/Winkworth%20Arboretum%2056%20crop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="632" data-original-width="609" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzCQuMHL1QvURq9jEZ_NFHkftnQQP6MQ5LMU5-gMTW7e3yh15vAB-YYu8-_73mZIOHqxw7BxDQh53RinCLkvN6AUb0ntBTZ4lYlv69EAGl3ln6Wsrb89paDk5IqpGH28d98769_QZ2KmRCdWEXHpDdCKtWtZmzRCmVl1u2dScSLzDXnGohY1XZvuXNFw/s320/Winkworth%20Arboretum%2056%20crop.jpg" width="308" /></a></b></div><b><br />How do you define the word “Sherlockian”?</b><p></p><p>Someone who is interested in the Sherlock Holmes phenomenon – the stories, films, other books. Not necessarily all of it – some who is interested in the stories and, say, the films is just as much a Sherlockian as someone who is interested in the stories and the “Higher Criticism”</p><p><b>How did you become a Sherlockian?</b></p><p>My older brother wanted to watch the 1965 BBC series starring Douglas Wilmer as Holmes and Nigel Stock as Watson, and his small sister wasn’t going to go out of the room because he had his choice, so I watched as well and got hooked. I emphasise that I was extremely young at the time! I then found some of the early classic British books on the stories in the local library and my interest developed from there. We of course had the original stories on the bookshelves at home already. </p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb_QCtNOr4_U_fI5ZnFFgZOJ1DJPahLG4PzS7pAEyuSRZPSywvLfdPqHs_mZcDwPIhFS2sqkyBd50ZualBBYl_g6QRNl9VCB_ENVpF5ZNJAQs9pWooj5kK-_Vi5Zn5uVRflefe-L35XlwhSWEr6gJPMK6CVG40baSJ7AC5upgSWS3h2dGdB28vOGnkGQ/s465/4451.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="279" data-original-width="465" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb_QCtNOr4_U_fI5ZnFFgZOJ1DJPahLG4PzS7pAEyuSRZPSywvLfdPqHs_mZcDwPIhFS2sqkyBd50ZualBBYl_g6QRNl9VCB_ENVpF5ZNJAQs9pWooj5kK-_Vi5Zn5uVRflefe-L35XlwhSWEr6gJPMK6CVG40baSJ7AC5upgSWS3h2dGdB28vOGnkGQ/s320/4451.webp" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />What was your profession and how did that affect how you enjoy being a Sherlockian?</b><p></p><p>I am a retired librarian. I got my first job with Westminster City Libraries after a chat with the personnel manager there, since it was close to Bedford College, where I was studying. I spent my entire career with Westminster, in various roles, but managing their Sherlock Holmes Collection for some 40 years. I now manage it as a volunteer. This has brought me into contact with Sherlockians from all over the world, and meeting others and hearing their take on matters Sherlockian is one of the most enjoyable aspects of our world.</p><p><b>What is your favorite canonical story?</b></p><p>“The Solitary Cyclist”. Violet Smith is no shrinking violet. Followed on a lonely country road, she doesn’t have an attack of the vapours – she tries to catch the man who is following her!</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHT_1yvJsRht3llb0vrwAHz-NM8b-E42mlEE96h_C1_j5YG49VPxGw5EhPQ-xjiWLhVmKtvTN5-SunVOirx-huUb_Oi2h0GfbVADDPt2IVjxnjSnSrmLk_7ex2IoCxeNnqMH8ymmWAeeMs8CTH16jXJVW-4cIL_HR_9tpm5Hevju1BihORo_UbMA7rrw/s640/2-Adventure_Solitary_Cyclist.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="431" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHT_1yvJsRht3llb0vrwAHz-NM8b-E42mlEE96h_C1_j5YG49VPxGw5EhPQ-xjiWLhVmKtvTN5-SunVOirx-huUb_Oi2h0GfbVADDPt2IVjxnjSnSrmLk_7ex2IoCxeNnqMH8ymmWAeeMs8CTH16jXJVW-4cIL_HR_9tpm5Hevju1BihORo_UbMA7rrw/s320/2-Adventure_Solitary_Cyclist.webp" width="216" /></a></b></div><b><br />Who is a specific Sherlockian that you think others would find interesting?</b><p></p><p>It is difficult to pick on one person. Many of those I would have considered are no longer with us. If I must, then Jonathan and Elaine McCafferty (yes – I know that’s 2 people). They have a wealth of experience in the field, and a wealth of anecdotes – wonderful company.</p><p><b>What subset of Sherlockiana really interests you?</b></p><p>I think the settings of the stories. Conan Doyle grounded so many of them in places he knew, or used real events as inspiration. I find researching these aspects takes you down rabbit holes you would never otherwise be exploring. </p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrX_kn5YvbZuzMhbyF93lD3y28NNDCCdRb1_O_cNm4uJODh9pJYcdoLBvP-7oeTK-EzD8XUiDC5glT4_n4HpfoB1SqHmkg3DvdM12EeqyO6K0aOLjxbtSit-GDW4vINlvoTX85Tqz5Flj6vpkabKq9pT5y2oOVlDLMNFFH1vW42UseViN1lOn8e1zUmg/s4213/01%20Catherine%20Steps%202%20crop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4213" data-original-width="2517" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrX_kn5YvbZuzMhbyF93lD3y28NNDCCdRb1_O_cNm4uJODh9pJYcdoLBvP-7oeTK-EzD8XUiDC5glT4_n4HpfoB1SqHmkg3DvdM12EeqyO6K0aOLjxbtSit-GDW4vINlvoTX85Tqz5Flj6vpkabKq9pT5y2oOVlDLMNFFH1vW42UseViN1lOn8e1zUmg/s320/01%20Catherine%20Steps%202%20crop.jpg" width="191" /></a></b></div><b><br />I've been lucky enough to have you as part of an upcoming anthology on important Sherlockian books, out next January. Can you tell everyone which book you wrote about and why you feel it is worthy of being in every Sherlockian's library?</b><p></p><p>Thank you. I covered <i>In the Footsteps of Sherlock Holmes</i> by Michael Harrison. This rather ties in with the previous question. Published originally in 1958, this was one of the first books about the stories, explaining what Holmes’ world was like - why he might have chosen rooms in Baker Street, what entertainment was available in London, what prices were like, how London and the suburbs were changing. It is an indispensable guide to the London and England that Holmes knew and worked in, so different in many ways from today’s. </p><p><b>As someone who has been involved with The Sherlock Holmes Society of London for many years, what are some of the highlights from your tenure as a member?</b></p><p>Now I feel old! Being able to meet and talk with Dame Jean Conan Doyle, and knowing people such as Tony and Freda Howlett, Stanley Mackenzie, Bernard Davies, Richard Lancelyn Green to name but a few. We are standing on the shoulders of giants. The various trips we have made – several in costume to Switzerland, but also our weekend trips to places like Southsea, Dartmoor, the Peak District, Norfolk and so on – visiting the locations where cases took place and hearing talks about them and the wider history of the area. And our Annual Dinners – the chance to socialise with so many of our members we don’t see very often, and hearing the speeches of people like Mark Gatiss, Stephen Fry or Nicholas Meyer. </p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ8doN96g8v4O7gM9l0uMyBOdZQXZIFJtJFEA7FOjHLZhoVe9_9E43rukPU0Ek-Mb3kdN6fhAfoZ20WJvWSHMw2CTJrnOGyLacIAHV9P1QW05uhjZS6G019SvN9A50E5zW05n-0T7gqAUOx_7FwUg-zfJyUFr7tI4mFdJTGWrXXH2EzqxhYqMgKFCXBA/s1537/CC%20and%20dog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1537" data-original-width="1288" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ8doN96g8v4O7gM9l0uMyBOdZQXZIFJtJFEA7FOjHLZhoVe9_9E43rukPU0Ek-Mb3kdN6fhAfoZ20WJvWSHMw2CTJrnOGyLacIAHV9P1QW05uhjZS6G019SvN9A50E5zW05n-0T7gqAUOx_7FwUg-zfJyUFr7tI4mFdJTGWrXXH2EzqxhYqMgKFCXBA/s320/CC%20and%20dog.jpg" width="268" /></a></b></div><b><br />What book would you recommend to other Sherlockians?</b><p></p><p>This may be somewhat off the wall, but Sven Hedin’s two-volume account <i>Central Asia and Tibet</i>, published by Hurst and Blackett, London, in 1903. Volume 2 covers Tibet. They are available on the second-hand market or Google Books, if not from your local library. Holmes spent two years in Tibet - he must have traveled widely. Tibet is the highest and coldest plateau in the world. We should not, therefore, imagine Holmes traveling around on his own; he would require extensive supplies, pack animals, local guides and servants, as Hedin did. On a good day, they could cover 24 miles, compared with 12 or less in the mountains, though progress depended as much on the animals as on the weather and the terrain. We might also remember that Holmes was traveling under the assumed identity of a Norwegian. He might very well have entered Lhasa itself, disguised as a merchant’s servant or pilgrim from somewhere like Ladak or as a Buryat, disguises used by Hedin at various times. There are times when one has to be adept at sitting on the proverbial fence. Was Arthur Conan Doyle inspired by the newspaper account of Sven Hedin’s travels as he wrote Sherlock Holmes’ way out of that great chasm at the foot of the Fall of the Reichenbach? Or should we read Hedin’s adventures and allow them to throw some light on the experiences Holmes would surely have had while travelling in the East, about which he and Dr. Watson tell us so little? Hedin was not only an intrepid, brave explorer and gifted artist, he was an excellent writer and story teller, whose accounts of his travels are exciting and even funny page turners. Try <i>Trans-Himalaya</i>, New York: The Macmillan Company, 1909 as well. They are rollicking good reads! </p><p><b>Where do you see Sherlockiana in 5 or 10 years from now?</b></p><p>It is so hard to make predictions; I’m not sure I can. Who four years ago would have predicted the opening up of Sherlockian meetings world-wide using Zoom? I hope we’ll still be meeting in person to hear about and discuss new theories about the stories and the merits of new actors who have taken on the mantle. Younger Sherlockians will have new ideas, new fields of study.</p>Rob Nunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02126012014516886064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70253573396693005.post-45797903067587041642023-06-30T13:40:00.009-07:002023-06-30T13:41:57.820-07:00Interesting Interview: Soren Eversoll<p>Did you dress up as Sherlock Holmes when you were eight years old? Well, this week's Interesting Interview did! Soren Eversoll met the Great Detective at an early age and never let go. He was a member of The Norwegian Explorers of Minnesota before he could drive, and recreated 221B in his parents' house so well that the Twin Cities' newspaper did <a href="https://www.twincities.com/2015/12/28/its-sherlocks-home-in-st-pauls-highland-park-2/" target="_blank">a story on him</a>.</p><p>But what I find really amazing is that Soren's interest in Holmes has never left him. How many of us can think of things that we found interesting as kids but faded away as we grew and life offered new opportunities? In fact, Soren, now a college student, presented at last month's <a href="https://www.dfw-sherlock.org/2023-lone-star-holmes.html" target="_blank">Lone Star Holmes</a> conference in Dallas. So let's hear from a Sherlockian who definitely keeps those Holmes fires burning, Soren Eversoll!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO6omdHBRziCqqaLpbbQ-lLuJh6n7gc1dk1LMhpwj_2R-yn1X1qFxBEjdo-Nd-KPttcp4RroguWYYHKc6uQLllZVyofvrHNCaW45LKIEV5GFZ_a142Lrwt4nsEP9PZjR8KT_thHPSAg4sk0aDYpBVggNzG-rvl52YuWoHjunN-kiOvr4oMoHEkoPSScg/s1600/unnamed.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1066" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO6omdHBRziCqqaLpbbQ-lLuJh6n7gc1dk1LMhpwj_2R-yn1X1qFxBEjdo-Nd-KPttcp4RroguWYYHKc6uQLllZVyofvrHNCaW45LKIEV5GFZ_a142Lrwt4nsEP9PZjR8KT_thHPSAg4sk0aDYpBVggNzG-rvl52YuWoHjunN-kiOvr4oMoHEkoPSScg/s320/unnamed.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space-collapse: preserve;">How do you define the word “Sherlockian”?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A Sherlockian is, most simply put, a person who loves Sherlock Holmes and actively pursues that love. I think that this does require some familiarity with Conan Doyle’s stories, though this does not need to be comprehensive and should be something a person fascinated with Holmes would want to do anyway. The world of Sherlockiana has exploded since the old BSI Morley days, which I think shows that Holmes has the legs to withstand changing consumer appetites and should be celebrated. Turning up one’s nose at someone who’s entry point is the BBC show, which happens to be most of my generation, is corrosive to the whole idea of passing the torch forward and letting Holmes be Holmes for a new set of devotees. Nonetheless, a good Sherlockian might then direct that person towards the canon, as it is the foundation for everything else and a great read anyway. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Overall, however, I think a Sherlockian is just a person who puts down whatever form of Holmes content they have been consuming and feels that enjoying it is simply not enough, that they need to make something in response, or collect, or seek out others who feel the same way. It is that active pursuit, I think, that captivation with whatever lit the first spark, that really separates someone who just likes Sherlock Holmes from a dyed-in-the-wool enthusiast. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space-collapse: preserve;">How did you become a Sherlockian?</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">When I was seven I used to take swimming lessons at the University of Minnesota. My mom found an abridged audiobook collection of Holmes stories at our local library, including “The Speckled Band” and “A Scandal in Bohemia”, and started playing them to me in the car to and from my lessons. I can’t really pinpoint now what drew me so much to the stories, though it was probably some combination of the crime, the historical period, and the character of Holmes—after that I was completely hooked and wanted to hear the audiobooks over and over again. My mom encouraged me to talk to my grandpa, who had a big leatherbound collection of the entire canon with the Paget illustrations. I remember poring over that book when I was a kid—when we went to my grandparents’ house it was the first thing I went for. It was around then that I started building a small recreation of the 221B sitting room in a tiny basement closet, mostly out of construction paper taped to the walls and little antiques I’d found. That really deepened my interest and forced me to go over the stories again to find the small elements of the room that I’d missed. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I got connected to the world of Sherlockiana through Jake Esau, an actor in my local library circuit who would give performances as different literary or historical figures such as Edgar Allan Poe, P.T. Barnum, Dracula, and, of course, Sherlock Holmes. I showed up to enough of his events and asked enough questions about Holmes that he eventually got me in touch with Minnesota’s scion society <a href="http://www.norwegianexplorers.org/" target="_blank">The Norwegian Explorers</a>. The people in the Explorers were extremely welcoming to an obsessive little eight year old—through them I started attending monthly meetings and deepened my love for the stories and the playing of “The Game”. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiONMGs3nfJkR9EkeVj3Te04QgzynM66DbTyhyS2KHRsJJZHQZ3af2GKjQgoBOPsdfd3izE0JJvJE7d892fUaS2eUBgStLPcgIhgTjstp98E62yzoQitpCnjfwo470ic31ILTzZYyNab-GKueyOEa5lNe88M36SBKPgGMAcW9iSua_L4s8W-PojZjZudA/s1350/unnamed.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1350" data-original-width="1044" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiONMGs3nfJkR9EkeVj3Te04QgzynM66DbTyhyS2KHRsJJZHQZ3af2GKjQgoBOPsdfd3izE0JJvJE7d892fUaS2eUBgStLPcgIhgTjstp98E62yzoQitpCnjfwo470ic31ILTzZYyNab-GKueyOEa5lNe88M36SBKPgGMAcW9iSua_L4s8W-PojZjZudA/s320/unnamed.png" width="247" /></a></span></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br />What is your profession and does that affect how you enjoy being a Sherlockian?