Rob Nunn's Blog: Interesting Though Elementary, page 7
May 7, 2023
Interesting Interview: Madeline Quinones
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, Dynamics of a Podcast, focusing on Professor Moriarty. She also hosts her own interview segment on the Watsonian Weekly podcast, Wondering About Watson.
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!
How do you define the word “Sherlockian”?
I am always so fascinated by how people answer this question. I think that, recently, Ray Wilcockson gave the most beautiful response I’ve ever seen, and my own isn’t half as pretty.
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 and 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.
(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 Sherlockian early on, and always assumed it simply meant “fan of Sherlock Holmes” the way that Trekkie means “fan of Star Trek.” I was absolutely blindsided by how hot this topic could get.)
How did you become a Sherlockian?
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.
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 A Study in Scarlet, 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!)
What is your profession and does that affect how you enjoy being a Sherlockian?
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.
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 221B Con (and I still have quite a few left, so ask me when you see me if you want one!).
What is your favorite canonical story?
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: A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of the Four. 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.
Who is a specific Sherlockian that you think others would find interesting?
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.
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 check her out on MX Publishing, and also Belanger Books’ Sherlock Holmes: Further Adventures in the Realms of H.G. Wells Volume One. And she wrote a terrific essay for the Monstrum Opus of Sherlock Holmes, 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*.
What subset of Sherlockiana really interests you?
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 BSI oral history project. 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 Studies in Starrett, 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 Aboriginals. (Clearly, in a parallel universe, I’m a historian or an anthropologist.)
All the Sherlockians who have come before us? They’re not just names on a page — they lived. 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 Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street, and clearly thoroughly enjoying himself. Suddenly, he wasn’t just a name I’d seen referenced, well, everywhere — he was real, he was human, he had a sense of humor… And I don’t think I’ve been the same since.
Dynamics of a Podcast shines the light on Professor Moriarty. What makes him such an interesting character to you?
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.)
I love me a super-intelligent bad guy. (See: Grand Admiral Thrawn.)
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!
As someone who also interviews fellow Sherlockians on The Watsonian Weekly, what do you think makes Sherlockians so interesting?
I think I kind of already answered this one above by accident! People, 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?
And what I’ve come to discover, and I’m sure you yourself already know, is that it’s very 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!
What book would you recommend to other Sherlockians?
You are probably getting the idea by now that I cannot give succinct, concise answers. Physically impossible!
To be honest, I think the only books that would appeal to all Sherlockians are the reference works like Jack Tracy’s The Encyclopedia Sherlockiana and Les Klinger’s The New Annotated. 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.
That being said… Corporals, Colonels and Commissionaires 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!
Also… the manuscript books. 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 beautiful.
Where do you see Sherlockiana in 5 or 10 years from now?
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.
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!
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.
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, en masse (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.
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.
Beyond that, I don’t know. Uncertain, the future is! (It’s Star Wars month, I had to!)
April 23, 2023
Interesting Interview: Joshua Harvey
There's a good chance you've heard the name Josh Harvey lately. He's popped up on podcasts, presented about music at conferences, joined a Sherlockian group overseas, and possibly let you know about a Sherlockian play happening in your area. But many folks have opened up their inboxes to find a message from Josh saying he's made a gift for their scion. Sketches of Scions is a project where Josh creates a theme song and video for Sherlockian societies that everyone loves. (My favorite is The Parallel Case of St. Louis but I may be a bit biased.)
It goes without saying how nice Josh is, but I'm always taken aback by how smart this guy is! I learn half a dozen new things every time I talk to him, and God bless him for not getting annoyed every time I ask, "what does that mean?" So get ready to be entertained and enlightened with this week's Interesting Interview, Joshua Harvey:
How do you define theword “Sherlockian”?
Simply put: I think anyone that is interested or invested in any iteration ofthe master detective is a Sherlockian. It can be the canon, mass mediaversions, radio plays, pastiches—even music or dance or visual art. Engagementwith the characters and legacy of Holmes and Watson is the only qualifier forme. Different levels of study and hobby follow beyond that, from amateur toconsulting to professional, but the core seed is simply enjoying the charactersand the stories derived from them.
How did you become a Sherlockian?
I began, like many people, by watching the Granada series starring JeremyBrett. I watched them as a child on PBS Mystery in their original broadcast. Ithen began reading the canon and sort of fell in love with mysteries in general(Philip Marlowe, Perry Mason, Nero Wolfe). There’s obviously enough of thatcontent to keep you going for pretty much forever. When the RDJ movies and BBC Sherlockcame out, it got me reinterested and I bought and watched the Brett films allover again. This led me back to the stories and my first society, The SherlockHolmes Society of Scotland. A few years later I presented at 221BCon where Ifirst encountered some of the national Sherlockians. Once Covid hit and thefloodgates of scion meetings were accessible via Zoom I was able to makeconnections worldwide and learn from so many wonderful folks.
What is your profession and does thataffect how you enjoy being a Sherlockian?
During most of my life Ihave been a professional musician (pianist, music director/conductor) who worksin collegiate musical theatre, with side work in church music and all sorts ofother gigs. Of course this really leads me to be interested in the musicalaspects of Holmes, musical references in the canon, and the musics representingHolmes in other media.
What is your favorite canonical story?
Equally: "The Musgrave Ritual" and "The Second Stain." I know that’s cheating, but here we are.
Who is a specific Sherlockian that you think others would find interesting?
Dang, there are so many! I would like to give a shout out to LynneStephens, who was the first Sherlockian to spend impactful time with me at 221BConmy first year there. We were able to reconnect this year at Dayton’s Holmes,Doyle and Friends conference. I love her work on food and restaurants inthe time of the canon—and she is going to know more about marketing and the TVindustry than anyone, which I something know absolutely nothing about. She alsoshares my love of travel and is quite an Anglophile! I also wish that more peopleknew Barry Young, The Scotland Yard Jack-in-Office of the Sherlock HolmesSociety of Scotland, owner of Young’s Interesting Books in Glasgow, anall-around great human and kind-hearted bloke! We communicate at leastquarterly or so on some book or other that he is trying to acquire in the U.S.,or I via eBay from the U.K. A great man and a lifelong friend.
What subset ofSherlockiana really interests you?
Obviously as a musician I love the musical aspects, whetherthey are parody songs written for meetings, soundtracks, or new works withmusic, bad rap songs written for YouTube, whatever—I want to hear everything.Of those I quite like when people make their own musical medleys of variousfamous soundtrack themes.
As the curator of Patrick Gower's Granada musical what interesting tidbits have you come across?
Of all the many thingsthat are striking, my favorite is that the soundtrack album has bits that werenever in the actual TV show. That is: he wrote new musical material for thealbum, mostly so that he could hide the main melody in places that hadn’t beenavailable to him prior.
How did Sketches of Scions come about?
Randomly I was given permission by the heads of The Legion of Zoom to writesomething as start-up music for their first online conference. Later on thenext fall I had a fair amount of time in my academic schedule to be creativeand people had commented on the improbable possibility that the original piecehad been the first theme song for a scion. That sort of spurred me to considerother groups in other cities with other canonical connections.
