Interesting Interview: Edward Pettit

Just about a year ago, the Sherlockian world was buzzing with people talking about a new podcast, Sherlock Mondays, from The Rosenbach Museum and Library in Philadelphia.  Manager of Public Programs, Ed Pettit was going to host a weekly discussion with a rotating cast of noted Sherlockians live each week on YouTube to discuss the stories we all love.  I will admit that I only watched one, as YouTube isn't my preferred way to spend time.  But when I discovered the episodes are also in an audio format, I downloaded a few to check them out.  I fully admit that I am late to this party, but these discussions are SO GOOD!

And the biggest reason for this great show is Ed Pettit.  I'm going to presume that most readers here have watched or listened to some episodes of Sherlock Mondays, so I'll be preaching to the choir here when I say that Ed is a charming and engaging host of this show.  I got to meet Ed in person last January and can attest that his energy and interest in the Sherlockian world goes beyond those sessions.  He's very active in the Philadelphia scion society, The Sons of the Copper Beeches, is a member of other groups, has consulted on a Sherlockian book, has given scores of Sherlockian presentations at The Rosenbach, and most interestingly hosted Sherlockian reading groups, game nights, and cocktail parties.  As you'll see below, Ed Pettit is a guy you want to spend time with!

How do you define the word “Sherlockian”?

If you enjoy Sherlock Holmes and want to further explore the universes in which those stories occur, then you’re a Sherlockian.  All gates and doors are open, just enter and engage.  So you can be a Sherlockian who primarily engages in just movies or TV adaptations.  But for me, all Sherlockians exist in two types: those who have read all of Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes adventures and those who have yet to read all of Doyle’s Sherlock.  And as much as I love talking to Sherlockians who have read everything (and then some), it’s actually those who are still reading the stories for the first time whom I envy. That’s the Sherlockian I wish I could always be. 

How did you become a Sherlockian?

I think it was a gradual process. Sherlock Holmes stories in movies and books were always there for me. Sherlock has a strong presence in popular culture, so I think I always engaged in small ways with Sherlock. However, around the time when the Granada Holmes TV series with Jeremy Brett was first airing in the U.S. (I was around 19 or 20), my Dad gave me a complete Strand edition with the Paget illustrations. My Dad wasn’t a Sherlockian, although he likely read some of the stories. I think he just found the book on the discount table at a big bookstore and thought I would like it.  And I read the stories and LOVED them, especially in their facsimile format. It was almost like encountering the stories like the first readers did. This was a world I wanted to be in.  But what I can’t remember is if I started reading the stories, then discovered Jeremy Brett, or if I saw some Brett episodes and then started reading. The discovery of both is intertwined in my memory. 

My deeper involvement as a Sherlockian came when I became a member of the Philadelphia scion society, The Sons of the Copper Beeches several years ago. I am now a Master Copper-Beech-Smith and the Recorder of Pedigrees for the SoCB. For many years, Steve Rothman had suggested I join, but I always hesitated because the group was male-only in those days, and I didn’t want to belong to a gender-segregated organization. The first meeting I attended was the first one that allowed women to participate and I have been keenly involved ever since. 

What is your profession and does that affect how you enjoy being a Sherlockian?

I create public programs for a rare book museum in Philadelphia, The Rosenbach Museum & Library, with an astounding collection of books and manuscripts. For the Rosenbach, I’ve hosted literary-themed cocktail parties, organized marathon readings of Moby-Dick and Dracula, set up reading courses for a many works of literature, interviewed authors, and on and on.  But these days, I mostly create web-series called Biblioventures, featuring works from our collections. Over the past few years, I’ve hosted shows on Dracula, Frankenstein, Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, The Pickwick Papers, and Sherlock Holmes (As you can see my interests lie in the 19^th Century; I didn’t grow this beard for nothing), in which cohosts and I talk about books serially, over many weeks, or months, in a kind of “conversational annotation.” Most of these shows also feature cocktails, and I smoke my pipe throughout all of them (the benefits of hosting them from my home office). Basically, my job is to drink, smoke, and talk about books. 

Our founder, Dr. Rosenbach, also collected (and sold) ACD’s works and we have Doyle’s manuscript of “The Adventure of the Empty House,” as well as correspondence from Baker Street Irregular founders Christopher Morley and Edgar Smith, and Vincent Starrett.  So creating a Biblioventure series that highlighted this part of our collection was really exciting for me.  More on Sherlock Mondays below.  But basically, part of my job is getting to play in the Sherlock universe (and get paid for it). 

What is your favorite canonical story?