</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">This fall I’ll be a senior English major at Carleton College, a liberal arts college in southern Minnesota. Being a college student primarily studying literature has fundamentally changed the way I approach the Conan Doyle stories—rereading them today I find that I’ve become equally interested in Conan Doyle’s prose style and the evolution of that style across the stories, as well as the different narrative structures he employs and what exactly makes them so effective. I think that my academic environment (and most across the country, I’d wager), is now very focused upon exploring if the conventional ‘literary classics’, most of which were written by well-to-do white men, are still relevant to readers and the study of literature in general. While I think that many are, and in no way consider Conan Doyle a concerning literary figure on the level of H. P. Lovecraft, I do think that there’s an interesting conversation to be had about what makes certain stories timeless and resonant even though some of their more unsavory elements (I’m looking at you, </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Sign of Four</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> and “The Adventure of the Three Gables”), exist, as well as the value in understanding works of art as products of their time, reflective of moral deficiencies that we may now balk at. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space-collapse: preserve;">What is your favorite canonical story?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">This is probably cheating but I’m going to include “The Final Problem” and “The Adventure of the Empty House” as one big story. In “The Final Problem” I love the character of Moriarty, a villain who actually has the mental power to undo Holmes, the canonically unique cross-country adventure through Europe, the near-cinematic confrontation at the Reichenbach Falls—one of the most iconic images in literature, I’d argue—and Watson’s absolutely heartbreaking final description of his friend as “the best and the wisest man” he has ever known. This story is just pure fun and the death of Holmes is such an unexpected left turn that when I read it for the first time I remember setting my book down and spending a good couple days actually thinking that that was the end. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ6PKmEpNCVj9MVke0x4aKvns1sHUTrNgWee60y06fl9AF1-jG4jikX19qms19F3ik66ZQmJdvl3qC7zgKx2W-LI62mujCdwfOWXa8aWlPkvTWf7Xo2lpTKUxDUOs8MBGz5D9tKcRsF8KVRvMO3QI-q08Nc25oAIGdhfJLeWNxvIHH7SXgYqRwY7cj6Q/s1024/8571323786_f3b4d1ff9a_b.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="748" data-original-width="1024" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ6PKmEpNCVj9MVke0x4aKvns1sHUTrNgWee60y06fl9AF1-jG4jikX19qms19F3ik66ZQmJdvl3qC7zgKx2W-LI62mujCdwfOWXa8aWlPkvTWf7Xo2lpTKUxDUOs8MBGz5D9tKcRsF8KVRvMO3QI-q08Nc25oAIGdhfJLeWNxvIHH7SXgYqRwY7cj6Q/s320/8571323786_f3b4d1ff9a_b.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />I think the unconventionality of “The Final Problem” goes wonderfully with the more standard mystery of “The Adventure of the Empty House”, which brings the detective back to London and provides everything that I want in a classic Sherlock Holmes story—a seemingly-impossible killing, a late night stakeout, the bizarre trickery of the bust, and a wonderful second-in-command to Moriarty manifested in the odious Colonel Sebastian Moran, my favorite of Holmes’ antagonist after Baron Gruner. I also adore Holmes’ disguise as the book peddler, his reveal to a fainting Watson, the description of what really happened at Reichenbach (baritsu!), and everything the detective has gotten up to in the meantime. There’s so much juicy information here about Holmes’ character and I think the story portrays a deepening of his relationship with Watson that keeps me coming back, even though not a lot of deduction goes on in the case itself.<p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Who is a specific Sherlockian that you think others would find interesting?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Karen Murdock (ASH) is a really wonderful Sherlockian based in the Twin Cities—she is a longtime member of The Norwegian Explorers with a special interest in unique figures of speech found in the canon. This includes instances of hapax legomenon (in which a word is only mentioned once across the four novels and fifty-six short stories), assonant phrasings, anaphora (the selective repetition of a certain word), and much more. A lot of this work can be found on the online discussion group <a href="https://www.sherlockian.net/sharing/hounds/" target="_blank">The Hounds of the Internet</a>, of which Karen is a frequent contributor. On top of this she is one of the kindest, most generous people I know—when I was building my second 221B in middle school Karen would always come by to my house with old books she had picked up that she thought would be good additions to the room. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space-collapse: preserve;">What subset of Sherlockiana really interests you?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">This is probably obvious from my previous answers but I am especially interested in recreations of the 221B sitting room—this can manifest itself in maps, miniatures, sets for films and TV shows, and life-sized recreations built by enthusiasts. There is something about the realization of the iconic room and the unique interpretation that every creator brings to their space that I find thrilling—Conan Doyle peppers enough little inconsistencies and throwaway details through the canon to make the mapping of the place’s layout a scholarly project unto itself, which becomes as much about personal creative expression as an experiment in close reading. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz_TcuzVNpdNRsZ1ZRGSfoV5OtYSXN3d2mJuXmB2XBAr3tU1W6WUpgxy6XBWDvE2-TyfiEMrqDCV-f2qSPxVY68ngoGICPnoT07FeRKsoLEiUfk1Z-1wTutXI_W7GveSaO-JoJYUFacTw7OtaKSstFKqal8NWx7x-qvT5JQhCescJO6wweJBZ7XxThdw/s620/20151229__151230_sherlocklede.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="620" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz_TcuzVNpdNRsZ1ZRGSfoV5OtYSXN3d2mJuXmB2XBAr3tU1W6WUpgxy6XBWDvE2-TyfiEMrqDCV-f2qSPxVY68ngoGICPnoT07FeRKsoLEiUfk1Z-1wTutXI_W7GveSaO-JoJYUFacTw7OtaKSstFKqal8NWx7x-qvT5JQhCescJO6wweJBZ7XxThdw/s320/20151229__151230_sherlocklede.webp" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I’ve also become more interested in the early history of Sherlockiana, particularly pertaining to the old BSI days of the thirties and forties. While there was a lot that was exclusionary about this culture, I find the development of “The Great Game” and Sherlockian scholarship, which would pave the way for all forms of modern fandom, to be a fascinating portion of our history that I would love to further research. </span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space-collapse: preserve;">As someone who has grown up being a Sherlockian, how has your activity in this hobby changed as you've grown?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I would say that the biggest difference between my early days of Sherlockian interest and today is that I’ve now known some of the people in the community for over a decade now, and thus feel a deeper connection to the social aspect of Holmes scholarship than I did in the past. I’m also at an age where I can independently go to conferences and meetings without forcing my poor parents to shuttle me someplace, as well as have a drink or two—at past conferences when I was a kid there was always a certain point in the night where I just had to go to bed, which isn’t the case anymore. As my abilities as a writer have improved I’ve also become more interested in actively contributing to Sherlockian scholarship, which I didn’t feel I had the chops to do in the past.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space-collapse: preserve;">At the Lone Star Holmes conference, you gave a talk on Sherlock Holmes and psychogeography. Could you explain that term and how you linked Sherlock Holmes to it?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Psychogeography was a concept that one of my Carleton professors introduced me to—essentially it is concerned with the way an individual's environment, specifically within a city, consciously and unconsciously affects their behavior. Psychogeography has manifested itself in many different forms over the years but my professor specifically pointed me towards the work of the French scholar Michel de Certeau, whose 1984 book </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-practice-of-everyday-life-michel-de-certeau/6561276?ean=9780520271456" target="_blank">The Practice of Everyday Life</a> </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">has become a seminal text in the field. In one of the book’s essays titled “Walking in the City”, de Certeau argues that the modern city has become increasingly subjugated to the designs of governments and corporations who wish to find ever more subtle ways of controlling the citizenry and selling things to them. An example I gave at the conference of a non-de Certeauvian way of approaching a city such as London would be to instantly go to the Hard Rock Cafe in Piccadilly Circus, buy a couple of T-shirts, and then do everything else that appeared on the first google search of the best things for tourists to do in London. De Certeau likens this way of approaching a city to the view one gets of it from atop a skyscraper, which mutes the complex life happening on the ground below and makes the city seem conquerable, knowable to a single person and their worldview (which in reality it never can be, except maybe to Holmes). </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In contrast to this approach, in his essay de Certeau outlines “tactics” of operating within the city that upholds ordinary human life and works as creative resistance against the all-controlling desires of companies and the state. Some examples of these are walking amidst a city’s people, taking shortcuts that are not officially mandated, and interacting with neighborhoods that are not commercially-driven and more representative of the life of the average citizen. In my talk I argued that Holmes derives his success as a detective from his awareness that true knowledge lies not from the view on a skyscraper (an overly-simplifying approach that I liken to Watson and Scotland Yard) but from being intimately attuned to a city’s people and its many neighborhoods, exemplifying de Certeau’s psychogeographic strategy. This, I argued, could be seen in the detective’s usage of the Irregulars and agents like Fred Porlock, his exploration of grimier London areas that most Victorian gentlemen wouldn’t dream of setting foot in, the moments where he acts as an unofficial arbiter of justice, and his unabashed love for all that is bizarre in human behavior. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcdr0kYFZiAX5-sZhi4h2Qi_462fn4-kIpfdhUqo51B--Xu4wesr92076eGzBWS4zjRBh0_FIt9e7U_oIMbo4m4Jwwuhm2hQacQIxfUomRggjUreohMqQnddDKFuxoYA27oHkG1nxHYitcoOFIvy8o6YHtmHYK2rNoffXoaNq9VifqgS67xlP-_PheBA/s381/Illus-houn-paget-14.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="381" data-original-width="275" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcdr0kYFZiAX5-sZhi4h2Qi_462fn4-kIpfdhUqo51B--Xu4wesr92076eGzBWS4zjRBh0_FIt9e7U_oIMbo4m4Jwwuhm2hQacQIxfUomRggjUreohMqQnddDKFuxoYA27oHkG1nxHYitcoOFIvy8o6YHtmHYK2rNoffXoaNq9VifqgS67xlP-_PheBA/s320/Illus-houn-paget-14.jpg" width="231" /></a></div><br /><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space-collapse: preserve;">What book would you recommend to other Sherlockians?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Maybe everyone has already read this but </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-devil-in-the-white-city-murder-magic-and-madness-at-the-fair-that-changed-america-trade-book-erik-larson/586167?ean=9780375725609" target="_blank">The Devil in the White City </a></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-devil-in-the-white-city-murder-magic-and-madness-at-the-fair-that-changed-america-trade-book-erik-larson/586167?ean=9780375725609" target="_blank">by Erik Larson</a> is a magnificent piece of historical non-fiction that interweaves the story of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair with that of the serial killer H. H. Holmes, who constructed an elaborate “Murder Castle” during the time of the fair in which he disposed of and concealed his victims. Written like a novel and just as engrossing, this book serves as a fascinating insight into not only one of America’s first recorded serial killers but also the gargantuan accomplishment of the World’s Fair, an extremely ambitious project that was plagued with difficulty and represented America’s assertion of exceptionalism and innovation that would foreshadow Great Britain’s decline as the world’s leading superpower. This book not only checks the murder box for Sherlockians but is also very evocative of the late nineteenth century world that Conan Doyle so brilliantly captured in the stories. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Where do you see Sherlockiana in 5 or 10 years from now?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">This is a very difficult question to answer. I am confident that the character of Sherlock Holmes will continue to connect with people in many different forms—through pastiches, television, movies, video games, board games, etc.—as he has done for over a century. I am also sure that social media will continue to connect like-minded Sherlockians across the world in new and exciting ways, promoting a dearth of possibilities for conferences and other events (Zoom, as annoying as it is, has really increased the opportunity for the accessibility of things like these). In modern pastiches and adaptations I think that we will see the characters in the canon further evolve in ways that are slightly (or extremely) different from their original portrayal in the stories, as so much of our modern understanding of them is also filtered through their representations in pop culture (for example, in recent years I think we have seen Holmes grow a little colder and more socially fringe than he ever was in the stories, with further emphasis on him being a form of a superhero, itself reflective of our Marvel/DC dominated media landscape). While some might view this as a form of blasphemy, what excites me is that people will still be interacting with these characters and coming up with new things to say about them. I am slightly worried about the future of the stories themselves—in my generation (I’m unabashedly counting myself as a victim of this), I think there are fewer people who go to books as their primary source of entertainment, especially those written in the nineteenth century. But if any stories survive they will be Conan Doyle’s, which remain so gripping that I’m shocked they’re as old as they are. Whatever happens, Holmes and his world of 1895 will remain an object of fascination and reinterpretation that I can’t wait to witness. </span></p>Rob Nunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02126012014516886064noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70253573396693005.post-6848253868077672162023-06-07T20:19:00.001-07:002023-06-11T15:10:26.080-07:00 Life in Social Strata [VALL]After going to Dallas for the Lone Star Holmes conference last month, it only reinforced an important aspect of Sherlockian events and I came home full of energy and ideas for Holmes in the Heartland. All of the official details for that weekend (July 28-30) can be found on <a href="http://parallelogramstl.blogspot.com/2023/06/holmes-in-heartland-2023.html" target="_blank">The Parallel Case of St. Louis's blog</a> so I won't retread that today. <div><div><br /></div><div>But I do want to take a moment to highlight the best part of any Sherlockian gathering is for me.