It's an ongoing project,so when I next have time and energy, there will be more forthcoming!
What book would you recommend to other Sherlockians?
Option #1 will always be the BSI Press’ Referring to My Notes (ed.Katz/Wilson), which is chock full of excellent essays on many of the variousmusical references in the canon. Each article is just a delight in reading andlearning. The blurb on the BSI Press website says something similar to what Ithought when I began reading it—these essays are far more scholarly andadvanced past the first seminal, but incomplete, monograph by Guy Warrack.
Where do you see Sherlockiana in 5 or 10 years from now?
Fortunately, I have seen the streams of the differentcommunities grown closer together via the pandemic and Zoom meetings. I alsofeel like the traditional holder of canonical studies, the BSI, has opened upto so many younger and different Sherlockians who come from other forums, like221BCon. There is room for them all and we need to keep making room for themall! I also hope that in the next decade we have new media adaptations ofHolmes and Watson to keep younger generations gatewayed (but not gatekept) intothe canon stories that we all know and love.
April 2, 2023
Interesting Interview: Cindy Brown
Cindy Brown is a Sherlockian known far and wide, mainly because of her many travels to conferences and outgoing personality. I doubt if Cindy's ever met someone she hasn't become friends with! She's always generous with her compliments and interested in whatever topic you care to talk about with her. It's easy to see why she's one of the best-loved folks in this hobby of ours.
But Cindy isn't just outgoing and warm-hearted. She's also a tireless worker in Sherlockiana. Cindy is currently helping out with TWO conferences this summer, Lone Star Holmes and Holmes in the Heartland. She has been involved with The Beacon Society for years, currently serving on their grants committee to help fund programs that introduce young people to Sherlock Holmes, and she is the dynamo behind The Crew of the Barque Lone Star's fantastic monthly presentations on Zoom. And if that weren't enough, she's this week's Interesting Interview!
How do you define the word “Sherlockian”?
I think a Sherlockian is anyone who has a sincere interest and desire to have a better understanding of the character Arthur Conan Doyle was writing about over 100 years ago. But above that, the person has to have a true affection for Sherlock Holmes and the mystery he brings to the page and to our imagination.
How did you become a Sherlockian?
I’ve always been an avid reader and as a early teen in a small town, there wasn’t a whole lot of summer activities. I worked at the only swimming pool for miles and interacted with a college professor who brought her family to the pool. I was always interested in what she was reading. The conversations evolved from Agatha Christie to Arthur Conan Doyle, and I never looked back. Mysteries have always been my favorite genre, and I especially like the Victorian era stories.
What is your profession (or previous if you are retired) and does that affect how you enjoy being a Sherlockian?
I was a Certified Public Accountant and my career eventually allowed me to interweave both of my majors of accounting and sociology. I ended up being in enforcement for the Superfund program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which included helping to clean up polluted area and participate in the major disasters around the country. It was a very exciting career for an accountant to be able to go to the worst disasters in the recent decades and be an active member of a cleanup team. Being a member of such a team gave me the opportunity to interact with some wonderful people whom I didn’t even know were Sherlockians. I could say, they sort of dragged me into the hobby when they found out I was a fan. My profession simply was a bridge to meeting other people with similar interests, and I will always be grateful.
What is your favorite canonical story?
Well, that’s easy. My favorite story is "The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton." It’s got everything I want in a good mystery. A really evil snake of a man who has no sympathy for anything or anyone. His whole being is for selfish intent and the love of manipulating others through their human weaknesses. He finds those weaknesses and finds a way to blackmail them. I also love the fact that in this story, Holmes and Watson have a very narrow escape which makes it even more fun. But the best part of this story is the idea that the mystery woman actually gets revenge. I love revenge when it is “served cold” so to speak and so deserving. And she definitely surprised him. Her revenge was sweet because no one else really knew it was her, even Holmes and Watson. Of course, they did see the photograph in the window in London, and Holmes concluded that it was the mystery woman, but THAT was some sweet revenge.
Who is a specific Sherlockian that you think others would find interesting?
I think David Harnois is always a delight to talk to and an interesting Sherlockian. He has been the co-lead the Sherlockian society the Younger Stamfords in Iowa for many years and is a new member of the Baker Street Irregulars. His stage presence is amazing and I think he brings a lot to the Sherlockian world. He also runs the I am Lost Without My Boswell project, which is an all-volunteer project to create free audio dramatizations of the Sherlock Holmes stories.
What subset of Sherlockiana really interests you?
I love the old radio plays and am fascinated especially by the plays written and produced by Edith Meiser. She was brilliant and brought a lot of depth to Sherlock Holmes through the radio. What an interesting time to be introduced to this amazing character, and his Boswell. It’s easy to imagine families sitting by the radio on Sunday evening waiting for the next episode of the great detective. The theater of the mind did it all for the listener and brought the characters to life. Our imaginations probably worked harder then but made the stories more rewarding and enjoyable.
As head of the Beacon Society's Grants Committee, I'm sure you've seen some great ideas to introduce Sherlock Holmes to young readers. What are some projects that stick out in your mind?
I like some of the simpler ones, that are helping kids learn to read. This is accomplished by not only giving the children new books, which many have never had, but also spending time with them in programs such as “Read with Me”, and summer reading programs. We have recently had a grant given to a deaf and blind school, to introduce children with special needs to Sherlock Holmes. Other grants have included escape rooms, theater presentations of Sherlock Holmes with a professional actor participating, and even school classes dedicated to using scientific skills and deductive reasoning. The ideas are limitless, and teachers and librarians are expanding the universe in many ways to share Sherlock Holmes with their young students. We are currently trying to expand into children’s theaters and placing Sherlock Holmes books in youth detention centers. Grants have also been given to projects involving Accelerated Learning students, with opportunities to read and analyze Sherlockian pastiches while they continue their Sherlockian Training of how to be observant, and active participants in their learning as critical thinkers.
You are to be credited with all of the great speakers at each Crew of the Barque Lone Star meeting. What do you look for in a good speaker?
Wow, that’s a pretty fun part of my job for the Crew. I try to go to a lot of society events around the country and have been blessed with meeting many interesting and entertaining people. It doesn’t take me long to figure out if someone seems like a good candidate for our meeting. It would be nice if the feature presentation was directly related to this month’s story, but often that’s not the case. Our presentations just have to be something either Sherlockian or Victorian. And hopefully that will pique the presenter to talk about a special interest that he or she may have in the Sherlockian world. It’s always fun to see what the presenters come up with. Sherlockians never cease to amaze me!
What book would you recommend to other Sherlockians?
I think every Sherlockian should own a copy of the Jack Tracy book, The Encyclopedia Sherlockiana. It’s one of the best reference books I have come across and is well organized. It just makes for fun reading. And Jack Tracy was an interesting character, which goes beyond the realms of just being a Sherlockian.
Where do you see Sherlockiana in 5 or 10 years from now?
I hear so much about that topic these days, and of course there’s no right or wrong answer. A lot of people say we have to be more into the virtual world, and that may be. And I’ve heard a lot of talk about making our societies more reflective of a younger generation, but I don’t really see that happening either. Mainly because this is a sincere hobby/obsession. It takes time, which is something most young people, say in their 30’s and 40’s don’t have. They are busy building their careers and their families, and reading is only done if they can squeeze it into a little recreational moment. This hobby can take a lot of time and money. So I don’t really see it getting to be a younger person’s path. While we of course, do have some younger members they are more the exception.