I think my favorite short story is still “The Man with the Twisted Lip,” but that may be because it was also my favorite Jeremy Brett episode. I love what it says about identity and creativity. Neville St. Clair is a “legitimate” journalist who finds a way to make more money playing the beggar Hugh Boone. I think there’s something going on there in Doyle’s subconscious as a serious historical novelist who makes even more money creating his Sherlock Holmes adventures.  I don’t think Doyle was ashamed of his Sherlockian output, but he was certainly bemused and sometimes annoyed that his most successful work was not literarily important. Also, whenever I need to use a pseudonym, I use Hugh Boone. One time I submitted poetry to a magazine (whose main editor I knew) as Hugh Boone, so he would give me honest feedback. “Blue Carbuncle” and “Scandal in Bohemia” also rank very high because they are perfectly constructed narratives. 

My favorite novel is probably still The Sign of the Four. I think Hound is likely a better novel as a work of fiction, but the world Doyle evokes in Sign, the characters, the backstory about the stolen treasure, the chase at the end, are still very thrilling. It’s the adventure I want to go on with Sherlock and Watson. And I would definitely smoke the hookah with Thaddeus Sholto. 

Who is a specific Sherlockian that you think others would find interesting?

I’ve met so many over the years and pound-for-pound Sherlockians might be the most interesting people of all the many literary fan groups I’ve been part of.  Such a rich diversity of minds. Attending scion meetings, or the BSI weekend, I am always excited to just listen to everyone tell their stories. The Sherlockian whom I am getting to know right now is Olivia Rutigliano, BSI and editor at LitHub and CrimeReads. She’s cohosted a couple of special Sherlock Mondays episodes on detective stories that were published when Doyle stopped writing Sherlock stories after “The Final Problem.” Olivia is so brilliant and knows so much about 19^th Century literature (she’s going to be cohost on my next Biblioventures series called Monsters and Ghosts, featuring Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and A Christmas Carol). Ask her about lady detective stories. You won’t be sorry. With that said, I’d also have to say the most interesting Sherlockian to me will be the next one I meet.   

What subset of Sherlockiana really interests you?

I’m a literary historian, so I’m always interested in the publication and reception of Doyle’s works and how their literary reputation has developed over time. Because of this, I rarely play The Game. I enjoy reading what others write in Game-mode, but I’m too invested in Doyle as an author to do this myself. I’m also a big fan of genre crossover adaptations, especially with monsters or science fiction (Monstrum Opus of SherlockHolmes, Campbell and Prepolec’s anthologies like Gaslight Grimoire and Gaslight Grotesque).

How did Sherlock Mondays come about?

During the Covid pandemic, I had to work at home and figure out ways to continue public programs for the Rosenbach. Thus, Sundays with Dracula was born. We have a substantial Bram Stoker collection at the Rosenbach, including Stoker’s research notes for Dracula.  So I hosted a weekly show with rotating cohosts, talking about one chapter per week of the novel. I also brought in special guests (Leslie Klinger, Kim Newman, David Skal, Sir Christopher Fraying, and Mark Gatiss) for some of the episodes and created a signature cocktail for every show.  This show was such a success that we continued with other novels from our collections. Because I have to invest so much of myself into these shows (they are very personality driven), I need to choose books I can live with and be interested in talking about for months on end. So, all of the books so far have also been personal favorites of mine. 

Sherlock Holmes stories were a perfect fit for the show because of both our collection and my own interests. Sherlock Mondays began in September 2023 and streamed live for 40 episodes, all free to watch on theRosenbach’s YouTube channel (except for eight eps on The Hound of the Baskervilles, which were subscription only). We had great BSI member cohosts and special guests, who I think all may have been interviewed here on this blog over the years (Anastasia Klimchynskaya, Mary Alcaro, Monica Schmidt, Curtis Armstrong, Scott Monty, Burt Wolder, Leslie Klinger, Mark Jones, Paul Chapman, Steve Doyle, Max Magee). And Mary Alcaro, a great mixologist, created all the Sher-locktails for the program. I also smoked a different pipe for every episode. In effect, I got paid to talk about Sherlock Holmes for 40 weeks this year (and drank my way through it all!). We covered everything from A Study in Scarlet through the “Empty House,” in published order, and now the show will become Sherlock Monthly, starting in November 2024. We’ll pick up with “The Norwood Builder,” and every month I’ll have a different cohost to talk about a story with me.  To finish the Canon, this will probably take about three years. Yes, I realize how lucky I am. 

What are some of your favorite moments from Sherlock Mondays so far?

