"In the New Almanac" [VALL]

by Scott Monty May 09, 2008

Peter Blau very kindly pointed out that Garrison Keillor mentioned The Baker Street Irregulars and Sherlockian societies in a recent episode of The Writer's Almanac on American Public Media. For those of you who don't have access to public radio or whose local markets don't pick it up, not to worry. Such shows typically have the audio available on the Interwebs.

In this case, we've got an audio link to the 5-minute program from May 7, 2008 that you can access by clicking here. You'll need RealAudio to listen. It's a free download and the software is free as well.

The show notes are a little more extensive than Keillor's commentary (after all, he's only got 5 minutes). Here's what he had to say about the BSI and other societies:

Novelist Christopher Morley founded, in 1934, the Baker Street Irregulars to celebrate the work of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and today there are many groups of Sherlockians, including the Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes, who developed in protest to the men-only Baker Street Irregulars. Both of those groups now admit members of both sexes. The London Sherlock Holmes Society, which began in its current incarnation in 1951, has an annual dinner and regular meetings, and produces a Sherlock Holmes Journal twice a year. There are also occasional mock trials, trivia challenges, pub nights, London walks, and cricket matches against the P.G. Wodehouse Society.

I think Christopher Morley would be proud - not necessarily that his creation still lives on - but that he's noted as a novelist.