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's the Sherlockians. And although it isn't official, I wanted to point out two things we are doing in St. Louis next month.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDAoj6fp6JIwULDMehYqOHHc-os-5izLQOpPvNbb53eKJTLW9tYrzsj_buTvEHxo9BZYbYJqPrl2smmn0k2IOGCuVJp0-EQ0VmoCjnMc5aS8w0-kOALulwoneSOw3cFQV3meR3h9mtpLlmLvpxua957kSb-3qkYNLIgCF_uxnHlRIwiUDPSDId4AQ/s864/Gillette%20as%20Holmes%20DVD.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="648" data-original-width="864" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDAoj6fp6JIwULDMehYqOHHc-os-5izLQOpPvNbb53eKJTLW9tYrzsj_buTvEHxo9BZYbYJqPrl2smmn0k2IOGCuVJp0-EQ0VmoCjnMc5aS8w0-kOALulwoneSOw3cFQV3meR3h9mtpLlmLvpxua957kSb-3qkYNLIgCF_uxnHlRIwiUDPSDId4AQ/s320/Gillette%20as%20Holmes%20DVD.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />First, The Crew of the Barque Lone Star purposely built in socialization time in between speakers at the Lone Star Holmes conference and that was an essential takeaway for me. So the Holmes in the Heartland speaker schedule will be two presentations and a break, two presentations and a break, etc. </div><div><br /></div><div>Need to run up to your hotel room? You're covered.</div><div><br /></div><div>Was there something at a vendor's table you wanted to revisit? You've got time.</div><div><br /></div><div>Feel like you'd like to talk to some folks and stretch your legs? Get up!</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiITCPCKz76edEJjaVZ5qJ1TuG_Hr3GOkYjNy44TuhoRU74UdIbODu1DfuoyIF2ciy8SXYunA2T4lpTIZL2nJ1oWy9aKxjKaDR-NaGjj52MAoQUks70RrYkKEo3ZOS8Bw5KcPTANuIwqETHhqv8PCAWED2caDpfIUlo-OGknVzkj7iDulHHlNcH2js/s500/72435_2nd-second-place-award-ribbon-stickers-and-labels.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiITCPCKz76edEJjaVZ5qJ1TuG_Hr3GOkYjNy44TuhoRU74UdIbODu1DfuoyIF2ciy8SXYunA2T4lpTIZL2nJ1oWy9aKxjKaDR-NaGjj52MAoQUks70RrYkKEo3ZOS8Bw5KcPTANuIwqETHhqv8PCAWED2caDpfIUlo-OGknVzkj7iDulHHlNcH2js/s320/72435_2nd-second-place-award-ribbon-stickers-and-labels.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>And the second thing is something I've seen Holmes, Doyle, and Friends do so well: The nightlife.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Sheraton Westport Plaza was chosen for Holmes in the Heartland because of all of the restaurant choices within walking distance. It's got options for everyone: Sushi. Tacos. Diner food. A deli. Japanese steakhouse. Bar food. McDonald's. And if you've ever been to a Sherlockian event, you know that all you have to do is be in the hotel lobby when a group is heading out and they will drag you along. All of these dinner options were chosen so that people wouldn't stay strangers long!</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq9in2d2hzUg3vibaJGV5ZlNZzscwAF_CaT4xVv5ZhL5xayqGvS9rJu0kQF7yKmQYlDh2EUFmTHPhMz9Ln2wkBxLPRec5NJ03hJAs_CgnSOjN3jDUMYvHwp86lyo7ffqwi_JX-2ZJQZ9WKc9CCu5NaQPU7d8eCCFasR6BOBDXO4LsQzNYsUhwaeSY/s1000/6449b3d7a29d4880267a1d3a9c2bd657.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="758" data-original-width="1000" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq9in2d2hzUg3vibaJGV5ZlNZzscwAF_CaT4xVv5ZhL5xayqGvS9rJu0kQF7yKmQYlDh2EUFmTHPhMz9Ln2wkBxLPRec5NJ03hJAs_CgnSOjN3jDUMYvHwp86lyo7ffqwi_JX-2ZJQZ9WKc9CCu5NaQPU7d8eCCFasR6BOBDXO4LsQzNYsUhwaeSY/s320/6449b3d7a29d4880267a1d3a9c2bd657.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Unfortunately, the hotel bar situation has changed since we booked everything back in 2020, and there isn't a in-house tavern for us to take over. But let me tell you, Westport Plaza has one of the coolest bars you could imagine, Westport Social. Drinks and tables to hang out? Sure. But it's also full of shuffleboard, ping pong, basketball, and more. Once again, right in walking distance to the hotel so you are set for Friday and Saturday night!</div><div><br /></div><div>And yes, Sherlockian conferences have entertaining and informative talks, tantalizing vendors, pleasant meals, and more. But for me, these events are about being able to spend time with other Sherlockians. And trust me, we've made it a point for you to hang out with friends both new and old at <a href="https://parallelcasestl.wixsite.com/home/holmes-in-the-heartland" target="_blank">Holmes in the Heartland</a> next month. So if you haven't signed up yet, now's the time! </div></div>Rob Nunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02126012014516886064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70253573396693005.post-64104099614602553652023-05-30T12:12:00.004-07:002023-06-04T11:30:38.607-07:00Sherlock Holmes in the 21st CenturyOn May 26-28, I I was lucky enough to attend Lone Star Holmes in Dallas, Texas, put on by the Crew of the Barque Lone Star. It was a weekend with Sherlockians put on by a great group, so needless to say it was a wonderful time!<div><br /></div><div>I was asked to speak on the future of Sherlockiana. Below is the text of my speech with plenty of slides. Enjoy!</div><div><br /></div><div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjWq-nUOb1v9thUz8zcF1XtrB-_h2x7aLGIaV3KoGWIu7mYRS7UpMFWCKTAPPw39IsmWHlWZFGsNW8xRoGCdGTtQ-jTiJQdK8IB5nNC1IO7wdfjZwst1iYkc46FeSiNzlg5ASNrA5BR0IGidQKXQgtJIBtHpgWi44_Iinl3VYZCWJeziYCHuVaNtE/s1280/Slide1.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjWq-nUOb1v9thUz8zcF1XtrB-_h2x7aLGIaV3KoGWIu7mYRS7UpMFWCKTAPPw39IsmWHlWZFGsNW8xRoGCdGTtQ-jTiJQdK8IB5nNC1IO7wdfjZwst1iYkc46FeSiNzlg5ASNrA5BR0IGidQKXQgtJIBtHpgWi44_Iinl3VYZCWJeziYCHuVaNtE/s320/Slide1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div>Good morning, everyone! I’m very excited to be here and talking about Sherlock Holmes in the 21st Century. </div><div><br /></div><div>But before we get into that, I’m sure everyone is expecting some allusion to a cartoon that the rest of the world has forgotten about. So here you go:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hz-QuKnQv4w" width="320" youtube-src-id="hz-QuKnQv4w"></iframe></div><br /><div>Now that that’s out of the way, you’re welcome for getting that song stuck in your head this morning.</div><div><br /></div><div>While we aren’t going quite THAT far into the future, I am going to ask us to move forward from the “Always 1895” mentality today. Notice, I said “move forward” and not “leave behind.” </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdHI3KHU90LtDUnEI317Qt-fvLmgi1oHEK_VgdyKXhgVAn4Cgf6Khr-Uy48qJ2ixRpS1UPpDZZYgHCCvF4152djGPCEG4i009LRtCrp_J0ibP_h2Khhe4oMG-hhRqG5tmbGleWqBY0gzA7l3_9MzRTZ0Jg5rQDKyFyp37ZCXugW7cF14-WGuP9rNY/s1280/Slide3.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdHI3KHU90LtDUnEI317Qt-fvLmgi1oHEK_VgdyKXhgVAn4Cgf6Khr-Uy48qJ2ixRpS1UPpDZZYgHCCvF4152djGPCEG4i009LRtCrp_J0ibP_h2Khhe4oMG-hhRqG5tmbGleWqBY0gzA7l3_9MzRTZ0Jg5rQDKyFyp37ZCXugW7cF14-WGuP9rNY/s320/Slide3.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Because once we lose our footing in the Canon, chaos ensues.</div><div><br /></div><div>Since 2018, I’ve run a series of interviews on my blog, Interesting Though Elementary, titled Interesting Interviews. So far, I have interviewed 90 fellow Sherlockians. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfuLkKNBznxIrXRAeAAx0iXyGzJU446joQsqQS-1cDV7CRUQHHX7FUB6HpIQl_SXddJYbj8M8jx7wn83-uguXHUbyeyH3xUPQtQTsUM46a11_jh5j8_p_pfFan7Vk5VtqUZ8-ysOUsyOzfqm0iVHaurVV44CoYoxLwyPi5pAEpPUTQu116sgu-YYc/s1280/Slide5.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfuLkKNBznxIrXRAeAAx0iXyGzJU446joQsqQS-1cDV7CRUQHHX7FUB6HpIQl_SXddJYbj8M8jx7wn83-uguXHUbyeyH3xUPQtQTsUM46a11_jh5j8_p_pfFan7Vk5VtqUZ8-ysOUsyOzfqm0iVHaurVV44CoYoxLwyPi5pAEpPUTQu116sgu-YYc/s320/Slide5.JPG" width="320" /></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div>Each interview is ten questions long, with a few tailored to the specific interviewee. But every interview includes questions about how they define the word Sherlockian, how they became Sherlockians, their favorite Sherlock Holmes story, another person in our hobby that they find interesting, and a book they would recommend.</div><div><br /></div><div>But the purpose of this talk is the future of Sherlockiana, and that is addressed by the last question that has ended each of the 90 interviews: Where do you see Sherlockiana in 5 or 10 years from now? </div><div><br /></div><div>As interesting as I have found each and every interview, I won’t read every response to this question to you today. But I would like to highlight a few here.</div><div> </div><div>Michael Kean, Wiggins of the Baker Street Irregulars, responded, “I believe that the world-wide interest in Sherlock Holmes will continue. It may be cyclical, but it will continue to expand, especially internationally. Critical to its longevity, however, is our ability to interest the younger generation in Holmes and Watson.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Barbara Rusch said, “The popularity of Sherlock Holmes will never wane, and each succeeding generation has a new take on the quintessential detective.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Tim Johnson answered, “I would desire a younger and more diverse Sherlockiana. The promise is there. But it will take hard work; meaningful and deep relationships; and open arms to make it a reality.”</div><div> </div><div>Texas’s own Cindy Brown said, “I think we will be finding new ways to share our hobby with others, whether it’s virtual or some other social media, but I think we will continue to meet and share, and collect, and exchange our ideas.”</div><div><br /></div><div>And some guy named Don Hobbs answered with, “There have historically been up and down periods of Sherlockian enthusiasm however we have been on an extended up period. With the growth of social media, I don't see a lull for the near future. There seems to be new blogs, new books, and new societies every month. I think in 15 years we will look back at the early 21st century as the Goldest of Golden eras.”</div><div><br /></div><div>To be honest, I really tried to practice saying this in a Don Hobbs voice at home, but my wife said I was scaring the dogs so I had to give it up.</div><div><br /></div><div>But as you can see, Sherlockians have high hopes for the future. But how do we help that happen? </div><div><br /></div><div>I think there are a few guideposts for us to follow as we look to the future of this hobby, Planting Seeds, Recruitment, Community, and Mentoring.</div><div><br /></div><div><u>PLANTING SEEDS</u></div><div><br /></div><div>I find myself constantly thinking about the interactions that Sherlockians have with one another. And the biggest influence on that train of thought is my profession as a school teacher. For the past nine years, I’ve taught a two-week language arts unit on Sherlock Holmes to my fifth graders. </div><div><br /></div><div>Over these ten days we read abridged versions of "The Blue Carbuncle," "The Red-Headed League," "The Speckled Band," "The Copper Beeches," and "A Scandal in Bohemia." And from these stories, students learn about story elements such as setting, plot, the role of a narrator, and rising action. They also create their own mystery stories and put on Sherlock Holmes plays for other classes. </div><div><br /></div><div>But these 10 and 11 year olds don’t start out knowing a ton about Sherlock Holmes. Just like many newer Sherlockians don’t know as much about the Canon as the more seasoned folks in this hobby. Heck, I’ve met some people at meetings who’ve only read their first story! </div><div><br /></div><div>Don’t you just get so excited for people at that stage, whether they are a kid or an adult? They have so much in store!They’ve yet to hear </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3T7a0iykc9V6MOHoH4IcD8FOMehKboYs5go72-DGZkc11mOjjDl_VFrBaDAEYJYgoyxWPeZSQUXiG0uzuL-QV0kY9IkHV_ZOGt6vUoAekwF5wknHR7E2y_hBg1_L3wndYkmChKM2f0qKH8OLIa7zCcy2QfqfqMt4Coqs88vvxw_cMdhjkFBeIHE8/s1280/Slide16.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3T7a0iykc9V6MOHoH4IcD8FOMehKboYs5go72-DGZkc11mOjjDl_VFrBaDAEYJYgoyxWPeZSQUXiG0uzuL-QV0kY9IkHV_ZOGt6vUoAekwF5wknHR7E2y_hBg1_L3wndYkmChKM2f0qKH8OLIa7zCcy2QfqfqMt4Coqs88vvxw_cMdhjkFBeIHE8/s320/Slide16.JPG" width="320" /></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div>“Mr. Holmes, they were the footprints of a gigantic hound!” </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGGfyTqxkY8IkW8cx1NHODWVltSpeHLsU5jlr-isjUe3u7nODBO4QyVCR2pH7w66yTMiXV_gJ6tq7CtbPe6gP-f1h7KmSdE5T7EbWa-unvJuFp5y219HnA_7ppdNXiG8Ul0QudvoPdF57xXYLqtkjtjYlZOpH4_guhywcqZ7lJ1SXfQG_pwLswrTw/s1280/Slide17.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGGfyTqxkY8IkW8cx1NHODWVltSpeHLsU5jlr-isjUe3u7nODBO4QyVCR2pH7w66yTMiXV_gJ6tq7CtbPe6gP-f1h7KmSdE5T7EbWa-unvJuFp5y219HnA_7ppdNXiG8Ul0QudvoPdF57xXYLqtkjtjYlZOpH4_guhywcqZ7lJ1SXfQG_pwLswrTw/s320/Slide17.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div>or see Holmes’s tour de force of deducing Henry Baker’s character from his hat </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZv2Mc3VuKA4dcogS35rDx8Qdd2OadaTjekfFXSdq214zlv-57oNsfhujGKuPFZ8s9b-ND7YZEa4vGf5lmnK1umSXVOA7w_eGYfqMpnjhj_issV95FPzH-Rlt7ctHW1aMmMoXTfMm2p_9F1ee9FiMRdt1BIPnVHoKO6MFuiNH9wJhBdI1CbwtofbY/s1280/Slide18.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZv2Mc3VuKA4dcogS35rDx8Qdd2OadaTjekfFXSdq214zlv-57oNsfhujGKuPFZ8s9b-ND7YZEa4vGf5lmnK1umSXVOA7w_eGYfqMpnjhj_issV95FPzH-Rlt7ctHW1aMmMoXTfMm2p_9F1ee9FiMRdt1BIPnVHoKO6MFuiNH9wJhBdI1CbwtofbY/s320/Slide18.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />or knowing what happens at Reichenbach Falls. </div><div><br /></div><div>Sometimes I’m even a little jealous of people who are coming to this hobby for the first time. There are so many great stories and experiences ahead of them! </div><div><br /></div><div>Now, of course, not everyone we talk to about Sherlock Holmes will become Sherlockians. I’m sure many of our spouses can prove that point.</div><div><br /></div><div>And while there are plenty of my students who do the required reading and get through the lessons because they have to, there are always others who show an interest in the Junior Sherlockian Society, or write pieces for the Beacon Society’s Joel Senter essay contest, or pick up pastiches for younger readers in their free time. </div><div><br /></div><div>But whether they are penning award winning essays or arguing with other kids about who really won between Holmes and Irene Adler, every kid that gets engaged with Sherlock Holmes is a win for me. Because every new exposure to Sherlock Holmes is a possible future Sherlockian. And as much as we would love for everyone exposed to Sherlock Holmes to become a lifelong fan immediately, some may take longer than others. </div><div><br /></div><div>That’s why I’m calling this section “planting seeds." Because you never know when future Sherlockians will sprout from what we do. Many of my 5th graders are just starting to branch out and cultivate their reading preferences. And throughout the school year, I have to ease many readers into the amazing titles out there without scaring off the emergent readers.</div><div><br /></div><div>We’ve got to ease a lot of possible Sherlockians into our hobby as well. And as hard as it is, we can’t judge people’s interests. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvPfUcZ0eNmIqWMiLRVsE2ehq8jJFF0qSBJU5uItKXb7hYogNEvCZ4f0-zHWTuHAyRj6DD4W-JpBHlGdMlIBedjYhBnyxrJbXkC1FDukPxW9Wgl-PTyjiRhXiCCpBjZaBuVOrc1EG1bAGeMugD851OSQvSuyJscYzs0-x3rPjjadsHQAW8tKCtKMc/s1280/Slide20.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvPfUcZ0eNmIqWMiLRVsE2ehq8jJFF0qSBJU5uItKXb7hYogNEvCZ4f0-zHWTuHAyRj6DD4W-JpBHlGdMlIBedjYhBnyxrJbXkC1FDukPxW9Wgl-PTyjiRhXiCCpBjZaBuVOrc1EG1bAGeMugD851OSQvSuyJscYzs0-x3rPjjadsHQAW8tKCtKMc/s320/Slide20.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />Any interest that a student or adult that has in Sherlock Holmes is a valid interest. I don’t know of a single Sherlockian that I agree with 100%. One of my closest Sherlockian friends thinks this is a great movie!</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1bhnV5OnNFExXjHAHWQACgRSAmmf9WUmQnRCxcRqfGEd2we9X6wTaMfVdtAeensET-TH1oQO1xUZtE03dejkhyz-B6S-IdSmiAHv00XqPAKaGltqF_SU3W6DuxciY56wd12vsizyy1xLZPgJcvydcy5GWYeogN2Qg8ped1QlJq1Ifukx12hWLzto/s1280/Slide21.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1bhnV5OnNFExXjHAHWQACgRSAmmf9WUmQnRCxcRqfGEd2we9X6wTaMfVdtAeensET-TH1oQO1xUZtE03dejkhyz-B6S-IdSmiAHv00XqPAKaGltqF_SU3W6DuxciY56wd12vsizyy1xLZPgJcvydcy5GWYeogN2Qg8ped1QlJq1Ifukx12hWLzto/s320/Slide21.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div>And even if I can’t see eye-to-eye with him or the 9 other people who actually watched that thing, I know they are still great Sherlockians. So if I don’t agree with everyone on their Sherlockian interests, how can I expect a new Sherlockian to conform to all of my beliefs and interests?</div><div><br /></div><div>I can’t. </div><div><br /></div><div>And if I dismiss the things they like, they’re probably going to dismiss the things that I like just as quickly. I know that helping my students to grow works best when I am there to guide, and not lecture them on what they should enjoy. And any interaction with a future Sherlockian could benefit from the same approach.</div><div><br /></div><div>New Sherlockians may not be ready to join a scion society or read the whole Canon for many different reasons. They may be unsure about their interests, have kids and not a lot of free time to themselves, maybe they just enjoy watching the movies here and there, or a million other reasons why now is not the right time for them to jump into this hobby.</div><div><br /></div><div>But if somewhere down the road they remember Sherlockians as people who embraced their interest and appreciated the commonalities, we may just have someone that will join us when they are ready.</div><div><br /></div><div>And it’s what we do with those future Sherlockians when they are ready that is really important.</div><div><br /></div><div><u>RECRUITMENT</u></div><div><br /></div><div>Another important topic to keeping Sherlockiana going is recruitment. We can all think back to certain Sherlockians who welcomed us to the fold and helped us along our way. But one Sherlockian in particular went out of their way to help this hobby grow immensely, and purposefully created an atmosphere that was so welcoming you couldn’t help but want to stick around.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYVfCcoBkCzhMBTRXj12GqBdvQK79iaaw7Qh2CkiRQNJA2OLAxPB_waB9q3xZ3S7GzKGcLno9zLf7w6Hyh3Q8VgsY01iyOjlqvl8-myZ57dQfrplPkStkKCa2jpgdQmDvTFxXfxXp2FZG_E5dn1sLFHKL-7lnawNuKRLQR66DieH8yFzycIWFdM_s/s1280/Slide24.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYVfCcoBkCzhMBTRXj12GqBdvQK79iaaw7Qh2CkiRQNJA2OLAxPB_waB9q3xZ3S7GzKGcLno9zLf7w6Hyh3Q8VgsY01iyOjlqvl8-myZ57dQfrplPkStkKCa2jpgdQmDvTFxXfxXp2FZG_E5dn1sLFHKL-7lnawNuKRLQR66DieH8yFzycIWFdM_s/s320/Slide24.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />I think we can all agree that the Sherlockian world would look very different today without the influence of John Bennet Shaw. By a show of hands, how many of you in the audience knew John Bennet Shaw? Imagine what this conference would look like without Shaw’s influence on those people here today.</div><div><br /></div><div>The John Bennett Shaw conferences were a traveling roadshow meant to bring Sherlockians both new and old together. While these events were before my time, Ray Betzner has always talked about the importance of a Shaw workshop in his Sherlockian life:</div><div><br /></div><div><i>“The best place to meet the broadest range of Sherlockians was at a JBS conference. So many newbies had their first experience of the Sherlockian community at these events, which welcomed teen-agers and old-agers alike. And here is what was most remarkable: John would deliberately greet everyone during the course of a few days. And if he found you sitting by yourself in the back row of a room, he would do something enormously kind, like invite you up to his room after hours. John’s room was as private as Grand Central, and almost as busy. EVERYONE filtered through there sooner or later, which meant that you would interact with folks from all over the country. By the end of the conference, newbies started to feel like they belonged.”</i></div><div><br /></div><div>“John would deliberately greet everyone during the course of a few days.”</div><div><br /></div><div>“Newbies started to feel like they belonged.”</div><div><br /></div><div>I think there is a direct correlation between those two sentences. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwrX8wwsiApptQ_A4pPkhNeerlW02ZDjKgTR6sp7OjSjAI4_9J-M-ayNWkDEe0EFmodj0IHNGYYNOn1iX9IRUKYh9bZ7nQFwteAsk8zcJPGzxMmWeEAqSgNpiXfwirU-ty6aUoR_eZrL1XnbHrhpbmcML3w9tPweukH92B5AiksAJ84WJ-7Ly9_lw/s1280/Slide26.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwrX8wwsiApptQ_A4pPkhNeerlW02ZDjKgTR6sp7OjSjAI4_9J-M-ayNWkDEe0EFmodj0IHNGYYNOn1iX9IRUKYh9bZ7nQFwteAsk8zcJPGzxMmWeEAqSgNpiXfwirU-ty6aUoR_eZrL1XnbHrhpbmcML3w9tPweukH92B5AiksAJ84WJ-7Ly9_lw/s320/Slide26.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div>John Bennett Shaw was out there not only being the Johnny Appleseed of Sherlockiana by educating people about Sherlock Holmes, but he was deliberately making everyone feel welcomed.</div><div><br /></div><div>Take a second and look around the audience here today. I hope there are faces you don’t recognize. And I hope you take Shaw’s example and go meet some new folks today and make them feel like they belong.</div><div><br /></div><div>Ray told me that “John respected the history and traditions of the BSI. But he also knew the group needed to start evolving if it was to thrive.” Ray also said that “John knew the BSI needed to diversify.”</div><div><br /></div><div>While “evolving” and “diversifying” in Shaw’s time meant nudging the BSI to go co-ed, we Sherlockians can still look to evolve today. Do we expect Sherlockians to act and behave the same way they did in the 90s? Or the 60s? Or the 1930s?</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCcGXbO9jDcQZEdkMF7gQ0hVOvDuV33WgtZn7IyHA4xAUX4wNr8JIqludMI9LH_FH4ofukl3qECE_2ilNgEQCil02xlNKgkTn21MsljiRqNC2es0A4xJGHeAQFgq3gVx2FHDffyQp2cjK9FAqYzOav4007eKIzakyBP8vyFajM6a8MZN8AvSqUZUU/s1280/Slide27.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCcGXbO9jDcQZEdkMF7gQ0hVOvDuV33WgtZn7IyHA4xAUX4wNr8JIqludMI9LH_FH4ofukl3qECE_2ilNgEQCil02xlNKgkTn21MsljiRqNC2es0A4xJGHeAQFgq3gVx2FHDffyQp2cjK9FAqYzOav4007eKIzakyBP8vyFajM6a8MZN8AvSqUZUU/s320/Slide27.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />Sherlockiana isn’t some stubborn institution of rigidity. Personally, I don’t want to be someone who won’t be open to a new experience because it is different from the ways things have always been done before. Sherlockians of all shapes and sizes should not only be welcomed, but recruited to join activities like what we are doing this weekend. </div><div><br /></div><div>It’s one thing for us to say that everyone is welcome and leave it to folks to walk in the door on their own. But it’s a lot less daunting to come into something where you have been specifically invited and you know a friendly face or two.</div><div><br /></div><div>Look, I’m a straight, white, middle-aged, Christian male, so I don’t have much experience with feeling like a minority in a group. But there have been a few times when I wasn’t sure if I fit into a group of people. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieCL35hupzydCprLOQWqQwQ3D6Ygzo4X_SAN8TVCGEv6kH3CcCUEiJPqf50psQ8L7svRJrzVOJg51Shx0Jp6g790xj9oMASEpZ2u3MrW2xuBVAFdcFOk_cGgE_vIJ_lO3Og-2K9ER8-yNj77sxAiq6d-RwCQH0PfSjIdDoaXZEXHe046WkHoH0y1Y/s1280/Slide28.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieCL35hupzydCprLOQWqQwQ3D6Ygzo4X_SAN8TVCGEv6kH3CcCUEiJPqf50psQ8L7svRJrzVOJg51Shx0Jp6g790xj9oMASEpZ2u3MrW2xuBVAFdcFOk_cGgE_vIJ_lO3Og-2K9ER8-yNj77sxAiq6d-RwCQH0PfSjIdDoaXZEXHe046WkHoH0y1Y/s320/Slide28.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />It can be very intimidating to think that everyone else in a group is smarter than you or knows much more of the history of a hobby you’re interested in. But I don’t want anyone to ever feel that way when it comes to enjoying Sherlock Holmes.</div><div><br /></div><div>So we shouldn’t just SAY we are welcoming. We need to get out there and ask people to join us. Maybe it’s a scion meeting, maybe it’s something as simple as inviting them to sit by us at a dinner, or reaching out to someone on social media. Things that seem simple and almost inconsequential to us could make the difference in making a new person feel like part of the group.</div><div><br /></div><div>Another proponent for welcoming recruitment is Steven Rothman, editor emeritus of the Baker Street Journal.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxrRa3GIcMBzddZKy6FGO47Ezc46tYA_9cJFR-uVqYrSYPyniLlhDRB1nM1VSF470PMWVar2KQiRD5fMXlA8VpPK6NerOUofkYhaNJWTAdDoQDJkP4Sm4CwlWEfAMmGr86qPrHWtsFh5MmMXCzOI7Y7piH2vZAPl2Eeb1cCR0YUQtCDLxYU8n-XpE/s1280/Slide29.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxrRa3GIcMBzddZKy6FGO47Ezc46tYA_9cJFR-uVqYrSYPyniLlhDRB1nM1VSF470PMWVar2KQiRD5fMXlA8VpPK6NerOUofkYhaNJWTAdDoQDJkP4Sm4CwlWEfAMmGr86qPrHWtsFh5MmMXCzOI7Y7piH2vZAPl2Eeb1cCR0YUQtCDLxYU8n-XpE/s320/Slide29.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />Here are a few quotes from his Editor’s Gas Lamps over the past decade:</div><div><br /></div><div>From Spring 2015 in reference to Sherlock Holmes being a cultural icon:</div><div><br /></div><div><i>“All of this is to the good. We have had fun with Sherlock Holmes since childhood and are quite pleased to share our delight with others. It is not necessary to know Christ’s four-letter codes or to memorize the order of the stories. Sherlockian literacy should be the only shibboleth to joining our never-ending conversations. And even that should be broadly drawn. If you know well your cinematic or televisual Holmes, or if you cosplay Holmes or create new adventures, you can find your place among Sherlockians.”</i></div><div><br /></div><div>In Spring 2016 Rothman described Sherlockiana as </div><div><br /></div><div><i>“A family reunion with a family that one has sought to join and that has welcomed you into its midst.”</i></div><div><br /></div><div>And the Autumn 2021 edition of the Baker Street Journal espoused:</div><div><br /></div><div><i>“When a friend asks what it is all about [Sherlockiana], steer them to one of your favorites, invite them to a meeting of your local society, lend them books and copies of the Journal… When you take someone - young or old - by the hand and lead them down Baker Street, you never know when that experience will click, when you will have made not only a deeper friendship, but a brand new Sherlockian.”</i></div><div><br /></div><div>Just like The Baker Street Journal has told us time and time again, we have to remember that people come to Sherlockiana for fun and amusement. We all know that Sherlockians make for great company, but WE have to be the ones who make sure that Sherlockians are also welcoming.</div><div><br /></div><div><u>COMMUNITY</u></div><div><br /></div><div>And once new Sherlockians are welcomed, it’s important for us to build community with them. I started this talk out by citing my blog posts called Interesting Interviews. I titled it that because I really do think everyone I’ve met in this hobby is interesting. We’ve all built friendships and communities up from our time here. </div><div><br /></div><div>But man, have the times changed since you’d sit down to spend an evening writing letters to like-minded folks across the country. Did the internet change Sherlockiana? No.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin-t82zUQwuWbxdJrTM-bDcuINP33b-5jMWgzD4PiLkXs6g93cnfrBeOTpfQ4OYR6GJmvgiDdaeSmHr_6k5wKD4GE9mLBNIEJrWqSs5_Q-nHI2Oyb8BF7aYECUviWR-OfzXtoBkRNj8KrAugQ07uGn7WW9LVySEbeWgptNpVhZ8c9yLYtYdHEkO7E/s1280/Slide31.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin-t82zUQwuWbxdJrTM-bDcuINP33b-5jMWgzD4PiLkXs6g93cnfrBeOTpfQ4OYR6GJmvgiDdaeSmHr_6k5wKD4GE9mLBNIEJrWqSs5_Q-nHI2Oyb8BF7aYECUviWR-OfzXtoBkRNj8KrAugQ07uGn7WW9LVySEbeWgptNpVhZ8c9yLYtYdHEkO7E/s320/Slide31.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div>It was the year 2010 and some guy named Benedict Cumberbatch had just burst onto the Sherlockian scene with “A Study in Pink,” the first episode of BBC’s new show called Sherlock. That one show, with only 13 episodes, gave a jolt of energy to Sherlockiana not seen since Jeremy Brett, The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, or William Gillette. </div><div><br /></div><div>And some of us were scared.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir-BspGgkUxQKbHfhtG2bByRaLwrSZiudI5IOI1kvbI8jOFm-bBXkjjNtUoOA5owK2UgtbK6L2r6JaZ18jnA7Eg5NiQPf5pH4lS-MqQT4Rpo-N4EevwIbOSNkgZ-4SWSPZ9cg2vDQmov3kvZ_wKuxMdjW1kgGvSHdgaGB7I4m6muo_kY694UKBqpg/s1280/Slide32.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir-BspGgkUxQKbHfhtG2bByRaLwrSZiudI5IOI1kvbI8jOFm-bBXkjjNtUoOA5owK2UgtbK6L2r6JaZ18jnA7Eg5NiQPf5pH4lS-MqQT4Rpo-N4EevwIbOSNkgZ-4SWSPZ9cg2vDQmov3kvZ_wKuxMdjW1kgGvSHdgaGB7I4m6muo_kY694UKBqpg/s320/Slide32.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>What was this new type of Sherlockian, one who didn’t refer to The Grand Game, but instead called it Fandom? Traditional avenues of publishing were being ignored for posting fan fiction on the internet. </div><div><br /></div><div>And they were all so…. Young…</div><div><br /></div><div>Did these new Sherlockians all flock to scion meetings or the BSI Weekend? Not necessarily. Many new folks found a place where they were welcomed with open arms.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvF05xmqQkSDUUkYaIDuWLAl15jfH9cZFg4SkvXRajc2zgGa5T6GyXk9nBfwSPhPtToPcAXpF0YQYgrq1ZIQgPA1ldfduyebjhWd1pfdPYd_KCuJgIlEwRw-92FMnkjnTlScAeLo6SPUHbMP8YqTdioQ0tRIkV5ltLC-zxCMflmYLPtlrr_UF1GHA/s1280/Slide33.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvF05xmqQkSDUUkYaIDuWLAl15jfH9cZFg4SkvXRajc2zgGa5T6GyXk9nBfwSPhPtToPcAXpF0YQYgrq1ZIQgPA1ldfduyebjhWd1pfdPYd_KCuJgIlEwRw-92FMnkjnTlScAeLo6SPUHbMP8YqTdioQ0tRIkV5ltLC-zxCMflmYLPtlrr_UF1GHA/s320/Slide33.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>221B Con just celebrated their tenth anniversary this year. While some Sherlockians are quick to dismiss the convention as one that isn’t up to their standards, that’s a tired argument that should be put to rest right now. So let me share the titles and descriptions of some of the panels from just this year:</div><div><br /></div><div>Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes, Baker Street Irregulars, and other Sherlockian Societies </div><div>- A look at the world's most famous Sherlock Holmes organizations.