I love it best when the cohosts and I go down rabbit-holes about details and that happened on almost every episode. But honestly, because I do the show live for over 30 weeks in a row, they kind of blend together in my head. There’s no post production and just as one ends, I am working on the next one, so I get no time to reflect on what we’ve done. It’s always about what’s next (and for me that will be Jekyll and Hyde which begins on September 23, 2024).

What book would you recommend to other Sherlockians?

Even though Les Klinger’s New Annotated Sherlock is the gold standard for Sherlockian books, I still get a visceral pleasure rereading William Baring-Gould’s Annotated Sherlock. I can only imagine what it was like for its first readers. Nothing like this had ever been written for a fictional universe. If you are a new Sherlockian, I think this is the one book to get.

And if you are an already deeply committed Sherlockian and you haven’t read Doyle’s other works yet, I would recommend, his gothic/supernatural stories. You can find lots of different editions of these. My favorite is probably Gothic Tales edited by Darryl Jones for Oxford University Press, but there’s also the excellent Tales of Unease collection, edited by David Stuart Davies for Wordsworth. Doyle was a brilliant writer of scary stories. 

Where do you see Sherlockiana in 5 or 10 years from now?

I think it will continue as it has been, becoming more and more open to all kinds of different people with different tastes and viewpoints. Sherlockiana used to be a white male world adept at gatekeeping. And that’s not unique to Sherlock. This has been the case for most reading communities from Shakespeare to Austen to Dickens to Doyle. Their devoted readers wanted to keep their authors to themselves and frowned upon interlopers. I see that kind of gatekeeping disappearing rapidly over the years, especially as works that were formerly considered “popular culture” have completely crashed into the world of canonical literature. The result is a far richer place where we have the opportunity to experience new and exciting viewpoints that come from readers, not just trained specialists.

Ed with his wife and five daughters

Interesting Interview: Sandra Little

One of the best things about doing Interesting Interview blog posts is getting to know someone better than I did before.  This week's interview with Sandra Little is a great example.  I've known them as a member of the John H. Watson Society and editor of their journal, The Watsonian (one of the best Sherlockian journals out there, in my opinion).  Because The Watsonian is such an inclusive publication, I figured they had always been the personification of open-mindedness in Sherlockiana, so I was surprised to find out that they started out as a strict traditionalist!

Sandra is a recipient of a Jan Stauber grant from The Beacon Society, has been a steady presence and presenter at 221B Con, given a talk at The Women of Sherlock Holmes conference in Dallas, been part of anthologies from Belanger Books and Doyle's Rotary Coffin as well as the new Sherlockian collection, When the Rose Speaks Its Name, and is a coordinator of Holmestice, a twice a year digital gift exchange between Sherlockians.  If all of that weren't enough, Sandra is a fellow educator, and during the busyness of the first weeks of school, took time out to share their views on Sherlockiana with us.  That's dedication to Sherlockiana!

How do you define the word “Sherlockian”?

I think everyone defines this differently. For me, it’s when you pass the point of no return. It is just too much of a part of your psyche, thoughts, social life…your soul…to just move on to something else. As specific terminology, I think people generally identify it with the Canon, but for me it is a level of fascination with any subset of Sherlock Holmes. (Even if you shift between variations, it all comes back to ACD.)

How did you become a Sherlockian?

I started the journey when I was 10 years old and found my grandfather’s copy of “A Treasury of Sherlock Holmes” (Hanover House, with an intro by Adrian Conan Doyle, compiled sometime in the mid 50s—for all you book nerds). It is now in sad, sorry shape and my ex almost threw it out twice. But I read that, and I was hooked. I not only read it over and over (I thought the stories it contained were the only ones that existed), but I wanted to transform them into plays and perform them. 

When I found out about societies, I immediately wanted to join—but I was 10 and stuck on Long Island and The City was a world a way and they kidnapped people there and injected them with heroin. As obsessed as I was (and I really was), I still wasn’t a true Sherlockian. Not yet. Though the seed had been planted. I know this because I eventually forgot about it for a while. 

But it all came back to me with the first RDJ movie, and by the time BBC Sherlock rolled around and I finally decided I wasn’t too much of a purist to try it out—which is kind of hilarious, that I was once a gatekeeper who thought “The 7 Percent Solution” was sacrilege— it hit me all at once. Now the 10-year-old me inside my head was gleefully yelling, “I knew it! I knew Rache was really Rachel!”, I was joining scions and I was creating my own content. It was a sort of homecoming. It was where I belonged.

What is your profession and does that affect how you enjoy being a Sherlockian?