In saying this, I hope I’m not throwing a negative light on recruiting young people, because we need their energy and their ability to show us the way of the future. Each person, no matter what their age brings something to the table and that’s what makes it such a great feast. 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.
March 27, 2023
Interesting Interview: Ray Wilcockson
Last month, I hosted a raffle for readers to choose an upcoming Interesting Interview subject. Not only did that raffle raise money for Special Olympics, but it also introduced me to this week's Interesting Interview, Ray Wilcockson! Ray is a fellow Sherlockian, so it's no surprise that he's an intelligent and interesting fella.
Ray's blog, Markings, is a great way to spend some time. I'm glad that spring break is coming up here, because I plan to spend quite a bit of time there! Ray knows a ton of stuff about early stage performances of Sherlock Holmes from around the world, and anyone interested in knowing more about media adaptations of our detective could definitely benefit from reading his stuff. So here's some words on the man behind the Markings in this week's Interesting Interview!
How do you define the word “Sherlockian”?
Ah, that perennial topic of debate with as many definitions as there are Sherlockians!
In my Baker Street there are many mansions. It seems most rewarding and apt to view the Sherlock Holmes community as a broad church without a priesthood. This encourages cross-fertilization of ideas and is reflective of the multifarious ways we encounter the Great Detective. Hence, for me, a Sherlockian is anyone who evinces active, abiding, appreciative engagement in aspects of Holmes, his world and his legacy expressed in discussion, research, writing, art or performance, according to their individual lights. “Sherlockian” isn’t a title to be coveted or conferred; it’s simply descriptive of how (delightfully) you may spend some time on this earth.
How did you become a Sherlockian?
With an eye to my definition, I’d have to reply: ‘with a false dawn and a much later day that has not yet set.’
In April, 1961, aged 13, I completed a term-long school History project on London. Michael Harrison’s classic “In the Footsteps of Sherlock Holmes” (1958) happened to be shelved with the capital’s history in my local library. I’m now 75 and still treasure this book that gave me a Sherlockian template for writing about Victorian and Edwardian London and subsequently, that summer, inspired me to read the whole Canon. I’m grateful now to have first encountered Holmes and Watson as literary texts, unfiltered by stage or screen adaptations. Only Hobbs and Shelley’s radio voices predated that formative imaginative experience. My Holmes is, thus, very much my Holmes.
I would not be an active Sherlockian again until 2012. In the interim (‘Great Hiatus’?), Rathbone and Bruce became well-loved, cinematic companions, and Jeremy Brett deeply impressed as the best dramatic embodiment of Holmes I have ever seen. It was a cherished privilege to see Jeremy Paul’s “The Secret of Sherlock Holmes” at Birmingham’s Alexandra Theatre in 1989, and a sad day indeed when we lost that fine actor.
The ‘Return’ of Sherlockian Ray was occasioned by “The Reichenbach Fall”, the concluding episode of BBC’s “Sherlock” series 2. Broadcast on January 15, 2012, it coincided with my creation of “Markings” blog. I had anticipated writing, in retirement, mostly about education and my specialism, Shakespeare. The Fates had other plans.
The blog began with a quartet of posts on “Sherlock”, inspired entirely by what I described then as “some of the best small-screen acting I have ever seen”: Martin Freeman’s John in bereavement. Here’s the link to my essay on his Watson.
Since then, I’ve written dozens of essays on all manner of Holmes-related topics, aided and given direction primarily by the welcome proliferation of online searchable news archives, my association with Sherlockian, Howard Ostrom (see below), and critical approaches bequeathed by a career passed in daily communion with imaginative literature and drama in performance.
What is your profession (or previous if you are retired) and does that affect how you enjoy being a Sherlockian?
Decades of teaching secondary English through to ‘A’ Level, along with my M.A. in Shakespeare Studies and work in amateur theatre, trained me to be acutely aware of (and fascinated by) authorial choice of genre, form and narrative voice, the artistry exhibited in structure and the indivisibility of character from parent creation. I’ll keep this answer brief as the blog post links provided elsewhere in this interview open to essays that clearly illustrate the impact of my profession on the way I see Holmes in text and adaptation.
Worth stressing here is the crucial insight that characters in imaginative literature are inseparable from their original artistic context and are what they are to fulfil the broader demands and thematic purposes informing a work of art.
Believe in them as we do and must, literary characters are not real people. If they “die” as they often do in Shakespeare’s plays it is because they have fulfilled their dramatic purpose.
Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are riveting creations but they are not Shakespeare’s pair doomed to die in England. We suspend our disbelief and agree to think Stoppard’s duo is Shakespeare’s to savour the dramatist’s wit. But they’re not. They only ‘exist’ for the duration of a performance of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” in the imagination of each spectator.
I taught Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” many times to ‘A’ level students and begged them to avoid, set aside and not rely on cinema and stage adaptations while studying the novel. This, because there is a crucial difference between seeing and reading about the Creature. Idon’t personally think the novel is adaptable because its power relies on the reader being as “blind” to the Creature’s deformity as the old man, de Lacey, who (like Shakespeare’s Gloucester) sees more truth than if he had eyes. It is of paramount importance that we listen to the Creature and hear his essential humanity. More than once, my students have commented in astonishment that the Creature (and Mary Shelley, scarcely older than themselves when she wrote the classic) possessed a broader vocabulary and powers of eloquence well beyond their own. Teacher Ray was quietly pleased by such observations.
So, you can see why my focus is primarily on Conan Doyle’s texts. In truth, I love adaptations as much as the next Sherlockian, but the English teacher in me carefully distinguishes between creation and metamorphosis into a different form.
What is your favorite canonical story?
In common with many Sherlockians I find something special to savour in pretty well every story of the Canon. I love the familiar pattern where adventures begin and end with the iconic duo in Baker Street and those brief but fully realised evocations of the metropolis just beyond their window. Conan Doyle wrote in a variety of fictional and nonfiction genres and forms. I think the best of him is found in the Canon short stories. Of these, I am especially impressed by the structural dexterity and narrative art of “A Scandal in Bohemia” and “His Last Bow”, both examined for these qualities in “Markings” essays.
I choose, however, “The Blue Carbuncle” as my all-time favorite for its consummate artistry, humour and vivid London setting. The Ray of 2012 explained why much better than I might now in two aptly timed Christmas essays.
Who is a specific Sherlockian that you think others would find interesting?
Media expert, Howard Ostrom, of Florida will be well known to many reading this blog. He’s the Encyclopedia Brown of our international community and a veritable force of nature. As with Sherlock Holmes,one can never quite see when he sleeps. His work-rate is invariably break-neck and recall of facts frankly phenomenal. Facebook’s “Sherlock Holmes on Screens” group is one of the most active and assiduously curated. Set up as a shop window for Howard’s series of that name, the site now operates additionally as a collection point for his ever-expanding “A-Z of Sherlock Holmes Performers”. It’s been a personal joy for years to contribute new finds to this Magnum Opus that is periodically updated by Ross K. Foad on his website “No Place Like Holmes”.