</div><div><br /></div><div>Free At Last: Sherlock Holmes and the Public Domain </div><div>- As of January 1, 2023, all the SH stories are in the public domain. But do you know the story of how they got there? </div><div><br /></div><div>Paget, Steele, and Gibson: Illustrators of an Era </div><div>- When the Strand Magazine was founded in 1890, Arthur Conan Doyle immediately saw the promise for a series about Sherlock Holmes, the detective who'd made his first appearance in 1887. The next two decades were the height of the ""Golden Age of Illustration."" </div><div><br /></div><div>Sherlock Holmes’s Past </div><div>- Arthur Conan Doyle provided minimal information about Sherlock Holmes's past. What can be gleaned from those few tidbits that can tell us about his upbringing and education? What has been embellished by other writers? What would others like to know?</div><div><br /></div><div>These panels sound like they would be right at home at this conference, as well as other Sherlockian gatherings around the country. </div><div><br /></div><div>Some other topics from 2023 included </div><div><br /></div><div>Animals in the Canon, Drug Use in the Victorian Era, Enola Holmes, Research for historical fiction writers, Laurie R. King and Mary Russell, Popularity of the Pastiche, and Sherlock Holmes in Comics </div><div><br /></div><div>So now we can all agree that 221B Con is a hotbed of Sherlockian activity, both traditional and new wave. But the community aspect is what is applicable to us here today.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit868LibX6FOgnVdmLLoFNEFz9KTfJZgC3EiLmfuzKgfY9MaL7yXf6dMOqFbQnzUio28WEbX0pB3IHY41VPy1t590qdH7eXZoO02SALEvn_YzfFLrWY_EejzeyzeHTbVC8kb5arBZvMbQlI6tG9R3akMSZ94BU17CaVfhQqIRx8qdZS3WlZxEe-yQ/s1280/Slide36.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit868LibX6FOgnVdmLLoFNEFz9KTfJZgC3EiLmfuzKgfY9MaL7yXf6dMOqFbQnzUio28WEbX0pB3IHY41VPy1t590qdH7eXZoO02SALEvn_YzfFLrWY_EejzeyzeHTbVC8kb5arBZvMbQlI6tG9R3akMSZ94BU17CaVfhQqIRx8qdZS3WlZxEe-yQ/s320/Slide36.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div>When Crystal Noll and Heather Holloway signed a contract with the Atlanta Marriott for their first convention, they hoped to have 75-100 attendees that first year. Over 700 people signed up. Let that sink in for a minute.</div><div><br /></div><div>700 people</div><div><br /></div><div>There is a huge community of new Sherlockians out there. We’ve talked about the importance of recruiting new Sherlockians to join our activities, but it’s also important to build that community with like-minded folks. And that community we build should be a motivational and welcoming one. </div><div><br /></div><div>If my own students don’t feel welcomed in the environment I’ve created in my classroom, my lessons are doomed. And if Sherlockians don’t feel welcomed in environments that we want them to join, our future with them is doomed as well. 221B Con is a great example of a welcoming community based in its love of Sherlock Holmes. </div><div><br /></div><div>Here’s a story that Heather shared with me that happened in 2016:</div><div><br /></div><div><i>“The hotel that we were at that year was also hosting a group of volleyball players from different high schools for a tournament of some kind. I was walking through the lobby when a 14 to 15 year old girl stopped me because she saw my director’s badge.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>“She was with her father and she was breathless with excitement. She said that she LOVED Sherlock Holmes. She watched all the BBC shows and then she read all the stories. She even showed me her phone case which had a 221B door on it.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>“Her father said that she was so excited when she saw that there was a Sherlock Holmes con in the hotel. She begged him to let her walk around. He said that all she ever talked about anymore was Sherlock Holmes, and that she had never been to a con.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>“I took her to our operations room and gave her a few Sherlock Holmes related items like a mug and a couple of extra books we had. I just love the thought that there are so many young people coming to Sherlock Holmes and that, if they find us, we can be a nice supportive community for them.”</i></div><div><br /></div><div>This is a great example of the welcoming spirit of Sherlockians!</div><div><br /></div><div>We want to welcome fellow readers no matter where they are on their Sherlockian journey. And hopefully, we all have local Sherlockian communities that are just as welcoming.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinkqLUJEMECEXJR_q5GO4c2X0fdeCu7A5m5kEeANJgkqsJVgnCb-WQQEu7PXcXkMk-qlR64TsLKh1dYZIQWPLi14UDps-exYLP7Y89tHdrWY6wruFda1qWwTQWUz7m-ZHgNWC1vrnP4_5AphcFWvujCRy1zOtXhFG1WXxO7lAAojM-hXroeQdq7DE/s1280/Slide38.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinkqLUJEMECEXJR_q5GO4c2X0fdeCu7A5m5kEeANJgkqsJVgnCb-WQQEu7PXcXkMk-qlR64TsLKh1dYZIQWPLi14UDps-exYLP7Y89tHdrWY6wruFda1qWwTQWUz7m-ZHgNWC1vrnP4_5AphcFWvujCRy1zOtXhFG1WXxO7lAAojM-hXroeQdq7DE/s320/Slide38.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div>I’m the Gasogene of my local scion, The Parallel Case of St. Louis, and I love the setup our founder, Joe Eckrich, came up with. It’s more of a book club format where everyone is encouraged to participate in discussions. Sure, papers are welcome, but what we really want is conversation. </div><div><br /></div><div>We have had so many different areas of expertise shared in these discussions that would have been missed if we hadn’t welcomed and encouraged people to share their thoughts. This format allows everyone to be engaged and take on roles and responsibilities that they are comfortable with. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHLXddhHtMqWEM5Ckb4JukWE1Ny5gc6yd035tcMX_AYPRLlXPJzjlERMcSvVvQkX4X7Zz7ysncXGpI6YA2SzcnrSm-6OzdSGM2r62QEVEPP0ooB6RDAIlNeVOqy24FSsp_x7qZj4tgyWb_f7LT1Yai8T4L_7bBApBA3GagpbbHDXqxB9i0PKLJu6o/s1280/Slide39.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHLXddhHtMqWEM5Ckb4JukWE1Ny5gc6yd035tcMX_AYPRLlXPJzjlERMcSvVvQkX4X7Zz7ysncXGpI6YA2SzcnrSm-6OzdSGM2r62QEVEPP0ooB6RDAIlNeVOqy24FSsp_x7qZj4tgyWb_f7LT1Yai8T4L_7bBApBA3GagpbbHDXqxB9i0PKLJu6o/s320/Slide39.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>And from that small way of including people, members have helped coordinate conferences, given talks, written blog posts, swapped books, hosted movie nights, and have found all kinds of other ways to strengthen the community feel of our group!</div><div><br /></div><div>Because Sherlockiana is all about the friendships. Sure we love a good talk or a quiz, but we keep coming back to events and gatherings for the camaraderie. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBvF3nsO8u1Rj30_TJ0crH_zcHiqT21e3LBpu_ETMYSDOL7pmYF8SUrI1HW1ZUa93o_qqIxHzIHTHRW5zOpd1g5B2AEiPbBjnw6Ea2Yr-FHTYEGC_ClvuRslhaJ4H1H64qh902ngINwvjrJzuDNQ9f7cbuqvcfBTyipKlZZzbzoqPTEqDaaUlpi5M/s1280/Slide40.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBvF3nsO8u1Rj30_TJ0crH_zcHiqT21e3LBpu_ETMYSDOL7pmYF8SUrI1HW1ZUa93o_qqIxHzIHTHRW5zOpd1g5B2AEiPbBjnw6Ea2Yr-FHTYEGC_ClvuRslhaJ4H1H64qh902ngINwvjrJzuDNQ9f7cbuqvcfBTyipKlZZzbzoqPTEqDaaUlpi5M/s320/Slide40.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>And here we stop for a quick commercial.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you’d like to see this camaraderie in action, please join us this July in St. Louis for the second <a href="https://parallelcasestl.wixsite.com/home/holmes-in-the-heartland" target="_blank">Holmes in the Heartland</a> weekend!</div><div><br /></div><div>Join us for a tour of the St. Louis Sherlock Holmes Research Collection and architectural tour of the historic St. Louis Central Library!</div><div><br /></div><div>Enjoy a day of Sherlockian speakers expounding on the topic of Arch Enemies!</div><div><br /></div><div>Spend way too much money at our packed venue of vendors!</div><div><br /></div><div>Relish in a dinner surrounded by fellow Sherlockians and be entertained by The Alpha Inn Goose Club Trivia performance!</div><div><br /></div><div>Take a trip to the top of the St. Louis Gateway Arch and enjoy lunch at a riverfront restaurant!</div><div><br /></div><div>Information can be found in the flyers you received this morning and on <a href="https://parallelcasestl.wixsite.com/home/holmes-in-the-heartland" target="_blank">the Holmes in the Heartland website!</a></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7UHbQGm8e75S-y-6wXqGjONxyopTb318VBBLhmNaBC_Ep436nBfC8r5Ewr_3j8odYEYUDQBCiCu2SK9nhk_fcrPJ5nT5oQQdEHzMqK2sccH3_8Dttv0RySnNulGeFk-qG4eNfv437GJVjiG_bZJLK49LP7MeeuKXpsgZJ6gnvS4UJzebQIvkFtQQ/s1280/Slide41.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7UHbQGm8e75S-y-6wXqGjONxyopTb318VBBLhmNaBC_Ep436nBfC8r5Ewr_3j8odYEYUDQBCiCu2SK9nhk_fcrPJ5nT5oQQdEHzMqK2sccH3_8Dttv0RySnNulGeFk-qG4eNfv437GJVjiG_bZJLK49LP7MeeuKXpsgZJ6gnvS4UJzebQIvkFtQQ/s320/Slide41.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>Now, where was I?</div><div><br /></div><div>When the world went all awry in 2020, Sherlockians still found a way to meet. Because it didn’t take long for us to realize that we love the stories, but we NEEDED other Sherlockians.</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ve heard it said that this hobby is more about hanging out now than debating important ideas and that we write more about relationships between the characters instead of writing about hard data like it used to be in the good old days. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCPW4NWitvB9cHLnvh59JuPzJJNCup2fDm1cpkdST9aT6d9LHVOY2tMwifcLAi1lGupBvVw2ItNHUToY_0LiYsWLRXku6yBcWZeyJ7aKMr3v9awdf1niHbZJZbnHEJfhZ-JlOkYssu34-0KoPTyWG_ymFqsalv54wFLk3VIVbUo_6fWbIfQqi1B1I/s1280/Slide42.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCPW4NWitvB9cHLnvh59JuPzJJNCup2fDm1cpkdST9aT6d9LHVOY2tMwifcLAi1lGupBvVw2ItNHUToY_0LiYsWLRXku6yBcWZeyJ7aKMr3v9awdf1niHbZJZbnHEJfhZ-JlOkYssu34-0KoPTyWG_ymFqsalv54wFLk3VIVbUo_6fWbIfQqi1B1I/s320/Slide42.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />While I haven’t done a statistical analysis of Baker Street Journal articles comparing those categories, I will say that in 1944 Christopher Morley edited a book titled “Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, A Textbook of Friendship.” And if friendship and community are good enough for Christopher Morley, it’s good enough for me.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiumN-nAJmEOn2GzsZziE1s0Bd89ngTkosPGsbeeQECm_fEjIqnL10Eh8jIB3hEgFcSoLSYdCr3Y221KYN_4tPMW2Y6CVcEREYry3yA6qvKYDFd_ki88J4oqyZTLv0eqkL5MlH0Xv5Cdi_yqXWfRJPWT5TxV1Jy9DPrgjl0sUekpFiVW_XS0CzkaK8/s1280/Slide43.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiumN-nAJmEOn2GzsZziE1s0Bd89ngTkosPGsbeeQECm_fEjIqnL10Eh8jIB3hEgFcSoLSYdCr3Y221KYN_4tPMW2Y6CVcEREYry3yA6qvKYDFd_ki88J4oqyZTLv0eqkL5MlH0Xv5Cdi_yqXWfRJPWT5TxV1Jy9DPrgjl0sUekpFiVW_XS0CzkaK8/s320/Slide43.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>Just like friendship is a theme throughout the Canon, it’s a theme throughout the century of this hobby. </div><div><br /></div><div>I know that students learn better when they feel safe and appreciated, and the most active Sherlockians are probably the ones with the strongest social bonds. It’s important to remember that Sherlockian friendship isn’t something that always happens naturally. Sometimes it’s something that we need to foster. The stronger we build our relationship and community, the stronger the future of this hobby will be.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQfXz7Bvb-juI3M2UConO3WyWevUrSO_Tl29t1wplwXdumabiM8TlCeNrzn1Ttfjkyg8_S3R_w0HF9vHck87XipakoFBY6Nm96n46eE9V_pkyXjN7zWYKMrsJU6Do2T10EzdrcEP9OeKW9Gw88ZfUvx7rPAfTk_aSZBhPj-2xuWi_Y5LDCGwc2IGU/s1280/Slide44.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQfXz7Bvb-juI3M2UConO3WyWevUrSO_Tl29t1wplwXdumabiM8TlCeNrzn1Ttfjkyg8_S3R_w0HF9vHck87XipakoFBY6Nm96n46eE9V_pkyXjN7zWYKMrsJU6Do2T10EzdrcEP9OeKW9Gw88ZfUvx7rPAfTk_aSZBhPj-2xuWi_Y5LDCGwc2IGU/s320/Slide44.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>Over the past 6 or 7 years, I’ve found myself in the middle of some great communities by putting out a few books. Like many Sherlockians, I tried my hand at a pastiche first. And later, a friend of mine, Peter Eckrich, pitched the idea of an anthology of Sherlockian collecting. </div><div><br /></div><div>We rounded up 27 folks to contribute essays on their interests inside of Sherlockiana. Whether it was autographs, art, experiences, or greeting cards, I was blown away by the passion that each contributor shared. </div><div><br /></div><div>Editing that book, The Finest Assorted Collection, was when I knew I’d found my sweet spot. Writing on my own was fine. I still write papers here and there, but collaborating with other Sherlockians is what I really love. Being able to bring people together around a central theme is a real delight!</div><div><br /></div><div>Since that first anthology, I’ve been able to work with Brad Keefauver on an off-the-wall collection called The Monstrum Opus of Sherlock Holmes and Peter Eckrich and I have another collection coming out next January on Sherlockian books. </div><div><br /></div><div>As someone who loves reading and connecting people with books they’d enjoy, getting my own books out in the world is so great, but the real fun in this whole process is the community I’ve been able to be a part of as I’ve collaborated with writers. Whether it’s bouncing ideas back and forth, or just nit picking the placement of a comma, I can honestly say that every person I have worked with in these books has proven time and time again that Sherlockians are great people.</div><div><br /></div><div>And no matter what Sherlockian communities we find ourselves in, they will be enhanced by us taking steps to bring people together. But like I said, these communities won’t always look like what we are used to. I think some folks may look at newer Sherlockians and worry that everything is going to change. And that is where the fourth guidepost comes in.</div><div><br /></div><div><u>MENTORING</u></div><div><br /></div><div>This is the fun one. </div><div><br /></div><div>Mentoring is where we get to show new folks all of the great aspects of Sherlockiana. But there’s a reason I’ve put this one last. Because without planting seeds, recruitment, and community, mentoring just comes across as lecturing. I’m sure we’ve all had someone show us the slightest interest in Sherlock Holmes before. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0yq1-m0WFwxafPTznk9mgTRC6dbooETWIH537QYvHtTk5sU_SuaMew_N7BLPLqYhJdWsO-OjnEfRK8dVh3_grzumJ4LaAZbrLRLpfUPrar8BNGGjpb-KAD7d15uNzLaqw8fDTVETgpBp6nto1M0-t4pV_6Vu541oc0nZzBJrRc6Kw0Tg_0R54DHs/s1280/Slide47.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0yq1-m0WFwxafPTznk9mgTRC6dbooETWIH537QYvHtTk5sU_SuaMew_N7BLPLqYhJdWsO-OjnEfRK8dVh3_grzumJ4LaAZbrLRLpfUPrar8BNGGjpb-KAD7d15uNzLaqw8fDTVETgpBp6nto1M0-t4pV_6Vu541oc0nZzBJrRc6Kw0Tg_0R54DHs/s320/Slide47.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>And if you’re anything like me, you immediately want to load them up with ten books, six movies, three television series, and an entire database of the history of this hobby.</div><div><br /></div><div>If we give into that instinct to bombard the newbie immediately, they’re so overwhelmed that they never want to mention the name Sherlock Holmes around us again!</div><div><br /></div><div>New Sherlockians aren’t just new recruits for us to preach at. It’s up to us to get new Sherlockians to be active. Fostering a good back-and-forth between different knowledge levels can lead to some wonderful discussions.