I have had a lot of jobs before I settled back into my original field of education. I think it really does affect my areas of focus. Because I taught history, I cherish not only the preservation of the stories but also love to examine how our collective interpretation changes over time. I’ve also taught parts of the canon to adults working on their GED and rebuilding their lives, and they have shown me things I wouldn’t have given nearly enough thought to otherwise— like when an ex-con student pointed out how Holmes actually believed Horner was innocent, and how much that meant to her. It makes me want to share what I see as the real Holmes with other people. And I am sure that that is the teacher in me.

What is your favorite canonical story? 

It depends on my mood. I can absolutely say I prefer the short stories over the novels. Blue Carbuncle? Red-Headed League? Devil’s Foot? Dying Detective? I find myself drawn to stories that address key moments in the Holmes and Watson relationship more so than the quality of the mystery itself. (OK, points for SIGN, even if it is a novel, for having what I consider one of the saddest endings in all of literature.)

Who is a specific Sherlockian that you think others would find interesting? 

So many people! So many are well-known in certain circles, but not throughout fandom, and who I feel don’t get the attention they deserve. Milquetoast (the future of Sherlockian scholarship), Vulgarweed (my co-mod for the Holmestice project and a fearless and incredibly well-read fic writer), Jones (a fantastic artist and now a vital member of the Sherlock & Co team), all the staff who keep 221B Con (which may be nearing its final year) afloat… soooo many people who you might not see at your regular scion meetings, but who would amaze you with their contributions.

What subset of Sherlockiana really interests you? 

What I find myself drawn to are the countless adaptations of the original work and how one can get to who Sherlock Holmes and John Watson are at their very core. How far can we journey from the original premise and still see Holmes there? Can we change time periods, gender, race, profession…and still keep his Holmesness? I think so, and the process fascinates me. I also love collecting things from Victorian and Edwardian times, like books, coins, postcards, medicines, and pocket-watches. 

How has being editor of The Watsonian affected how you enjoy this hobby?

Working on The Watsonian serves as a constant reminder of how broad this fandom is, and I always do my best to represent people from all corners of it. I see how it is evolving and evergreen. And I see how much it means to all sorts of people. I feel an obligation to make sure everyone has a voice and the torch gets passed on. So, it has made me a much more involved contributor to the immortality of Holmes and Watson, and I’m very proud of that.

Whether it is your involvement on the Sherlock & Co discord or your role as an Archive of Our Own author, you are on the cutting edge of "new" when it comes to Sherlockiana.  What argument would you make to a more traditional Sherlockian to check out interpretations of the Canon that might stray from what they are used to?

Well, I thank you for that positive assessment, but the true cutting edge folks are the ones out there right now creating their own webcomics, and I haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of that content!

First, I’d probably say to read what you enjoy reading. Not everyone wants to play in the Holmes Adaptation Sandbox, and that's fine. They can go have fun on the slide. But…if they should become curious about what’s on offer lately, I’d remind them that trying something new in no way detracts from their old favourites. They’ll always be there waiting any time someone wants them. 

I’ll just circle back to what I mentioned earlier: I was a hardcore traditionalist when I first encountered the Canon. I didn’t like anyone messing with it. Then, I eventually realised just how often people didn’t use canonical Holmes as their starting point when flinging mud at new adaptations. They’d watch RDJ and say things like, “My Holmes is no action hero!” Holmes: who lost his left canine at Charring Cross, sent Woodley home in a cart in a “delicious” bar brawl, and, according to McMurdo, wasted his true gifts as a boxer. They were using their own uniquely-cultivated perception of Holmes. People shouldn’t fault anyone who does this; we all do it. Holmes is ridiculously projectable.

You also can’t go around saying, “I hate a modern Holmes,” but love Rathbone. Holmes was always cutting edge, of his time or ahead of it, with his fingerprints and his uncontaminated crime scenes and monographs on the behaviour of pets. And he was a contemporary figure without a trace of wistful nostalgia. So, to do modern updates actually makes sense. Different generations want different things out of the guy, and the miracle is… he always delivers. We have needed a wartime hero, a cynical challenger of the status quo, a neurodivergent champion, and Holmes took it all on with ease because, in Canon, all these things are already there. If that theoretical Sherlockian talked to enough people who enjoy that new something, they would find that a surprising number (to that Sherlockian, at least) are Canon-literate and can point out precisely where any idea came from, using Doyle’s written words. 

And that…is fun.

Artwork by tsukihasnolife

What book would you recommend to other Sherlockians?

“A Study in Brimstone” by G S Denning. It manages to be so canon and so not canon at the same time. Yes, it is bonkers, but in a way that truly meshes with the original and shows a great deal of scholarship and attention to detail. And it’s really funny. (And also my book, “Astrakhan, I Perceive”— once I finish it up and get me a publisher…)

Where do you see Sherlockiana in 5 or 10 years from now?