Less familiar perhaps are Howard Ostrom’s essays, on some of which I have collaborated. It is these to which I’d like to draw attention in answering this question. A selection may be read on Ross Foad’s site (click on the “Essays” tab). These are a fraction of Howard’s total oeuvre and a request to him via Facebook for the full list would enrich any Sherlockian’s reading. He’s very good on Russia’s adaptations.
What subset of Sherlockiana really interests you?
Briefly, anything that stirs in me the thrill of the chase. I revel in research, often to the neglect of my blog. Early stage representations of Sherlock Holmes continue to be fertile ground for my attention. I’m perhaps most pleased with tracking down the mysterious John Webb, tying him to the Surrey Theatre and unearthing a photograph (see Markings here:
Currently, I have on the stocks, waiting to blog, new information on the genesis of the play known as John Lawson’s “An Adventure in the Life of Sherlock Holmes: a Sketch in Two Episodes” (1902) that predates it to 1901 and reveals a new early performer of the detective.
Female performers in the role continue to draw my interest, a surprisingly large contingent collected by (who else?) Howard Ostrom in his “Original Baker Street Babes” and headed by one of the greatest recent versions of Holmes, that of the tragic Yuko Takeuchi in “Miss Sherlock”.
As someone who knows a lot about the early stage performances of Sherlock Holmes, how have you seen adaptations of that character evolve from its initial portrayals?
Well before William Gillette was given carte blanche to marry or murder him, Sherlock Holmes was effectively common property, beyond Doyle’s control, and treated satirically, musically and every which way, much as he is appropriated and reimagined today in all manner of media.
Perhaps the most significant evolutions have been in the enhanced status of John Watson and the promotion of Professor Moriarty and Irene Adler from minor to major characters.
Ever before us as we read his Sherlockian annals, ironically, in early adaptations, the good doctor slipped into drama’s shadows for half a century. Even Sherlockians struggle to name a Watson performer before Nigel Bruce, whose contribution must not be undervalued. He paved the way for an illustrious line of actors in the part from here to Russia.
Early stage and film representations of Moriarty were conventionally melodramatic and, for a while, with the success of Doyle’s play “The Speckled Band”, he was out-villained by Lyn Harding’s formidable Grimesby Rylott. In Henry Daniell et al, Rathbone’s Napoleons of Crime, we perhaps see the seeds of more complex and fully realised Professors like those of Eric Porter, Andrew Scott and Jared Harris in our time.
William Gillette’s Alice Faulkner ( Fermin Gémier’s ‘Alice Brent’) may be viewed as an early (abandoned) candidate for Sherlock’s love life in adaptations. She was never more than a stock figure, suffering from having little to do on stage or film. In 1922, John Barrymore’s Alice, Carole Dempster, marked the character’s swan song.
Since Inga Swenson’s musical Irene alongside Fritz Weaver in “Baker Street” (1965), this lightly sketched character from a single short story has never looked back. Gayle Hunnicutt, Lara Pulver, Rachel McAdams, Larisa Solovyova and Lyanka Gryu in particular have mined a rich vein of resourcefulness and Siren magnetism but fleetingly suggested in “A Scandal in Bohemia”.
Such evolutions do not surprise me. Adaptation always prompts new perspectives on an original. The short story, especially, positively begs for expansion of elements that can only be nodded at within such narrow confines.
Which country do you think has done the best job of putting out Holmes adaptations?
I shall answer this with the caveat that Holmes adaptations have long displayed international cooperation in production. Well before air travel, producers and actors thought little of criss-crossing the Atlantic, voyaging to the Antipodes, South Africa, India and the Far East in search of audiences. When Charles Frohman met his death on RMS Lusitania, he was returning to the US from what was a regular visit to check on theatres and productions he controlled in England and France. Gillette’s London appearances as Holmes spawned touring productions with English leads, like H. A. Saintsbury, Australian successes, and many European versions in translation, notably that by Pierre Decourcelle at Theatre Antoine, which was in turn retranslated within a year for performance as far away as Portuguese-speaking Rio de Janeiro.
Russia has made significant contributions to the Pantheon of great Holmes adaptations. The Soviet-era TV series with Livanov and Solomin is a world classic and 2013’s series gave us a fascinating Holmes in Igor Petrenko and one of the greatest ever Watsons in Andrei Panin.
On both stage and screen, the US has written an illustrious history of adaptations. Gillette’s influence may be detected to this day and Robert Downey Jr. has arguably surpassed even Benedict Cumberbatch in terms of international clout.
However, while the US possibly takes the laurels on the big screen, on the back of stars like John Barrymore, Basil Rathbone and Robert Downey Jr. it is significantly behind the UK in the production of series addressing the whole Canon. Neither the 39 episodes starring Ronald Howard nor Rathbone’s radio plays nor “Elementary” seek to dramatise Conan Doyle’s original stories as faithfully as possible as a sequence of stand-alone adventures.
The UK excels here. Think of Clive Merrison (and the earlier Carleton Hobbs) on radio. Of Eille Norwood’s silent series and that steady procession of television classics starring Alan Wheatley, Peter Cushing, Douglas Wilmer, and Jeremy Brett.
I award this accolade to the homeland of Sherlock Holmes.
What book would you recommend to other Sherlockians?
Many of the books I might have recommended here will already grace the bookshelves of Sherlock Holmes devotees. So, I have chosen one reminiscent of my childhood favourite, the Michael Harrison, which, like “In the Footsteps...” celebrates the third main character of the Canon: London.
Charles Viney’s “Sherlock Holmes in London” (1989) is subtitled “A Photographic record of Conan Doyle’s stories”.It’s a beautifully produced coffee-table-size publication by Smithmark of New York. Viney progresses story by story from “A Study in Scarlet” through to “The Casebook”, omitting only those such as “The Valley of Fear” that feature little of London, illustrating with fabulously evocative vintage photographs of the metropolis Holmes prided himself on knowing as intimately as Charles Dickens. For good measure, Viney appends an “Atlas of Victorian London”: full-page reproductions of G. W. Bacon’s 1888 “New Large-Scale Ordnance Map of London & Suburbs”. It’s a beauty of a book and looks available, used, on the net.
Where do you see Sherlockiana in 5 or 10 years from now?
Sporting a long, venerable beard no doubt, Howard Ostrom will still be striving to complete that impossible task of charting every performance of Sherlock Holmes!
Seriously, I don’t foresee any let-up in the proliferation of Sherlock Holmes adaptations in either traditional or 21st Century media.Recent plays like Ken Ludwig’s “Baskerville” are enormously popular and likely to enjoy regular revivals. The Far East is having a love affair with the Great Detective (often through blockbuster musicals) that shows no sign of abating.
Three personal hopes for the coming decade to close this interview that I’ve very much enjoyed:
1) That the current project preserving Eille Norwood’s silent series will attract further funding that allows for the public release of the whole restored archive.
2) That finding William Gillette’s 1916 film of “Sherlock Holmes” and determined international hunting for copies of films herald the discovery of at least one more “lost” screen Holmes.