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbvTSiapJ35vMhiMC7G9jjOejupYu919XnNwsOxbBepSF8kWQYVNM0CZ6jikYZ-mMyhJJDPYu-4VdIcCLmpKfcA0epQIX1mNPlbLo6-wSWEP07Zz1hsTR7hUCvqN8fPi2f9ANbmROLv9AhZAm0RM2343QooNDoGGTarDKJuK_vewwkpKLrvjn_hq0/s1280/Slide48.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbvTSiapJ35vMhiMC7G9jjOejupYu919XnNwsOxbBepSF8kWQYVNM0CZ6jikYZ-mMyhJJDPYu-4VdIcCLmpKfcA0epQIX1mNPlbLo6-wSWEP07Zz1hsTR7hUCvqN8fPi2f9ANbmROLv9AhZAm0RM2343QooNDoGGTarDKJuK_vewwkpKLrvjn_hq0/s320/Slide48.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>And, like many things with Sherlockiana, the Baker Street Irregulars have shown leadership in this aspect. They recognize the importance of mentoring.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOWtKmmaMtdjZLfE327J-8-ZjtB_so5TnhwXvrpi-jnM0XPHef8GnEvdwfVRc5gUpSt-Y9A345J3y4ZOC4IyXORT4Ura1uQuPP-tt4MlGLk75Ig8Gyn-nfyogt7sJCavvqK-u5RAbs5raDzLguw3dgBsJPkOU8rzCvrnw591iMci4HFliYz9I9LEI/s1280/Slide49.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOWtKmmaMtdjZLfE327J-8-ZjtB_so5TnhwXvrpi-jnM0XPHef8GnEvdwfVRc5gUpSt-Y9A345J3y4ZOC4IyXORT4Ura1uQuPP-tt4MlGLk75Ig8Gyn-nfyogt7sJCavvqK-u5RAbs5raDzLguw3dgBsJPkOU8rzCvrnw591iMci4HFliYz9I9LEI/s320/Slide49.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>In 2022 the BSI unveiled a new award, The Susan Rice Mentorship Award. The purpose of this is “to recognize the activities of a member of the Sherlock Holmes community who has been a mentor to others, in the spirit of Susan Rice.” And who better to lead the way into the future of Sherlockiana than Susan herself? </div><div><br /></div><div>In the words of her friend and protégé, Curtis Armstrong, Susan was</div><div><br /></div><div><i>“A teacher to many, she was also a friend and presiding genius to hundreds of Sherlockians, young and not so young, going back to the late sixties. Susan was the very best sort of gatekeeper: one who was generous with her time and free with the keys. She not only knew how to unlock doors, she could break them down, if need be, and leave them open for everyone who came after her. She had been doing both forever.”</i></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEA2yR4PPT1KmjAt0MpZGg2aBJpxMduOICKZuuYif7wkFIeDaQ8YaVDM42vJZJ5LRTrAlFiexzt8XWFLw6yTAVCZvenb81Aj2ROCt_rpyjLafx9euCvxLdIUipdVTrVsTBTj_5evf3ID_yauTAzur73f2hszijVkPtd6ioKHDvkuPLSRfUWTtGxyc/s1280/Slide51.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEA2yR4PPT1KmjAt0MpZGg2aBJpxMduOICKZuuYif7wkFIeDaQ8YaVDM42vJZJ5LRTrAlFiexzt8XWFLw6yTAVCZvenb81Aj2ROCt_rpyjLafx9euCvxLdIUipdVTrVsTBTj_5evf3ID_yauTAzur73f2hszijVkPtd6ioKHDvkuPLSRfUWTtGxyc/s320/Slide51.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>Susan Rice was a welcomer. And that’s important to remember. It’s easy for us to say “That's not how I do it” and dismiss folks. That’s not what mentors do, though. </div><div><br /></div><div>Mentors create an atmosphere where people grow into members who want to be active. Mentors don’t insist that people do things. Mentors recognize the importance of the ground that has been laid before and help new people and their energy learn from that. We all stand on the shoulders of those who have come before us and a good mentor gives you a boost up there. </div><div><br /></div><div>Curtis also pointed out that Susan Rice was full of intellectual curiosity and progressive thought. My favorite line from later in this announcement was about “the lifting up of the uncertain and awkward and the inclusion of all in everything we do.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Everyone has been uncertain and awkward in their lives. It may be hard to believe, but even Peter Blau was the new kid on the block at one point. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEMYiJcVjf4m-s3c3g2M2ExAXbqB70YJvsc_kp8bJIsTKmRNJ7jpIGI-Yd9JFdnmAGZLwv-hd6cVaC00Z3s1LWo--wu0axPDduvoDkpN3_EHfQaHJbaTBy9_hB90I3W_oSWs5BbN39JrXp2winps8DbtC76-lGGzzPSEf9NPopuX51w6MOC6JqKkg/s1280/Slide52.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEMYiJcVjf4m-s3c3g2M2ExAXbqB70YJvsc_kp8bJIsTKmRNJ7jpIGI-Yd9JFdnmAGZLwv-hd6cVaC00Z3s1LWo--wu0axPDduvoDkpN3_EHfQaHJbaTBy9_hB90I3W_oSWs5BbN39JrXp2winps8DbtC76-lGGzzPSEf9NPopuX51w6MOC6JqKkg/s320/Slide52.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>Susan Rice is a great guidepost for us as we move forward in this hobby. So be a Susan. </div><div><br /></div><div>Be generous with your time and lift people up, no matter how uncertain or different. There’s a good chance we’ll learn something from them. But instead of just talking about how people have been great mentors, let’s take a minute to think about how WE can be mentors.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ_A9T3140tSb6J4yyM8sHgd3EJLmPkx0UsPzZjlHG5Df56lhvw_QoPSn9CdXOhbysPt9caH_s2pq4x_huipGRVxq_EZWMrraIMMKCvm5Aj0D3nxGl1iQXXuFOvPsqOudiPxp59t4PvyA51RQqFtEFyHdU7bJbGkrtaJQ8bnDHdNJiKdD6mAMIyU4/s1280/Slide53.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ_A9T3140tSb6J4yyM8sHgd3EJLmPkx0UsPzZjlHG5Df56lhvw_QoPSn9CdXOhbysPt9caH_s2pq4x_huipGRVxq_EZWMrraIMMKCvm5Aj0D3nxGl1iQXXuFOvPsqOudiPxp59t4PvyA51RQqFtEFyHdU7bJbGkrtaJQ8bnDHdNJiKdD6mAMIyU4/s320/Slide53.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>Even though he is not a known Sherlockian, someone I greatly admire is Fred Rogers. </div><div><br /></div><div>When giving speeches, Mister Rogers would have his audience take a silent minute to think of people who had helped them become who they are. I’d like to flip that around and ask you to think of a newer Sherlockian that does things a little differently than you. Give that person just 30 seconds of your time and thought right now and ask yourself, how can I be a mentor? I’ll keep the time.</div><div><br /></div><div>:30 Seconds</div><div><br /></div><div>Thank you for that. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqOa99YgiZRLekLFBsey_Xie4YnlO4wK0vOh8bL7I1bqQjUq8NAAVLn6WaFY3kQaNYlXNHdRQvtssvxlBApF9IT1t422nLWvsk3GhlsPI0HhitXZwbwp-K-CxA9mD7PFj-1A5SEejVCwEZVwGKhgM7RJZqoja3kGz2IDQCjTWusj6Y58xxafvNUyo/s1280/Slide54.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqOa99YgiZRLekLFBsey_Xie4YnlO4wK0vOh8bL7I1bqQjUq8NAAVLn6WaFY3kQaNYlXNHdRQvtssvxlBApF9IT1t422nLWvsk3GhlsPI0HhitXZwbwp-K-CxA9mD7PFj-1A5SEejVCwEZVwGKhgM7RJZqoja3kGz2IDQCjTWusj6Y58xxafvNUyo/s320/Slide54.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>As we think of the future it’s important to remember that it all starts from today. And our actions and beliefs now will influence the future of Sherlockiana. We can look to the future by learning from the past and the present.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCbU7hAWCwxGV8ed_bBVRyBdqygabO0y3f0TBOWPvG1XEXGOs9ZrOqYAptMYiLF8KKOurAYp9vlkEAUzIHSz7L2fjUFLTlOsGaqg5Vz0EUQW9LlWMPXFc_UDWRI8diZV-dep1cNSUR9qY4aGBGExBCYtWcBzoXdB-QqPXTiekGOoF6SjkA4G0v1zo/s1280/Slide55.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCbU7hAWCwxGV8ed_bBVRyBdqygabO0y3f0TBOWPvG1XEXGOs9ZrOqYAptMYiLF8KKOurAYp9vlkEAUzIHSz7L2fjUFLTlOsGaqg5Vz0EUQW9LlWMPXFc_UDWRI8diZV-dep1cNSUR9qY4aGBGExBCYtWcBzoXdB-QqPXTiekGOoF6SjkA4G0v1zo/s320/Slide55.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>Plant the seeds of Sherlockiana like a teacher does.</div><div><br /></div><div>Recruit new folks like John Bennett Shaw did.</div><div><br /></div><div>Build a community like 221B Con and your local scions do.</div><div><br /></div><div>And welcome new energy while sharing yours like Susan Rice did.</div><div><br /></div><div>Like the interview answers I shared at the beginning of this talk said, Sherlockiana is always moving forward. We are a living, breathing, organism that continues to welcome new members year after year. And if we keep our ears attuned to catch not only the distant, but also the new version of that view halloo, the game will always be afoot.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4oFIdcJ9bIEBeMei9BLohHlRaScyPnw32M29dHEw7tltShWtJdNcZFacehpZ8ydc9YPbKRRD-RsWD8TX5S4r18TPW41tHJo9UHkEGRH8cLeXC-1HZ0mxS0MdL-ahX7oyLzerN2ILfpx0zK1kWbGlZBgX6MIAFZ9P20BxXlJdRKEXl8Smn3Kaxjbk/s1280/Slide56.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4oFIdcJ9bIEBeMei9BLohHlRaScyPnw32M29dHEw7tltShWtJdNcZFacehpZ8ydc9YPbKRRD-RsWD8TX5S4r18TPW41tHJo9UHkEGRH8cLeXC-1HZ0mxS0MdL-ahX7oyLzerN2ILfpx0zK1kWbGlZBgX6MIAFZ9P20BxXlJdRKEXl8Smn3Kaxjbk/s320/Slide56.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div></div>Rob Nunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02126012014516886064noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70253573396693005.post-13485663577550443242023-05-28T15:17:00.006-07:002023-05-30T10:10:03.940-07:00Interesting Interview: Bonnie MacBird<p><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif; font-size: 14px;">If we were to judge one another in this hobby on our output, you can bet that Bonnie MacBird would be getting some very high marks. Since 2016, she has put out five Sherlock Holmes novels, and we aren't talking about short stories here! You definitely get your money's worth with books from Bonnie MacBird. But Bonnie's creative output doesn't end with her novels. She is also an actor, playwright, producer, and screenwriter. See? I told you she was prolific!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif; font-size: 14px;">But Bonnie is also a wonderful person and Sherlockian. Her energy and love for this hobby is contagious and she is known around the globe. Originally from California and now residing in London, you never know where she'll show up. Whether it's an event in London, book signing in New York, or random Zoom meeting, you know right away that you are in the presence of an extremely intelligent woman and passionate Sherlockian!</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv0DcZm2UHg_VNw0g8UD7q6ycX3B9BbnkpbIU8z1z_ZJW4OxP_qNBrEJInHvusxaX8dzN4zgbeQwN2YcHu6s7NgFjSBFfjghuEBHfiqwz21Gw8iKAHcMPdZAkHY5ztenkxQnPuwAkTgvt6l2xOIqy86AE8Bn0RagUNRoQf7CKniNNe_r2krG8WIu4/s575/unnamed.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv0DcZm2UHg_VNw0g8UD7q6ycX3B9BbnkpbIU8z1z_ZJW4OxP_qNBrEJInHvusxaX8dzN4zgbeQwN2YcHu6s7NgFjSBFfjghuEBHfiqwz21Gw8iKAHcMPdZAkHY5ztenkxQnPuwAkTgvt6l2xOIqy86AE8Bn0RagUNRoQf7CKniNNe_r2krG8WIu4/s320/unnamed.jpg" width="267" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">How do you define the word
“Sherlockian”?</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">It’s all about the internal world we
share.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the silly end, it’s the shared
delight with other Sherlockians finding seventeen steps up to something, or a
hotel room numbered 221, or a dog named Toby.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And in our strange new world of splintered attention,
anti-intellectualism, and triggered everything, it’s finding that<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>fellow Sherlockian as a welcome port in a
storm, that person whose shared passion for Holmes means that they also
treasure intelligence, scientific reasoning, friendship, humour and a passion
for a tale well told.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sherlockians find
points of connection both trivial and cosmic, silly and profound, and have fun
doing so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And they are all readers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">How did you become a Sherlockian?</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">I read the canon at age ten, began
watching the black and white movies on TV and basically inhaled the character
and he has never left me. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As for joining
in the greater organization, that was all Les Klinger’s doing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said I “must come to the BSI weekend” and
that I’d make my best friends among Sherlockians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hesitated, shy, he insisted; he was right.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"><b>What is your profession and does that affect how you enjoy being a Sherlockian?<o:p></o:p></b></span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">For the last eleven years I have focused on writing traditional Sherlock Holmes novels in the style of the originals for HarperCollins. But before that, I spent thirty years in the entertainment business as a studio exec, a story editor of feature films, a screenwriter (TRON) a producer (three local Emmys) and an actor. I’m all about story. I recognize Conan Doyle as a master storyteller, and Holmes and Watson among the best fictional creations ever. During my time as a story editor I locked into good structure and pacing, and a sense of audience. Who is watching? Who is reading? How can we give them the very best ride… and while doing so, add something of beauty or value to the world. As an actor I went further into the heart of character, finding in every exchange of dialogue the subtext, the turns, the clues to previous life, mood, intent.</span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><b></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmmyZoa7ls17MgPlEse1LLne7xxV7NeQ1Pp5B9ESlFGV1wvNyvGDgI2MBXVDhaUQAz5kne_GzfG-rmrff2QZKCI5hcITTDWt_fEAdo5tznohTUbHMCVtxkNl1k8S9J8W71fBjWcHrAbXQ2Xb7EjSVONLSoMOAH0I3j8j37tkkHmos5rupXCrd5J90/s640/unnamed%20(2).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="640" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmmyZoa7ls17MgPlEse1LLne7xxV7NeQ1Pp5B9ESlFGV1wvNyvGDgI2MBXVDhaUQAz5kne_GzfG-rmrff2QZKCI5hcITTDWt_fEAdo5tznohTUbHMCVtxkNl1k8S9J8W71fBjWcHrAbXQ2Xb7EjSVONLSoMOAH0I3j8j37tkkHmos5rupXCrd5J90/s320/unnamed%20(2).jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="font-size: 10.5pt;">What is your favorite canonical story?</b></p></b><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Three of them:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> "</span>The Second Stain."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> "</span>The Naval Treaty."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> "</span>Scandal in Bohemia."</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">
<b>Who is a specific Sherlockian that you think others would find interesting?<o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><a href="http://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2021/10/interesting-interview-peggy-perdue.html" target="_blank">Peggy MacFarlane</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If Peggy has already been featured, then
Peter Cannon, recently retired editor at Publisher’s Weekly. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">
<b>What subset of Sherlockiana really interests you?</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">I’m particularly fascinated with the
world of the late nineteenth century.</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">It
was, like the late twentieth century, a time when change itself changed.</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">In medicine, for example, the germ theory
finally gained traction, </span><span style="font-size: 14px;">anesthesia</span><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"> was developed, it was the birth of
psychiatry.</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Technology such as the steam
engine, industrialization, trains, telegraphs, and newspapers and later
telephones shrank distance between people, and suddenly everyone shared the
same news… instantly.</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Socially there was
unrest, unionization, terrorists, the rise of the women’s movement, the growth
of social organisations attempting to help the disadvantaged.</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">The policing system changed.</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">In our own time…starting in the 1960’s, the