Every time a new form of Sherlock Holmes comes to the fore, a new group of fans discover the canon. Perhaps ten years is a little too soon for a new version to grab hold of the collective consciousness, as it is something of a generational pattern? In five years, we will likely still have Sherlock & Co doing their thing and hopefully going strong; we will probably have a nice and profitable Cumberbatch/Freeman Reunion Christmas Special within ten; and someone better give the rapidly expanding queer wing of the fandom a mainstream Johnlock ASAP.

Interesting Interview: Jessica Schilling & Eric Scace

Here's another first for the Interesting Interview series: a 2 for 1 special!  Jessica Schilling and Eric Scace are a couple who are not only great folks, but great Sherlockians to boot.  Jessica Schilling won the Baker Street Journal's Morley-Montgomery Award in 2020 and was invested into the BSI this January.  Eric Scace won the Morley-Montgomery Award this year and was tapped to give a fascinating talk at the Minnesota conference last month.

Both participants are super cool, and I was lucky to get to spend time talking to Eric in Minneapolis.  Seeing Eric and Jessica together during that conference was like seeing a personification of yin and yang; they have such standout personalities but if you see them together it's clear what a strong unit they are.  You'll see that Jessica and Eric bring a great energy to Sherlockiana, and the future looks bright with both of them in it!

How do you define the word “Sherlockian”?

Jessica: I’d say that anyone who’s fascinated enough by the Canon — or by the scholarship or community that surrounds it — has earned the moniker just on that fascination alone! One of the best things about this little alternate reality of ours is that it’s something people can approach from so many different angles. Literary scholar? Write a paper. Wannabe consulting detective yourself? Go deduce the dates or locations of some of the cases! Film buff? Dive into all the different ways Holmes and Watson have been depicted over the years. There really is something for everyone here.

Eric: What she said! Other observers have pointed out that most collectors need a focus; few can be the vacuum-it-all omnivore that John Bennett Shaw was. Most Sherlockians have focii for their attentions (physical or otherwise) — and for the types of events (if any) in which they prefer to participate. A attribute of the world of Sherlockians is acceptance — which, unfortunately, appears all too scarce in other spaces. The pervasive willingness to share what one knows or has with others in our community is similarly so welcome.

How did you become a Sherlockian?

Jessica: I’ve got both Eric’s good influence and my own stubbornness to blame for this one! When he and I first met, we were splitting the difference between Boston and Boulder and I’d go visit whenever I had the chance. At some point I’d asked about his plans for the weekend, and he replied “I’m going to a fancy black-tie Sherlock Holmes party” — and when I said something about wishing I could grab a last-minute flight, explained that the annual Speckled Band meeting was (at the time) a men-only affair. That felt like enough of a challenge that I had to dive back into the stories again and refresh my memory! I’d enjoyed reading them as a child, but returning as a “grown-up” cast the mysteries, and Holmes’ deductive powers, in a whole new light. And from there I was hooked. (And lucky enough to be in the inaugural class of women in the Speckled Band a few years later!)

Eric: In a spell of sick days home from school, my parents directed my attentions to the Heritage edition of the Canon off a bookshelf. Being a linear reader, I began with the introductory material of Vincent Starrett and Edgar W Smith. My introduction was thus backwards: I learned of the BSI and Writings about the Writings before reading the Writings themselves. But I hardly considered myself a Sherlockian — just a happy reader (and re-reader and re-re-…). Later Andy Peck enticed those of canonical bent to form a university scion society the met at Victoria Station. Whilst based in DC Peter Blau allowed my attendance at Red Circle events… but it wasn’t until the BSI conference at Harvard in this century that Richard Olken, John Constable, and many others in New England ensured I didn’t again escape back outside the Holmesian domain.

What is your profession and does that affect how you enjoy being a Sherlockian?

Jessica: I’ve done a lot of things for a living over the years — from music critic to magazine editor to web developer, and I’m currently helping manage (with Eric) the University of Colorado’s radio station — but the one professional activity that’s really made an imprint on how I’ve approached the Canon was my work as a journalist and newspaper designer. There are so many nuances of Victorian technology that quietly take a starring role in so many of the stories, and how Holmes uses the newspapers of his time to do his work has always been fascinating to me — whether that’s in the actual words being used, or in how they’re assembled and printed! Both my papers published in the Baker Street Journal have actually been deep dives into newspaper printing of the time and what it can teach us about the details of Holmes’ case work.