3) That, amidst all the adapting, cos-playing and experimenting with Conan Doyle’s detective, more and more Sherlockians take time out to respond privately, individually to the original texts and are thereby enriched with authentic imaginative experiences generated by literary text, without recourse to pre-packed interpretations by actors, excellent and beguiling though they may be.
March 19, 2023
Needs Some Little Editing [ILLU]
Last week, I finished editing a friend's book project that will be released next month. As I was talking to my wife about it, I was explaining how much I enjoy that task. Spotting grammatical errors and inconsistencies, throwing out ideas to help an author polish their text, or arguing about capitalization in sub-headings, all of it is just plain fun for me.While this sounds mind-numbing to everyone else in the world, I've found that I enjoy getting to see texts in their unfinished form and offer some help to move things along. Maybe that's the teacher in me. By the time my students get to fifth grade, they have definite personalities and learning styles, so I'm not building foundations. Yet they aren't the finished versions of themselves that later teachers get to see. I'm somewhere in the middle of their educational spectrum and get to introduce new ideas, correct misconceptions, and if I'm lucky, get them to think in new ways. In a much smaller sense, that's what I feel like I'm doing when I am editing.
Somewhere along the line, I've transitioned from more of a Sherlockian writer to a Sherlockian editor. (Make no mistake, Charles Prepolec has the Twitter handle @sherlockeditor and is the undisputed king of this.) I wrote a pastiche six years ago and contribute articles to journals and anthologies, but think I do more editing at this point than writing. Just off the top of my head, I am in the throes of editing an anthology to be released in January, I co-edited The Monstrum Opus of Sherlock Holmes and The Finest Assorted Collection books, edited The Rise and Fall of an Eighties Sherlockian , am associate editor of two newsletters, Timelines and Sherlock's Spotlight Gazette , and have gladly looked over numerous articles for friends before submission.
So why do you care about this? Well, I want to do more. Do you have a project that needs a different set of eyes on it? Aren't sure if the possessive form of "Holmes" should have an "s" after the apostrophe? Have you looked at that draft so many times you can't see what you're missing? Send it my way. Articles, short stories, research, non-fiction, I'm interested. (Sorry, no long form pastiche, though.)
I'm here to help and I like to help. Let's get more Sherlockian writing out to the world!
March 5, 2023
I Know as Little [YELL]
Let's run down some of their behaviors:Grant accepts that Effie's first husband died of yellow fever when he saw the man's death certificate, but never wondered why there wasn't a death certificate for her daughter. Also, Effie doesn't have any pictures or papers from her previous life. Annnndddd.... she wears a locket but says it doesn't open. There is some shady stuff going on here, but dear old Grant, or Jack, or whatever his name is, isn't bright enough to question any of it. Effie expects to get a hundred pounds from her husband and not raise any suspicion in him. Hmmm.....Grant gives his wife a hundred pounds without any explanation and "never thought any more of the matter." Must be nice to never have to think about that kind of money.
The Munros live in a fairly uninhabited area, but Grant decides to NOT tell his wife of the unpleasant people who just moved in down the street. Sounds dangerous.And then he lets his wife sneak out at night after knowing there's something odd going on at that house? This guy doesn't seem very bright.Effie is a very bad liar when Grant catches her sneaking back in that night. If she's sneaking around, she probably should have been ready with an explanation.
The next day, Grant actually catches Effie coming out of that house. And her plea? "Trust me only this once." It seems like she's already been asking his trust plenty in this story.Does Grant find out what's going on with his wife and why she's been acting strangely lately? Nope. Instead, he says, "Okay, but no more of this nonsense. Got it?" Grant Munro has clearly never heard the adage "Give her an inch and she'll take a mile." Of course she's going to agree. And of course she's going to keep sneaking around on you, you dope.
Because as soon as Grant leaves the house again, where does Effie go? Right back to where he asked her not to. How does this guy honestly expect his wife to avoid it? Even if she did try to stay true to her word, it's right down the street. There is no avoiding the problem here. But go ahead, Grant, hide your head in the sand, you blockhead.Now, if Grant Munro isn't dumb enough already, let's look how this next thing plays out. He returns home to find Effie gone. Asks the maid where she is and hears she's gone for a walk. He tells Holmes, "My mind was instantly filled with suspicion." He knows she's gone off to the forbidden house, but he runs up to their bedroom to check? Grant Munro has no idea what's happening in that strange house, and instead of rushing after her, he checks the bedroom, just to make sure. He's lucky there's not an ax murderer in that other house. What a dummy.Effie tries to calm Grant down but still won't tell him what's going on. He clearly doesn't want her going to that house, but says he can't trust her and leaves. Hey, smart guy, guess where your wife goes when you aren't around? I can't believe this guy didn't drive Holmes to drugs. Oh wait....(Side note, Grant hasn't gone to work for a couple of days by this point. He is either A: someone with a very reliable staff, B: someone who isn't that important at the office, or C: someone who is about to get fired. You decide.)After all of this, Grant Munro visits Sherlock Holmes and tells his story. Holmes listens, sends him back, and says to see if anyone is still in the house. Grant does, and when Holmes and Watson arrive, by golly, Grant Munro has decided that he will force his way into that house. Where was this decision making when a scary face was looking out of the window, or his wife was sneaking off in the middle of the night, or his wife was walking out of the actual house? Now this guy gets a backbone? Grant Munro is the worst.I've focused quite a bit on how dumb Grant Munro is, but here Effie Munro really starts to shine. Her husband and two complete strangers approach the mystery house and she tries the same old ploy. "Trust me again, and you will never have cause to regret it." Lady, you've got to have something stronger than that. You haven't really thought this out, have you?Turns out, Effie Munro's daughter from her previous marriage was still alive, and Effie left her there to move to England? Mother of the year, right there.
Okay, so here was Effie's great plan. Move her young daughter and caretaker into an abandoned house down the road from her own. The kid was never allowed outside and had to wear a mask and gloves at all time so no one would know that she was a Black child. Has Effie Munro ever been around children? There is no way that this, or any kid, will keep a mask and gloves on 24/7. And that's your big plan? A mask? Good Lord, these two people are paragons of intelligence.But back to Grant. Because even when he was in the same room as Effie's daughter, he couldn't tell she was wearing a mask? I'm at a loss for words with this guy.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why Doctor Watson listed "The Yellow Face" as one of Sherlock Holmes's failures. Not because Holmes couldn't solve the great mystery of a little girl wearing a mask, but because Holmes's client and adversary were so stupid that Holmes's deductions couldn't stoop low enough to make rhyme or reason of their behaviors.
Maybe "Norbury" wasn't a code word to keep Holmes humble after all, maybe it was a reminder that some people are so stupid that not even Sherlock Holmes can help them.
February 26, 2023
Interesting Interview: Andy Solberg
Andy Solberg is one of those guys who makes you feel like you've known him forever. After about five minutes of conversation, he's treating you like an old friend. His is a name I've seen on a ton of things over the years, and I finally got to meet him last month in person. As advertised, I immediately felt like an old friend. Andy is spoken so highly of by many Sherlockians that I already had a high expectation of him and was even more impressed by how great of a guy he is once we got to talking.