computer revolution, political protests, civil rights, space travel, and
advancements in science and medicine marked the late twentieth century as a
similar time of rapid and deeply influential change.</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Both eras featured a kind of optimism, mixed
with a rawness, an electricity, a bloom of invention, technology, imagination
and growth – all amidst turmoil.</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Two
wildly transformational eras and exciting times to be alive.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">In "His Final Bow," Holmes foresees a
dark time, but with light following. I believe we are facing a similar time right
now, just a little over a hundred years later. The bittersweet moments of
Holmes’ final case gave into what we now call WWI, followed by a frenetic but
brief “roaring” twenties, then the Depression and WWII.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A great many dark years. But that vital human
spirit emerged later for another intense phase of invention and growth and art
in the fifties, sixties and going forward to the end of the last century. This
vibrancy and optimism coupled with turmoil have a lot in common with Holmes’s
time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">I believe we are once again standing on
the precipice of a dark time. Like Holmes, I believe our beacon of light must
come through education.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our heroes on
the page will provide us comfort, if only in books, for now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps they’ll provide lessons that the next
generation of heroes can use. Literacy is key.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHf84pnSKbAvo43PZfNjy1-JbH0Zsfok_TjBLduBeF_kaGtQ6IUxtc7XK7Ng6mT2Z9FoTUjAWU9-DXg5G_uFTn6DEBiih8Ndx0e6J3bn2FVW05h464qUeVpK23s5tZ7-Ai16Z-B7L6-fokiUjq89OJ2Clg7_TWM9NscHhT3Wiqcip4Dtd45Aum6uI/s640/unnamed%20(4).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHf84pnSKbAvo43PZfNjy1-JbH0Zsfok_TjBLduBeF_kaGtQ6IUxtc7XK7Ng6mT2Z9FoTUjAWU9-DXg5G_uFTn6DEBiih8Ndx0e6J3bn2FVW05h464qUeVpK23s5tZ7-Ai16Z-B7L6-fokiUjq89OJ2Clg7_TWM9NscHhT3Wiqcip4Dtd45Aum6uI/s320/unnamed%20(4).jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />Your pastiches are tours de
force! What is your writing process?</b><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">As Holmes would say, my blushes!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thank
you!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I write every day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seven days a week. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The very famous “butt on chair”
technique.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My current process is to write to word count,
not to time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes my wordcount goal
takes me an hour, sometimes six.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve just
written through three very challenging years, locked down, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>6,000 miles from friends and pets, isolated
and unable to leave a flat where our neighbors decided to undergo noisy construction
for a solid two years of this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Meanwhile
my beloved husband developed stage four cancer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Using my relentless, butt-on-chair-no-matter-what I finished two novels
despite this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or maybe they saved me, I
don’t know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I might have gone mad
without the work.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">About my process, I start with a title,
the major crime, villain and the reason they did it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I then write a theme around this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I then pick a year and season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And imagine an action scene that features all
of the above. Then I just start writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’m a pantser, after I’ve figured out the above. I don’t know how Holmes
is going to figure it out when I start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But he leads me there. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Research
is key to my process and I use libraries, the internet, museums and when there
is no pandemic to stop me, I quite literally location scout.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, the ice house scene in <i>Unquiet Spirits</i> and the near drowning on the Thames foreshore in <i>The Devil's Due</i> came
directly from on-site visits to those very places.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">I put a lot of this research into
annotations viewable on my website. <a href="http://www.macbird.com">www.macbird.com</a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyZ1dwy-VE2b5W5-emuMwAV9KKvCCL_VTDQzllWqTQxS6z0Y_jjhS5rcJPjT0tOq5urG5to04gmZJueAWUhaW5LMYsBb6jUP_fctFjk7Lxplkv-XupFAFg3ywYXnX50-te-TERadcWZmGuEL2xZvo5i10S1xj3cj-wL7OHGwT91GgOJBwXXsnkw4E/s320/unnamed%20(3).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="240" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyZ1dwy-VE2b5W5-emuMwAV9KKvCCL_VTDQzllWqTQxS6z0Y_jjhS5rcJPjT0tOq5urG5to04gmZJueAWUhaW5LMYsBb6jUP_fctFjk7Lxplkv-XupFAFg3ywYXnX50-te-TERadcWZmGuEL2xZvo5i10S1xj3cj-wL7OHGwT91GgOJBwXXsnkw4E/s1600/unnamed%20(3).jpg" width="240" /></a></b></div><b><br />As a Sherlockian/Holmesian who has had
the opportunity to live in both America and England, what are some
differences you notice between how we celebrate Holmes?</b><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">In both places, people of all walks of
life and all professions are Sherlockians, and share intelligence, arcane side
interests, an interest in Victorian culture and inventions… and almost always a
delightful sense of humour. I suppose in Britain there is a certain sense of
ownership, a “Holmes is one of us” and a real pride in the literary tradition
that Conan Doyle came from … as well as the writers his work spawned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Americans are equally literary, but more
likely to be collectors of “stuff” than are the Brits. Americans are<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>less hesitant to show off acquisitions and
accomplishments, whereas the Brits are a little more understated and you need
to unpeel the reserve a little more slowly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They surprise you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both are
accomplished men and women and both share deep enthusiasm and a certain
silliness which is a delight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">
<b>What book would you recommend to other Sherlockians?</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Well, if you want the definitive copy
of the canon, of course Les Klinger’s volumes can’t be beat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love the <i>Sherlock Holmes Miscellany </i>by
Roger Johnson and Jean Upton.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you
might consider pastiche and haven’t read <a href="https://bookshop.org/contributors/bonnie-macbird" target="_blank">my series</a>, I<b> </b>would hope you
might give them a try. There are five to date and the last was illustrated by
Frank Cho.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Doyle biographies by
Daniel Stashower and Alistair Duncan are excellent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">If you
just want a brilliant non-Sherlockian piece of period fiction (set a little
later but redolent of Fin de </span><span style="font-size: 14px;">Siècle</span><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"> malaise and wicked humor) then read <i><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/a-gentleman-in-moscow-amor-towles/10206530?ean=9780143110439" target="_blank">AGentleman in Moscow</a></i> by Amor Towles.</span></span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">If
you want an antidote to depression read <i><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/discipline-is-destiny-the-power-of-self-control-ryan-holiday/17919503?ean=9780593191699" target="_blank">Discipline is Destiny</a></i> by Ryan Holiday
which is not a the “fix me” book that it sounds, but a comfort read, particularly
in these times.</span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">I have endless more
recommendations. </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT, serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">
<b></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMTd597TGeezMQG5vivQX2vuyOGL_arnY98UMZzUaVd2pnWG1-qHIUWZiCSGO1tqK5WN52Imsg3AlMXQAa0vtIkYscDJyNQSIw0FLq_HiFbo9hcohTbjLbW4Eq2tCG3genn2BiNvEG_Rq_Na93-XtXoXPt-dyvPftsynb6DIfRSwYGWXbuLea2pQc/s640/unnamed%20(5).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="459" data-original-width="640" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMTd597TGeezMQG5vivQX2vuyOGL_arnY98UMZzUaVd2pnWG1-qHIUWZiCSGO1tqK5WN52Imsg3AlMXQAa0vtIkYscDJyNQSIw0FLq_HiFbo9hcohTbjLbW4Eq2tCG3genn2BiNvEG_Rq_Na93-XtXoXPt-dyvPftsynb6DIfRSwYGWXbuLea2pQc/s320/unnamed%20(5).jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />Where do you see Sherlockiana in 5 or 10 years from now?</b><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">There will likely be some new good
film, television and theatre to delight us and incite comparisons, gossip and many
panels where earnest Sherlockians will attack and defend the latest portrayals.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hope to keep writing my pastiches as
long as I can and I hope Sherlockians will still seek them out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe a welcome wash of sanity will blanket
the earth, and everyone will become a Sherlockian. Ha!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If only.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But I remain hopeful for a new screen incarnation of Holmes<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- thirty-something, brilliant, hawklike, with
sad eyes, tousled hair,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and a disarming
smile -- and a handsome, brave Watson alongside .That’s how I see them as I
write…</span></p><p></p>Rob Nunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02126012014516886064noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70253573396693005.post-19441046839443990252023-05-07T19:56:00.002-07:002023-05-07T19:56:16.587-07:00Interesting Interview: Madeline Quinones<p>This week's Interesting Interview is with one of the young faces of this hobby that is popping up everywhere, Madeline Quinones! If you've been on Zoom in the past few years, I guarantee you've heard her laugh because she is at so many meetings and is always so happy to be around fellow Sherlockians. Madeline is also the co-host of the podcast, <a href="https://dynamicsofapodcast.com/" target="_blank">Dynamics of a Podcast</a>, focusing on Professor Moriarty. She also hosts her own interview segment on the <a href="https://watsonianweekly.libsyn.com/" target="_blank">Watsonian Weekly</a> podcast, Wondering About Watson.</p><p>But Madeline probably isn't best known for her Sherlockian output; it's her personality that makes her a favorite to so many people. I'm going to bet that if you already know her, a smile came to your face when you saw her name because Madeline is genuinely one of the nicest and happiest Sherlockians out there. Her love for this hobby and everyone in it comes across with every interaction you have with her. She sometimes feels like she's overflowing with energy and love, which is clear in her answers below. So settle in and enjoy this Interesting Interview with Madeline Quinones!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7yoqR9ew3LYLONAcvOoRvOgNFnAb-v60zLpoGXzIMDpNQBInSZvgUbqFejC0XJQRNlOvLNaiaVQMssG-P08SSDEcejOob5oBEXB0yF0Phlxx7rv92H1IHYe8HYZR8d5lE5_FVIe1ceAj0_KLj0j8JbKt1Y8MK1IIjBalFJaCVDFnO-r2K7hZ88vk/s3088/IMG_0441.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3088" data-original-width="2320" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7yoqR9ew3LYLONAcvOoRvOgNFnAb-v60zLpoGXzIMDpNQBInSZvgUbqFejC0XJQRNlOvLNaiaVQMssG-P08SSDEcejOob5oBEXB0yF0Phlxx7rv92H1IHYe8HYZR8d5lE5_FVIe1ceAj0_KLj0j8JbKt1Y8MK1IIjBalFJaCVDFnO-r2K7hZ88vk/s320/IMG_0441.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><p><b>How do you define the word “Sherlockian”?</b></p><p>I am always so fascinated by how people answer this question. I think that, recently, <a href="https://interestingthoughelementary.blogspot.com/2023/03/interesting-interview-ray-wilcockson.html" target="_blank">Ray Wilcockson</a> gave the most beautiful response I’ve ever seen, and my own isn’t half as pretty.</p><p>I think that a Sherlockian is someone who loves Sherlock Holmes (which I believe is the same thing as being a “fan” of Sherlock Holmes). I’ve said this before, and I think that it’s been… somewhat misunderstood before, so now I’m going to clarify. When I say “love,” I don’t mean “like.” Love is both emotion <i>and</i> action, and that’s exactly what I mean by loving Sherlock Holmes. Whether it’s feeling compelled to talk about some aspect of the characters or the stories for hours, or needing to write stories or essays, to make art, to collect whatever bits and bobs you can, or even to podcast! Being a fan is inherently affection driving action, and that’s what a Sherlockian is.</p><p>(And I’m going to note really quickly that I was blissfully unaware for ten years that this was even a point of contention! I knew the term <i>Sherlockian</i> early on, and always assumed it simply meant “fan of Sherlock Holmes” the way that <i>Trekkie </i>means “fan of Star Trek.” I was absolutely blindsided by how hot this topic could get.)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiNqj4fzMop8FonCh_lQ5-mrIcvl3YMQsuTz8BczRh4rlQIQybX6MBzSur7hxEBA22kFm8S2f4YrOGhNjOhMYve6R1YvTdJwSAXPAsQFCzWXKw38GUOJXOJWWkBbCSnWZP6orsWGNSGP44ilt_bSp0k-0gYryKE_3rQNWll-2fscBkxtaY_jM1f2Y/s4032/IMG_9590.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiNqj4fzMop8FonCh_lQ5-mrIcvl3YMQsuTz8BczRh4rlQIQybX6MBzSur7hxEBA22kFm8S2f4YrOGhNjOhMYve6R1YvTdJwSAXPAsQFCzWXKw38GUOJXOJWWkBbCSnWZP6orsWGNSGP44ilt_bSp0k-0gYryKE_3rQNWll-2fscBkxtaY_jM1f2Y/s320/IMG_9590.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><b>How did you become a Sherlockian?</b></p><p>Fanfiction, actually! I had a friend whose fics I could never read and understand because they were for fandoms I didn’t know. Then one day, I saw that she’d written some Sherlock Holmes stories, and I thought, “Oh, hey! At least I know who Sherlock Holmes is, and I’ve read a couple of the stories!” I dove in, and they were all 100-word vignettes about the friendship between Holmes and Watson. That sparked my interest in the way that nothing had before: that people could be interested not just in the mysteries but also the friendship.</p><p>I was a lonely and freshly twenty-year-old myself, and I needed more! I read one or two more fics from other writers, and then figured that the original stories were probably old enough to be available on Project Gutenberg (little did I know!). I started reading <i>A Study in Scarlet</i>, and it hooked me right away, gave me the emotional way in to these characters that I hadn’t gotten from reading “Red-headed League” and “Norwood Builder” in school. I quickly became obsessed. It wasn’t long until I was writing my own Sherlockian fanfiction, before I’d even gotten all the way through the Canon! (Affection driving action!)