Eric: Similar to Jessica, my first job was in my local newspaper, as a compositor on a Linotype machine and other devices displacing the world of metal type. Much of my second of four professional careers involved data networking and the development of today’s global Internet. The role of Victorian newspapers and telegrams obvious Canonical curiosities — how did that actually work back then? One reads the Canon will new eyes for activities in the shadows and corners surrounding the participants in each story. 

What is your favorite canonical story?

Jessica: Maybe it’s a cliche — and it’s not got a journalism or printing tie-in at all — but like Holmes, I’m a bit smitten with Irene Adler. So I’ll have to go with SCAN.

Eric: I love Jessica's choice — and yet there are so many intriguing candidates. For me, perhaps VALL for the shear breadth of geography, characters, classic Holmesian prowess, the illustrations of Paget and Steele, and just some unforgettable dramatic lines: “I am Birdy Edwards.” for instance.

Who is a specific Sherlockian that you think others would find interesting?

Jessica: If I’m allowed to call out a friend, I’d love to highlight Amanda Downs of The Norwegian Explorers of Minneapolis! She’s just an amazing human in general, but as a Sherlockian I’m always amazed by the way she’s able to bring people, ideas, and different aspects of our community together, whether that’s through her work as a visual artist (she’s the illustrator of the Sherlock Cat stories, in addition to many others!) or as someone who bridges beautifully the scholarly side and the “fandom” side of Sherlockiana. Plus, she’s an absolutely fantastic SPODE companion.

Eric: A great pleasure in any gathering of Sherlockians comes from discovering new friends whom one wishes lived nearby: people with whom one discusses not only Sherlockiana, but many other unrelated topics of mutual interest or curiosity. Three hours at table with such people feels shockingly short, and the parting wistful. Our mini-SPODE table of four with Amanda and PJ Doyle in New York was just such an event, an accidental and delightful pairing. The names of another half-dozen such encounters come readily to mind (you know who you are!)— it hardly seems feasible to pick just one individual.

What subset of Sherlockiana really interests you?

Jessica: I did a fair amount of research at university into the very early days of online fandom, and as such I’ve always been fascinated by the different ways in which people engage with the topics and communities they love. In the years that I’ve been lucky enough to attend Sherlockian events around the country, it’s been as much fun listening to talks or attending meetings as it has been to observe how people engage with this world and with each other. In a community where there’s everything from full-tilt “cons” to a peer-reviewed journal, seeing how people engage with the Sherlockian universe is almost as much fun as that universe itself!

Eric: Despite my many trips to England for work and pleasure, and Jessica’s five year London residency, neither of us have met anyone of Holmesian bent — which feels a bit like having missed half the fun. (We seek advice on this matter.) I’m always looking forward to the next intriguing thing, it seems.

Most relationships have little inside jokes or small points of contention.  Are there any Sherlockian items that have worked their way into your relationship?

Jessica: Other than the looming, leaning pile of Sherlockian books on either bedside table? Or the fact that we should probably own two copies of Les Klinger’s Annotated so we don’t have to fight over them? I mean … no. Not at all. We’re totally normal. Really.

Eric: Other than the race to read the BSJ first. Otherwise, normal. Mostly. Well, except for that time — no, never mind; that’s a story for which the world is not yet prepared.

Both of you have won the Morley-Montgomery Award for the best article to appear that year in The Baker Street Journal.  How did each of you decide on your topics and do you write solo or with the other one as part of the writing process? 

Jessica: We’re both pretty big nerds on our own favorite topics, but as former news people, I don’t think either of us can resist the allure of a good story. This winds up being the best of both worlds — we’ve each got an in-house critic and editor should we want one, but neither of us is offended if the other asks their work to be a surprise!

Eric: Definitely we write solo — Jessica’s writing voice stands head and shoulders above my plodding prose, as these words demonstrate. But as a work comes together with that “click” of formation of the cohesive whole, it’s fun to pass the completed material to the other to get that first reaction of an initial read-through. I did have a bit of fun reproducing at full size the newspapers discussed in Jessica’s articles — complete with the appropriate holes cut with short-bladed nail scissors in the instance of the découpé warning in HOUN.

What book would you recommend to other Sherlockians?

Jessica: This might sound like it’s out of left field, but I promise it isn’t: I’m going to recommend Don Norman’s The Design of Everyday Things. Just as Holmes is constantly reminding Watson to lean harder into his observational abilities, Don Norman — one of the pioneers of user experience design — looks at ordinary objects with an eye to truly understand and disassemble how their design helps or hinders their users. In fact, if it had been a field in his era, I’d maybe even suggest that our good detective might have retired into a UX practice rather than beehives … but that’s just a hunch.