But for those of you who don't know Andy, you may be asking: why him? This guy's Sherlockian resume is as long as my arm and he's been publishing since before I was even born! He's currently the Gasogene of the Six Napoleons of Baltimore and a past Gasogene of Watson's Tin Box of Maryland. He's a member of the Baker Street Irregulars and the Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes, and any member of those two groups can tell you how great he is to be around. So let's spend some time with a guy everyone loves, Andy Solberg!
How do you define the word “Sherlockian?”
I define a Sherlockian as anyone who currently genuinely loves reading the Sherlock Holmes stories, even if they are still reading them for the first time. They may lose their Sherlockian status if they don’t stick with them and just enjoyed them while they were reading them. But every scion society has newer Sherlockians who are joining the Sherlockian community, and I always think that they can add refreshing insights to the discussion.
Years ago, there was a kerfuffle in the Sherlockian community when someone used the phrase “real Sherlockians” to refer to scholarly Sherlockians. I think that is a false distinction. I think that he meant that “real Sherlockians” were people like him (a seasoned Sherlockian who writes articles). Lots of people come to the Sherlockian habit for different reasons, whether they came because of the books, BBC Sherlock, the Rathbone films, or other avenues. If they continue to read (and reread) the stories, they are Sherlockians. There may be different levels of immersion and involvement, but they are all Sherlockians.
How did you become a Sherlockian?
I remember when I was around ten years old, I found a book of Sherlock Holmes stories on a top shelf in my parent’s back hall (essentially a mudroom). No one in the family knew how it got there. I read them and found them boring. I thought, “I guess these aren’t for me.” I returned the book to that shelf. It disappeared as magically as it appeared. No one ever saw it again.
About ten years later, I picked up a random book. It was the collected works of A. Conan Doyle. I began reading the Sherlock Holmes stories and have been re-reading them ever since. Go figure!
After I graduated from undergraduate school (where I majored in Philosophy), I decided to fill my time by writing a paper for myself on the philosophy of Sherlock Holmes. I didn’t even know that there was a Sherlockian community, let alone a Baker Street Journal. I was just writing the paper for myself. Then, I got ahold of Baring-Gould’s Annotated Sherlock Holmes and learned about, well, everything.
I wrote to Julian Wolff and asked if there was a Sherlockian society in Boston (where I was living). I was invited to attend the Speckled Band dinner. There, someone asked if I had written anything. I mentioned my paper, and he suggested I send it to the BSJ. It was published in the December 1976 issue. I have been doing Sherlockian analysis and writing periodic articles ever since. I have often joked that my four years of studying philosophy at Brandeis prepared me for a career of writing on Sherlock Holmes.
What is your profession and does that affect how you enjoy being a Sherlockian?
I am a strategic planner for hospitals, health departments, and other health providers. At one time, I ran a health care planning regulatory program for the State of Maryland. I also taught community health planning at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. I’ve joked that it’s allowed me to feed my Sherlockian collection, but it has been more than that, as two books on Sherlock Holmes and medicine for BSI Press demonstrate. Because Conan Doyle and Watson were both physicians, I have always found interest in their points of view and how they reflected public health at the time.
What is your favorite canonical story?
I have only recently come to realize that the first four chapters of A Study in Scarlet are my favorite part of the Canon. It is some of the most beautiful prose in the Sherlockian saga - in all of literature, really. The saga, which is a forty year chronical of Holmes’s life, starts not with Holmes, but with a down and out retired military physician in London. It is filled with Watson’s typical self-deprecation and incredible humor. Remember, it may be set in 1881, but it was written in 1886, so Watson had been living with Holmes for at least five years when he wrote his impressions. He knew he was dead wrong.
Who is a specific Sherlockian that you think others would find interesting?
That is the toughest question you ask. There are so many interesting Sherlockians. I am not sure that I have met one who is actually boring. (Well, maybe one or two.) On the whole, I always love the interaction between Sherlockians. We are generally critical thinkers who, as we contend that Holmes and Watson are real people, are starting with our tongues place firmly in our cheeks. The wit runs high. My best Sherlockian friends are my co-editor Bob Katz and Francine Kitts. Both are tremendously interesting people.
But there are so many with whom I am genuinely friendly and find (or found, if they have passed on) interesting. This is going to get me in trouble because I will just name a few. (Forgive me if I forgot to mention you.) Mike Dirda has been called the best-read person in America. I love his essays, book reviews, and books. Scott Monty and Burt Wolder have been a blessing to the Sherlockian community with their I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere podcast. It is an oral history of the Sherlockian world. Evy Herzog is one of the nicest people in the world and is a living piece of American Sherlockian history. Of course, Peter Blau is always interesting, a great raconteur, a long time friend, and another important historical figure. Glen Miranker was Chief Technology Officer at Apple and brought out the IMAC and the MacBook. But so many Sherlockians are giants in their fields, Al Rosenblatt, Les Klinger, Nancy Holder, Curtis Armstrong, Maggie Schpak, Nicholas Meyer, Russell Merritt, Rebecca Romney,… So many more.
I love spending time chatting with them. I miss Ralph Earle, who was an ambassador and was the Chief Negotiator on the SALT II Treaty. And those of us who are not necessarily “giants in our fields” are still incredibly interesting people, doing remarkable things. All these people are (or were, in the cases of people who have died) approachable, and we have developed some level of friendship. That is why I love Sherlockian gatherings. Getting to know interesting people better is a huge benefit of the Sherlockian community.
What subset of Sherlockiana really interests you?
I like the 60 stories. I am not crazy about pastiches or films. It is the chronicle of Holmes’s and Watson’s lives that interests me. I like themes and analyses. I don’t take quizzes. I’ve often said that I think that all Sherlockian tests should be essay exams. And the Sherlock Holmes Canon is a bridge to so many interesting related subjects. That is why I love to read the Baker Street Journal. I am always interested in new analyses of the stories or “Sherlock Holmes and ______.” But they have to be faithful to both the stories and the history of the time.
As someone who has worked on more than a few books in the BSI Manuscript Series, what keeps you coming back to these types of projects?
Bob Katz and I have co-edited four Manuscript Series books and two books on Sherlock Holmes and medicine. I love doing these projects for several reasons. First, the Manuscript Series makes Conan Doyle’s hand so accessible. You can see his thought process. Also, the related chapters about different facets of the stories are so interesting.
The same is true of the books on medicine. Bob and I approach the books starting with questions to which we have always wanted answers. If we have these questions, others will have them, too. And the authors who accept the responsibility for answering our questions do such a wonderful job. We require them to keep speculation to a minimum and to document all of their content. Keep things canonical and real! They always come through for us. We generally choose authors with related expertise, so they know their fields and can do the research that is required to answer the questions. The books are a lot of work, but we’ve loved doing each one. We learn so much from them.
You served as Chair of the Baker Street Irregulars Trust from 2013 to 2019. What does the Trust do, and why should Sherlockians pay more attention to its efforts?