</p><p><br /></p><p><b>What is your profession and does that affect how you enjoy being a Sherlockian?</b></p><p>I’m a graphic designer, and I currently work for a design agency (this is not necessarily something that a lot of design majors end up doing!). Moving from my last job to this one a couple of years ago was a serious shift in pay for me, enough to allow me to actually do some traveling, that thing I couldn’t afford before, and go to fun events and hang out with amazing people! So, in a practical sense, there’s that.</p><p>But also, having a basic design skillset is a great thing to have if you’re involved with fandom, and Sherlockiana is no exception! I really enjoy getting to make things like programs and certificates (the Montague Street Incorrigibles certificate is my type-nerdy handiwork!), and recently I made a bunch of Moriarty-themed bookmarks that have the info for my podcast in the back. They were a hit at <a href="https://www.221bcon.com/" target="_blank">221B Con</a> (and I still have quite a few left, so ask me when you see me if you want one!).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit3uoUcIQz5RPNYHFOp8LIeurit0gkdUvuKivffLnA-FcZHkfVRUvYRj30ATcS8eeXOnuYYiqO776z9AuFdzCml5oOWXDTUwHum9C8j2yk2yeblljyB3W-Gg_oiEzuHwQu2oDPH7DGh6-te4SwYOItFOptT_pIg5auCgPDrCRpyPaY8VWhP4IkjU4/s3024/IMG_9157.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit3uoUcIQz5RPNYHFOp8LIeurit0gkdUvuKivffLnA-FcZHkfVRUvYRj30ATcS8eeXOnuYYiqO776z9AuFdzCml5oOWXDTUwHum9C8j2yk2yeblljyB3W-Gg_oiEzuHwQu2oDPH7DGh6-te4SwYOItFOptT_pIg5auCgPDrCRpyPaY8VWhP4IkjU4/s320/IMG_9157.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><b>What is your favorite canonical story?</b></p><p>I have a whole list, which is apparently ever evolving (an old list had me wondering about past me’s choices). I’m not gonna give the whole current list. I’m just going to say: <i>A Study in Scarlet</i> and <i>The Sign of the Four</i>. They’re a duology, in the way none of the other stories are except for “Final Problem”/“Empty House.” STUD introduces you to the characters in a way that’s fun and engaging before you hit the part that everybody gripes about, and SIGN not only has Mary (whom I adore), but it’s also the most consistently open and honest Watson is with us. As of “A Scandal in Bohemia,” he starts editing; he really starts spin doctoring. And he’ll have his moments when he lets us get closer again, but it’s never quite like SIGN.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Who is a specific Sherlockian that you think others would find interesting?</b></p><p>I have thought so much about this question! And it’s hard for me to say, because I am super interested in many other Sherlockians, past and present! But you know what? I think that American fans of the Great Detective don’t need a lot of help to be known, and ditto for Canadian and British fans. But you get outside of these particular countries, and even though other countries around the world have plenty of fans (whether they identify as Sherlockian, Holmesian, or something else entirely!), they don’t get known so much, I think.</p><p>Claire Daines is a Holmesian in New Zealand, and she’s a terrific writer, both of fiction and non-fiction. She’s also my best friend, but, full disclosure: we got to be friends in the nerdiest way possible, by being fans of each other’s stories! Out of all the many stories she’s written, she hasn’t published many traditionally, but <a href="https://mxpublishing.com/search?type=product&q=claire+daines" target="_blank">check her out on MX Publishing</a>, and also Belanger Books’ <i><a href="https://belangerbooks.com/products/sherlock-holmes-further-adventures-in-the-realms-of-hg-wells-vol-1-ltd-ed" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes: Further Adventures in the Realms of H.G. Wells Volume One</a></i>. And she wrote a terrific essay for the <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Monstrum-Opus-Sherlock-Holmes-Compendium/dp/B0BHL5XBT5" target="_blank">Monstrum Opus of Sherlock Holmes</a></i>, wherein Holmes himself may have become a bit monstrous. Her writing won’t be for everyone — if you prefer stories which are more strictly pastiches of the Canon, the emotional realism in her stories might not be to your taste. But that is her strength: she can weave a tale that’s gut-wrenching and heartbreaking, and also funny and moving. To pair that kind of storytelling with Holmes and Watson? To me, that’s just… *chef’s kiss*.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikL6UxFrIefrSii4wDBFcAR7XRsidTQPeJZCl6v9fqVJb6eHaipzJ6iXXMU71fGX6Fl-EuLEAaF2qIyEjhzruVvGNS59aralpknbaEEsH34rEXEHIfY5qYfTbkT3rZQ0x9xPSg1nE50iCO5-tzD6RzPkhjGAzSiiux7TVIswM3b_vukaImdR9Y_BM/s1280/vlcsnap-2023-05-05-10h35m32s560.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikL6UxFrIefrSii4wDBFcAR7XRsidTQPeJZCl6v9fqVJb6eHaipzJ6iXXMU71fGX6Fl-EuLEAaF2qIyEjhzruVvGNS59aralpknbaEEsH34rEXEHIfY5qYfTbkT3rZQ0x9xPSg1nE50iCO5-tzD6RzPkhjGAzSiiux7TVIswM3b_vukaImdR9Y_BM/s320/vlcsnap-2023-05-05-10h35m32s560.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><b>What subset of Sherlockiana really interests you?</b></p><p>Okay, this might sound really weird coming from somebody as young as me, both as a person and as a Sherlockian, but I’m really interested, not so much the writings about the writings, but the people who wrote those writings! My favorite episodes of IHOSE are the ones that delve into the history of Sherlockiana, and the personal histories of individual Sherlockians. I’ve listened to all the available recordings in the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/oral-history.html" target="_blank">BSI oral history project</a>. It’s easier for me to listen rather than read, because I can listen to things while I work, so I haven’t read as much as I’d like to. But I follow Ray Betzner’s <i><a href="http://www.vincentstarrett.com/" target="_blank">Studies in Starrett</a></i>, I treasure my copy of the BSJ Christmas Annual that devoted itself to the Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes, and one of my more recent acquisitions is the BSI Press’s <i><a href="https://bakerstreetirregulars.com/2019/11/11/aboriginals/" target="_blank">Aboriginals</a></i>. (Clearly, in a parallel universe, I’m a historian or an anthropologist.)</p><p>All the Sherlockians who have come before us? They’re not just names on a page — they <i>lived</i>. They lived and laughed and loved and mourned. They had lives beyond Baker Street, and yet they also brought a richness from their personal lives to Sherlockiana. I remember the first time I heard a recording of William S. Baring-Gould, captured at a BSI dinner, wherein he was reading all the negative reviews of <i>Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street</i>, and clearly thoroughly enjoying himself. Suddenly, he wasn’t just a name I’d seen referenced, well, everywhere — he was <i>real</i>, he was <i>human</i>, he had a sense of <i>humor</i>… And I don’t think I’ve been the same since. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBqlTqZcjiSKusbUuAIvvr0yvoaKIsnONYsKfKVor4HYx6WonWNbJ0yoJzsdW9ALzHDW5lqw1-YUX5Ujf54Rjd1xv424VKOTR27VvUM4mdKBh5o_DyUDSt9aB_pIX9vbISsrFIPpJ_I4o7ZU-bIGxx7mmH5QFg_lG2AhycgH2d7BfOdtC88BeKyyA/s1650/cookies_4.25x5%20not%20cleaned.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1650" data-original-width="1275" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBqlTqZcjiSKusbUuAIvvr0yvoaKIsnONYsKfKVor4HYx6WonWNbJ0yoJzsdW9ALzHDW5lqw1-YUX5Ujf54Rjd1xv424VKOTR27VvUM4mdKBh5o_DyUDSt9aB_pIX9vbISsrFIPpJ_I4o7ZU-bIGxx7mmH5QFg_lG2AhycgH2d7BfOdtC88BeKyyA/s320/cookies_4.25x5%20not%20cleaned.jpg" width="247" /></a></div><br /><p><b>Dynamics of a Podcast shines the light on Professor Moriarty. What makes him such an interesting character to you?</b></p><p>Here’s the funny thing: I barely noticed him at first! I had to start writing him to realize that I needed to do better than a Saturday morning cartoon villain. So I went back to the Canon and started paying attention, and what I found — and what I didn’t find — fascinated me. He’s a prodigy! He may or may not still be teaching — is that something that he cares about? Is his criminal empire really about order, about maths? (Yes, yes, it is.)</p><p>I love me a super-intelligent bad guy. (See: Grand Admiral Thrawn.)</p><p>Beyond all this, Moriarty is very specifically drawn as a dark mirror to Sherlock Holmes, even down to sharing some basic physical traits. He’s the Hyde to Holmes’s Jekyll (or the Lore to Holmes’s Data? no, don’t give me that look). Doyle clearly figured that he had to send a Sherlock Holmes to kill Sherlock Holmes. At the end of the day, Holmes is still my favorite character; he’s still the one I’m in this for. And his shadow is this maths professor about whom we know just enough to want to know more. As with any other aspect of the Canon, all the blanks that Doyle left for us are part of the fun!</p><p><br /></p><p><b>As someone who also interviews fellow Sherlockians on The Watsonian Weekly, what do you think makes Sherlockians so interesting?</b></p><p>I think I kind of already answered this one above by accident! <i>People</i>, to me, are inherently interesting — whether famous and fabulously wealthy or poor and obscure, we all have rich inner lives. Throw a love of Sherlock Holmes into the mix, and you have people from many ethnicities, worldviews, and walks of life who all speak a language each other understands, and how can that be anything other than fascinating?</p><p>And what I’ve come to discover, and I’m sure you yourself already know, is that it’s <i>very </i>interesting to see where people’s answers are similar (Mary is a surprisingly popular candidate for “second best friend”), and where they’re different (all the actors and actresses who could play Watson whom I hadn’t even thought of!), and why they give the answers they do!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz_ea7-x1IC-LAUuEgHlfbnag8QRqvCu1Qabf1ZYfbWwsWDi1GIz-b7ov5Kqr330D-_1vEdVedCV6clyrlVQtpOyplY_V_mrIWr86xJREvmI9hbrH7iQzC3KrblxC8CHD_jKxvDVDCecRhcD6n7U6-BSPUYWfM7tdbrOtcmXYtqplnv-pkOuooNE0/s3088/IMG_3305.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2320" data-original-width="3088" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz_ea7-x1IC-LAUuEgHlfbnag8QRqvCu1Qabf1ZYfbWwsWDi1GIz-b7ov5Kqr330D-_1vEdVedCV6clyrlVQtpOyplY_V_mrIWr86xJREvmI9hbrH7iQzC3KrblxC8CHD_jKxvDVDCecRhcD6n7U6-BSPUYWfM7tdbrOtcmXYtqplnv-pkOuooNE0/s320/IMG_3305.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><b>What book would you recommend to other Sherlockians?</b></p><p>You are probably getting the idea by now that I cannot give succinct, concise answers. Physically impossible!</p><p>To be honest, I think the only books that would appeal to all Sherlockians are the reference works like Jack Tracy’s <i>The Encyclopedia Sherlockiana</i> and Les Klinger’s <i><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-new-annotated-sherlock-holmes-the-complete-short-stories-the-adventures-of-sherlock-holmes-and-the-memoirs-of-sherlock-holmes-arthur-conan-doyle/8746926?ean=9780393059144" target="_blank">The New Annotated</a></i>. If you go beyond that, you’re diving into personal interest and taste, which is tricky. I figure there are currently four broad categories of Sherlockian writing: pastiche, the writings about the writings, the writings about the writings about the writings, and reference work. And the longer I hang around the social side of Sherlockian, the more I’m sure that very few people are interested in all four categories.</p><p>That being said… <i><a href="https://bakerstreetirregulars.com/2020/12/28/corporals-colonels/" target="_blank">Corporals, Colonels and Commissionaires</a></i> from BSI Press is awesome, because it really dives into all sorts of things pertaining to the British military in the nineteenth century. Super helpful if you’re looking to know more about this particular through-line in the Canon!</p><p>Also… <a href="https://bakerstreetirregulars.com/tag/manuscript/" target="_blank">the manuscript books</a>. All of them. Even the stories you don’t care for. The scans of the manuscript pages, and all the amazing articles accompanying them, totally make it worth it — and they’re <i>beautiful</i>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0uE1xbwYxBXeyKXL2qGGfssMNXN__RqQE8vYX_EXD0PSFP5UZUnQhPUJYmDo4FZqKQs0YhM2c0EdVGziMPsAoXT_KAWwe4NgDlec1-TFMJ47scA-vNRe9cS_0exd5azlJh6HKwXOt0_NwsWUC5MjrFY6aBLDzQK2Nr0f5yKsFOKsbzo1kS59rUVs/s2048/IMG_3787.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1153" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0uE1xbwYxBXeyKXL2qGGfssMNXN__RqQE8vYX_EXD0PSFP5UZUnQhPUJYmDo4FZqKQs0YhM2c0EdVGziMPsAoXT_KAWwe4NgDlec1-TFMJ47scA-vNRe9cS_0exd5azlJh6HKwXOt0_NwsWUC5MjrFY6aBLDzQK2Nr0f5yKsFOKsbzo1kS59rUVs/s320/IMG_3787.JPG" width="180" /></a></div><br /><p><b>Where do you see Sherlockiana in 5 or 10 years from now?</b></p><p>That’s… tricky. What I hope is that by the time 2033 rolls around, we’ll have gone into another wave of Sherlockiana. Right now, we’re certainly somewhere in the trough.</p><p>I’m worried that we’re going to lose a lot of scion societies over the next ten to twenty years. There aren’t enough young Sherlockians getting involved in what I call the “social side” of the fandom, and I think that’s a multilayered problem. I could be wrong, but I don’t think it’s real life getting in the way and making us too busy — as Baron Gruner himself said, if a man has a hobby, he follows it up! I think that probably a big problem is the big problem that’s consistently plagued Millennials and is now hurting Gen Z too: on the whole, we don’t make living wages. As crazy as my personal life has been, I desperately wanted all through my twenties to be able to make it to things like 221B Con and the BSI Weekend, and last year was the first year I could afford to do that!</p><p>I think too that another problem is something of an image problem. I think that the idea that “traditional” Sherlockians are stuffy, snobby, and gatekeep-y is… frustratingly persistent. (And it’s not just young Sherlockians who have this idea in their heads — a certain beloved author has admitted that she took a long time to get involved because she was afraid of things like failing knowledge tests!) I know now that while some Sherlockians like that do exist, many, many more really are the loveliest people you’d ever want to meet, and I’m so glad I know them.</p><p>But outside the social sphere of Sherlockiana… there’s a fandom full of younger adults and even teens whose fandom experience is solely online. Younger Sherlockians are out there, <i>en masse</i> (just look at 221B Con!), even in this time of the trough of the wave, and they’re as passionate and analytical and creative as anyone could ask for.</p><p>The enduring question so far is: are they going to stay there, or will enough of them make the jump from internet to in-person to make a difference? I made that jump — you actually helped, Rob, and I’m very grateful for that! Zoom really helped me in a big way, though, and I do think that continued use of Zoom moving forward will be important. </p><p>Beyond that, I don’t know. Uncertain, the future is! (It’s Star Wars month, I had to!)</p>Rob Nunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02126012014516886064noreply@blogger.com0