Eric: Be forewarned should you follow her excellent recommendation: you will then see the world as full of typos and exquisitely poor design. As befits my plodding linear methodology, when introduced recently to a local young teenager enthralled by her first canonical readings, we gave her a copy of Les’ Annotated (which Les kindly inscribed to her).

Where do you see Sherlockiana in 5 or 10 years from now?

Jessica: Barring any insider knowledge of an up-and-coming television franchise or film reimagining of our hero, my vote — or maybe, rather hope? — is that we continue to welcome more people, of more backgrounds, ages, races and interests, into this community both as we continue to stage more post-covid, in-person events and as we hopefully keep making get-togethers more accessible remotely. We’re all happy to be back meeting face-to-face again, but I think we’re all also aware of how many opportunities to meet others we had in the virtual space that might not have happened if it weren’t for those years of isolation! So, I’m rooting for the best of both worlds going forward.

Eric: That next surge of popular interest is likely not far off. There’s a study yet to be made of the potentially predictable periodicity of popular attention to the Master. We look forward to welcoming them and “their Sherlock".

He Didn't Like the Look of It [SHOS]

A recent trend on social media I've noticed is people posting about how much they dislike the BBC Sherlock series.  I posted my overall view of the series in 2018 after the show had wrapped.  While the show may not have held up well to certain fans of the Great Detective, I think it's important to give this show credit for it's cultural impact on Sherlockiana.

Benedict Cumberbatch is the Sherlock Holmes for a whole generation of Sherlockians.  

And I've got the numbers to back up this statement.  I gave talks to scion societies in Chicago and Dallas recently on an overview of the first 100 Interesting Interviews on this blog.  One of the questions I've asked everyone is "How did you become a Sherlockian?"  28% of people asked said they came to Sherlockiana through media interpretations.  And of those who answered that way, Basil Rathbone, Jeremy Brett, and Benedict Cumberbatch were the most cited names in that answer.  

So, whether you liked Sherlock, Benedict Cumberbatch is the Sherlock Holmes for a whole generation of Sherlockians, just like Rathbone and Brett before him.

Male, female, straight, LGBTQ, or any other identifier: that voice and that coat is Sherlock Holmes right now to America (and I'm sure may other countries as well, but I'm not going to claim that I'm an expert on other countries' take on Sherlock Holmes).  

So let's pull back on the Cumberbashing.  Because we all know that the latter episodes of Brett's series were very bad, but many people don't want to denigrate the man.  And heaven forbid someone badmouth the nonsense of Rathbone fighting Nazis and Nigel Bruce's idiotic sidekick role; people would start clutching their pearls.

If you were curious enough to click the link above, I stand by that assessment.  I don't have a fond opinion of Sherlock; to quote my parents, "I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed."  

But let's end this post on a positive note.  Another thing I loved about reviewing the first 100 Interesting Interviews was how great, friendly, lovely, etc. that Sherlockians are.  So we shouldn't lead with our dislike for certain things.  I'm not trying to gatekeep and tell anyone to keep their opinions to themselves or that their opinions don't matter, but why put out a negative image of ourselves online?  We are Sherlockians: we are amazing!  Let that shine through, because I promise that we can enjoy one another without being negative about things.

A Recap of the Sherlock Holmes @ 50 Conference

What a weekend!  The center of the Sherlockian universe was in Minneapolis, Minnesota last weekend as they celebrated the 50th anniversary of the University of Minnesota's Sherlock Holmes Collections.  Over 170 people attended the conference that ran from Thursday evening to Sunday morning.  The full schedule can be seen on the conference's website, so I won't retype it all here, because even without the itinerary, there is going to be a lot in this post!

I drove up with Joe and Peter Eckrich on Wednesday and we were able to visit with Dick Sveum at his house for a bit when we hit town.  Dick personifies "Minnesota Nice" and getting to see his personal library was definitely worth getting to town early for.  

The next morning, Joe, Peter, and I met Tim Johnson at the University Library for a personal tour of their Sherlock Holmes collection and then took in the exhibit that the library had set up for the conference that weekend and then a quick visit to the Baker Street sitting room recreation they have on the second floor.  Seeing the underground storage facility that the University of Minnesota has for all of their collections was mind-boggling and trust me, these pictures don't do it justice.

Arriving back at the hotel, people were starting to hit town, so we met up with some others and grabbed a quick dinner at the pub next door and then headed back to campus for the welcome reception.  It should be noted that for this conference, the Norwegian Explorers had everyone set up in an off-campus hotel, but it was only a 10 minute walk to the library and there were plenty of restaurants within walking distance and a great lobby for us to fill up throughout the weekend.  Whomever chose the hotel location should be commended!