The Baker Street Irregulars was the first Sherlock Holmes literary society, founded in 1934 by Christopher Morley. I’ve read histories of fandom that have said that modern fandom began with Morley and the founding of the BSI. The Trust is not a Sherlock Holmes collection. It is an institutional archive of the history of the BSI. And, it is an important record of an early literary society that has survived and thrived all these years as the popularity of Holmes has ebbed and flowed.
Generous BSI have donated thousands of items that document the history of the BSI. As I have said previously, Sherlockians are tremendously interesting people, and the BSI has continuously had well known and interesting members. The Trust runs a BSI Oral History Project that reaches back into members’ memories from many years. Many of them are reflected in correspondence, photos, and other material in our archive. The archive has been used by fandom researchers, academics, Sherlockians, and non-Sherlockians. It is located at The Lilly Library at Indiana University.
When I was the Chair, we began to make the Trust’s holdings and BSI history available to people at home by posting them on the Trust’s website. There you will find a page for every BSI Dinner with photos and, in some cases, recordings. You’ll find selected Oral History Project interviews and features on items in the collection. Of course, The Lilly also has a finding aid to assist researchers to locate items in the collection.
Sherlockians (BSI or not) should pay more attention to the Trust because the history of the BSI is the history of the Sherlockian community. It all started with Christopher Morley. There was no organized Sherlockian community before Morley decided to start it, and the BSI has been the central to the Sherlockian movement ever since. And the history continues to unfold. Today’s BSI are as interesting as yesterday’s, and it is important to document their personalities and the role of the BSI as times evolve. It’s important that BSI members keep sending the Trust their BSI related correspondence, photos, etc.
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What book would you recommend to other Sherlockians?
While there are lots of books that I could recommend, the one book I would recommend that Sherlockians get is William S. Baring-Gould’s Annotated Sherlock Holmes. I note that it is currently available on Ebay for under $30. Sure, it’s more than 50 years old (my God!), and, yes, many, many more articles have been published in the interim that could or should be among the annotations. But, to me, Baring-Gould best captures the romance of playing the Grand Game (contending that Holmes and Watson are real). It reads just like it was – a labor of love. Les Klinger’s much more recent New Annotated Sherlock Holmes is also excellent, but I find that it doesn’t quite have the romantic flavor of Baring-Gould. If you can’t get Baring-Gould’s version, certainly get Les Kinger’s version.
By the way, I once wrote an article that recommended books for Sherlockians based on whether one wanted a classical collection or just wanted to both enjoy the stories and have some other neat Sherlockian books. I identified a core group of books for the casual Sherlockian, the budding Sherlockian collector, and the researcher. I also identified some books that are just plain fun and some books for those who are interested in the reading more about the Baker Street Irregulars. You can find that article in the 2019 Baker Street Almanac (as a free PDF) here.
Where do you see Sherlockiana in 5 or 10 years from now?
I have a non-Sherlockian friend who is amazed at how frequently Sherlockian references come up in popular culture almost every day. I believe that Sherlock Holmes will still be a “thing” in 10 years. I have seen Sherlockian popularity ebb and flow over the last fifty years. We go through a lull, Sherlockian societies age and attendance declines, and then Baring-Gould’s book hits the market. Then a lull. Then Nick Meyer’s Seven-Percent Solution is a NYT bestseller for forty weeks and terrific film, bringing younger people into the Sherlockian community. Then a lull. Then PBS does the Canon with Jeremy Brett, and the community expands. Then a lull. Then BBC Sherlock with Benedict Cumberbatch. I suspect we will have a lull until the next time someone succeeds in making a popular Sherlockian book or movie. But I see the Sherlockian community surviving for many years.
February 19, 2023
Take the Plunge [DANC]
As we creep closer and closer to 100 interviews on Interesting Though Elementary, I want to give a chance for YOU to choose one of my upcoming interviewees.
But how to decide who will choose an interview topic? I'll turn to The Valley of Fear's McMurdo for that:
"It's for charity and good fellowship."
On March 3, I am participating in Special Olympics' Polar Plunge in honor of my daughter's Special Olympics basketball team. If you are unfamiliar with this event, participants raise money from friends and on a specified date typically run into a cold body of water. My event is sponsored by my school and we can't bus all of the students out to a local lake, so kids are going to be able to throw water balloons at myself and other staff members.
How does this tie into an interview subject on this blog?
I'm going to run a raffle. For every $10 donated on my donation page, you will be entered into a randomized drawing. I will use Google to choose a random number and if you are the winner, I'll contact you to see who you would like to be interviewed in an upcoming blog post.
So, let's recap. A donation to Special Olympics via the link below provides the following:
1. Supporting a fantastic organization that allows kids with special needs to participate in sporting events.
2. You have a chance of naming an upcoming interview subject on this blog.
3. You support fifth graders throwing water balloons at their teacher.
While it's not quite the same type of plunge that Sherlock Holmes is famous for, I think it's still worthwhile. Whatever of the three outcomes above you find to be the most alluring, there's something for everyone. Please consider donating and helping support Special Olympics. Thanks so much!
February 8, 2023
Holmes in the Heartland 2023
This July 28-30 you can join The Parallel Case of St. Louis at the second Holmes in the Heartland weekend in St. Louis, Missouri to celebrate this year's theme, Arch Enemies!
What will Holmes in the Heartland include this year? Well I'm glad you asked!
Friday will start off with an architectural tour of the central branch of the St. Louis Public Library, home to the St. Louis Sherlock Holmes Research Collection. After the tour, a viewing of the Research Collection will be held in the Rare Books and Manuscript Room along with some other items of interest from their collections.
A common thought after Sherlockian gatherings is, "I wish I had more time to socialize with everyone." Well that is what Friday night is all about! Our home base for the weekend, The Sheraton Westport Plaza is surrounded by great restaurants and we have left the night open for you and your friends to get some food and spend some time together. Return back to The Sheraton and spend the evening in the lounge with everyone for a night of laidback interactions.
Saturday will be a full day though, so rest up!
We have a great lineup of speakers on Saturday, expounding on the theme of Arch Enemies. Ray Betzner, Cindy Brown, Steve Doyle, Beth Gallego, Mike McSwiggin, Kristen Mertz, Monica Schmidt, and The St. Louis Costumers' Guild will all be sure to delight with their presentations. Enjoy the breaks between presentations to visit the vendors' tables and enjoy a box lunch at midday.
That night, we will host a banquet dinner with live entertainment straight from 1895! Brad Keefauver and Steve Mason will host The Alpha Inn Goose Club Trivia Night that may see a carbuncle or two awarded to people in attendance.
And what would be an Arch Enemies weekend without the Arch itself? Sunday includes a trip to the top of the St. Louis Arch in downtown St. Louis and lunch at a local restaurant.
Two- and three-day registrations are available to accommodate everyone's travel needs. Registration for the weekend and hotel rooms at a discounted rate can be found at https://parallelcasestl.wixsite.com/home/holmes-in-the-heartland
We have been notified by the hotel that they expect to be full during the weekend of Holmes in the Heartland. So if you are interested in joining us this summer, it is better to book sooner rather than later.
Come at once if convenient!
February 5, 2023
Interesting Interview: Jenn Eaker
It's very possible that Sherlockians who aren't from the New York area or who haven't been to a BSI Weekend for a while won't know of Jenn Eaker. But if do you do know Jenn, when you saw this week's Interesting Interview participant, I hope you thought, "It's about time!" Spending time with Jenn is always one of the best parts of the BSI Weekend for me. She manages to be friendly and no-nonsense at the same time, which makes everyone around her want to listen to her thoughts on whatever subject is at-hand.
Jenn Eaker proves that Sherlockiana isn't just a hobby for old, white guys. This woman can write about almost any topic related to the Canon and proves that in the myriad of publications she's appeared in, rarely covering the same topic twice. Energetic, knowledgeable, and unbelievably likeable, Jenn is a big part of a new generation of East Coast Sherlockians. She is one of the unsung Sherlockian heroes that can always be counted on for a toast, a talk, an article, support, or to spearhead a project. And you know it will always be done well. So here is one of New York's finest Sherlockians, Jenn Eaker:
How do you define the word “Sherlockian”?
Wow, way to put me on the spot right up front. I would describe the word “Sherlockian” as a person who enjoys the canonical characters and adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson. I don’t care how you came to the original stories (BBC Sherlock, the Jeremy Brett series, the Enola Holmes books, the Guy Ritchie films, hell, even the wacky 2010 Sherlock Holmes movie), a Sherlockian has been led to the original stories, embraces them whole heartedly, and loves the main characters.
A Sherlockian is also someone who is open to other Sherlockians, no matter how they choose to celebrate and honor the canon. You don’t have to agree with how someone views the stories or chooses to embrace them. You are all there enjoy the same characters and stories.
How did you become a Sherlockian?
My earliest memory of Sherlock Holmes was as a child and hearing an adult say “no shit, Sherlock,” for the first time and me wondering who this “Sherlock” was.
However, my real Sherlockian journey began when I watched the first series of the BBC’s Sherlock. I was blown away by the story telling and loved the mood of the whole series. Because of that, I found a message board on Ravelry, an online knitting community, and discovered many, many other people who had the same feelings as I did. As we knitters discussed what we liked best about the show, and knit up our own Watson jumpers, it became quite apparent the massive gap I had in my reading; I had never read the original Sherlock Holmes stories. So, one day, I visited a long since closed Borders Bookstore, and bought the two volume Bantam Classics edition of the stories and started reading from the beginning with A Study in Scarlet.
At the same time, I met some other young women and helped start a podcast (The Baker Street Babes), met Lyndsay Faye, Susan Rice and Mickey Fromkin, and then was asked to write for the Baker Street Journal by Steve Rothman. I really hit the ground running from there. Even though I became a Sherlockian at a later age than most other Sherlockians, it does feel like I’ve been a part of this community my entire life.
What is your profession and does that affect how you enjoy being a Sherlockian?
I work in television, in a high pressure environment, and honestly, it helps me enjoy being a Sherlockian more. When I’ve had a tough day at work, or I’m just exhausted from a long week, I can shut the door on all of that and be with my friends and chosen family. I can have fun and remind myself there is more to the world that just work.
What is your favorite canonical story?
I actually think this is the easiest question you have given me so far, Rob. No contest for me; The Hound of the Baskervilles. I just remember reading through all the stories the first time around and enjoying the vast majority of them (I mean let’s be honest, the Utah section of A Study in Scarlet nearly lost me in the beginning). The Hound of the Baskervilles stuck with me long after I read it. The gothic horror element to it, the family legend and terrifying dog, Watson playing detective, Sherlock Holmes hiding away out on the Tor investigating in the background. I just love coming back to this story.
Who is a specific Sherlockian that you think others would find interesting?
I don’t care where I’m at, if Rebecca Romney is in the room, I always want to say hello and chat about what’s going on with her. I find her job in rare books to be infinitely fascinating. I also enjoy just talking literature with her outside of Sherlockiana, whether it’s about the history of writing, the popularity of romance novels, or a person’s book collection as a biography of themselves. I always leave the conversation with my brain full of new ideas and things I’ve never considered before.
If you need an opening topic when approaching Rebecca, you should ask her about the collection of books her business recently obtained that belonged to the late British singer/song writer, Amy Winehouse. It blows me away the care and attention she has given to these books that most people would never associate with Ms. Winehouse. It’s incredible.
What subset of Sherlockiana really interests you?
Defending against long held, and in my opinion, incorrect beliefs about characters in the stories. I will be defending Mary Sutherland, my investiture, until my last breath. And then I’ll continue to haunt people from the grave who still believe she is dumb!
Seriously though, anytime I have a discussion about class, race, and/or sexuality in the canon with Mary Alcaro, I always leave it learning something new or having my thoughts turned in a different direction. I love delving into what was going on in the outside world during the time Arthur Conan Doyle was writing these stories. You can’t escape the influence it had on his work.
The topics you've written on for Sherlockian publications are wide-ranging. How do you settle upon a topic to write up?
Often times they are topics I’ve been asked to write about for scion meetings or publications. The two stories I wrote that won The Jan WHIMSEY Award were story summaries I was asked to present at The Priory Scholars of NYC. Bob Katz and Andy Solberg asked me to write two different chapters for the two Nerve and Knowledge books, even though I have no medical background. It was just interesting to research.
But sometimes, I get so fixated on an idea, I just have to write about it. Like the paper I presented at the Scintillation of Scions about how Mary Sutherland was not dumb, but a young girl in love who was taken advantage of. Or the talk I delivered at the BSI dinner in 2019 about how dogs are the under appreciated characters in the canon (Justice for Carlo! Both of them!). I like being both informative and fun in my writing. If I’m not having fun, then why am I doing it?
We often hear recaps of the BSI Weekend from out-of-towners. As a New Yorker yourself, how do locals view the weekend?
I can’t speak for all New York locals, but here’s how I view it: It’s like a great big family reunion descending upon your home. But better, because you don’t have to cook, provide places to sleep for everybody, keep the alcohol flowing, or clean up after everybody has left. You are surrounded by familiar faces, some you only see this one time a year, and you just catch up and have as much fun as you can stand, while trying to pace yourself through 5 days of activities. It’s exhausting and soul-filling at the same time. And when it’s over, you look to the next year when you get to do it all over again.
What book would you recommend to other Sherlockians?
I’ve got two recommendations. The first one, Men Explain Things to Me, by Rebecca Solnit. It’s a book that explores how people communicate and the importance of voices and listening to them. The second recommendation is The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde. It’s about a detective, Thursday Next, and her role in a world that is very literature-obsessed. This book gave me a new way to think about fictional characters and what happens to them after we close the book.
Where do you see Sherlockiana in 5 or 10 years from now?
I have a bit of trouble looking that far ahead to what the Sherlockian world will be like. I think group discussions about the stories and local scions will continue, whether in person or online. New adaptations and pastiches will continue to be created and new audiences will be attracted by them.
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are literary characters who will always be around. I just hope that Sherlockiana can keep attracting a new and more diverse generation of participants. Being a Sherlockian can have financial limitations, especially if you want to participate in the larger activities. I could see that becoming a much bigger hurdle for folks just discovering the Sherlockian world. There are challenges ahead, I think, but I have hope Sherlockiana can continue to evolve with the times.