After the welcome reception, 20 or so Sherlockians headed to a speakeasy across town.  It had a cool vibe.  So cool, that even though I knew the password, there was a moment where our group thought we weren't going to be let in.  I clearly should not have been the one to try and gain entry.  As you can see, there were much cooler people with me that would've been admitted immediately.

Friday's program didn't start until 12:45, so that allowed for groups to have breakfasts and lunches with one another before organized activities started.  

Friday's speakers were a great mix of scholarly and energetic takes on their respective topics.  Rebecca Romney proved that young people are still reading and collecting Sherlock Holmes books, even though some fuddy duddies don't want to recognize that things may look different than it did in their time.  (Fuddy duddies is my term, not Rebecca's.)  Jim Hawkins shared his passion for spreading the gospel of John Bennett Shaw and Emily Miranker built on Shaw's spirit with her talk about the friendships she's built over her years as a Sherlockian.  

Up next was the annual meeting of the Friends of the Sherlock Holmes collection, in which Tim Johnson announced his phased retirement.  He is going to take 2 years to retire, because he will be shepherding the University in obtaining Denny Dobry's sitting room as well as Jerry Margolin's Sherlockian art collection.  You can see why he's going to need some time!  Ira Matetsky spoke next about the importance of investigating in your local library.  I hear many people talk about how they were motivated to see what their libraries had in their collections after his talk.

We were then released into the wild for the evening and I fell in with a rough crowd.  I may be scarred for life:

Saturday was the big day, packed to the gills with programming for a room packed to the gills with Sherlockians.  Eric Scace intertwined Victorian technology with the chronology of The Valley of Fear in his talk, Matt Hall got all sciencey with proving that phosphorus could have been used on Stapleton's hound on the moor, and Stephen Lee laid out a case for what we think of as Watson's blunders in his write ups were actually a clever conspiracy to help take down Moriarty.

A nice lunch and time to spend money with the vendors followed.  And I showed Greg Ruby how good I would look in a beryl coronet.

The afternoon sessions continued the high standard of interesting topics with Burt Wolder taking us through the life of Frederic Dorr Steele (and showing us the original color version of an illustration I'd never known had color), Will Walsh showing everyone how smart he is and how bad of an idea treason is, and Mark and JoAnn Alberstat making a strong argument that we can blame Canada for Professor Moriarty.

With some down time before dinner, I was able to lay out just how much new stuff I was taking home.  The first picture is of my new stuff.  The second one is a real selling point for the Minnesota conference: all of that stuff was included with our registrations!

A cocktail hour followed the break and then it was time for a lovely dinner filled with toasts and camaraderie.  The toasts were really impressive.  Whether they were from seasoned hands or someone attending their first Sherlockian event, each one delivered in its own special way.

I had known just how many St. Louisans were heading up to Minnesota, but at some point on Saturday it dawned on me that outside of The Norwegian Explorers themselves, I think St. Louis had the largest representation of Sherlockians at the conference!

For the final night's socialization, over 50 of us descended on the bar next door's patio.  This really sums up the allure of Sherlockian events for me.  Everyone was hanging out and enjoying the company of others.  Matt Hall convinced me what book I should read next, Eric Scace and I got in deep on the state of broadcast radio, and Erica Fair got recruited to help with the next 221B Con.  And that was just at my end of the table!  Just thinking about all of the people who were having great conversations out there makes my head spin.

After the bar closed at (an unreasonably early) 11pm, the party moved back to the hotel lobby.  No pictures exist from this and that's just as well as certain hotel chains may frown on the boxes of booze that somehow appeared in their main space.  But let me tell you, it was another party!

Sunday wrapped up the event with two more speakers and a radio play.  Max Magee infotained everyone with the history of Mrs. Beeton and her Christmas Annuals, Denny Dobry gave a tour of his sitting room and special consideration to how faithful adaptations have been to Dr. Mortimer's walking stick, and The Red-Throated League used talent both local and abroad to close the show.

Has this been a long blog post?  Yes.  But this just skims the surface of the great stuff I got to be a part of Minneapolis.  

Sherlockians time and time again prove what a wonderful group they are and I am beyond grateful to The Norwegian Explorers of Minnesota for provided and time and space for that to be proven once more.  The planning committee should all be very proud of themselves for the work that they put in to creating an event that brought so much joy to so many people.  From the heads of the event to the people working behind the scenes, thank you for an event that has shown us that Minnesota isn't just the center of the Sherlockian universe for one weekend every three years, but the standard for what we should all aspire to be.