I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere

"I Would Willingly Give Five Hundred" [REIG]

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500. That's a nice round number. Or half-round if you consider the Roman numeral (D).<br />
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It also happens to be the number of entries we've posted on this site. This is our 500th posting since we opened for business in August 2005 with <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2005/08/the-baker-street-blog_10.html">this little entry</a>. Over the course of the last five years, we've had busy months as well as times of relative drought (mostly related to work duties that kept us otherwise occupied). Now that <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/p/aboutcontribute.html">we have a system in place for contributors</a>, we're confident that we can keep a steady stream of Sherlockian / Holmesian news on its way for you.<br />
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We recently heard from one of our email subscribers that he wasn't aware that he could click in the email. Every time we present a link - whether it's the headline in the email or a hyperlinked bit of text in the entry on the site - it's meant to provide you, dear reader, with more information and context to help bring the article to life. Please feel free to click through.<br />
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<b>"My old favourite" [3GAR]</b><br />
In keeping with the notion of clicking through, we thought we would provide a Baker's [Street] Dozen of our favorite posts from the first 500, in chronological order.<br />
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<ol>
<li><a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2006/12/second-morning-after-christmas-blue_27.html"><b>"The Second Morning After Christmas" [BLUE]</b></a> - 29 December 2006: the first installment of our annual Christmas greeting.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2006/05/is-hobby-of-mine-to-have-exact_24.html"><b>"It Is a Hobby of Mine to Have an Exact Knowledge of London" [REDH]</b></a> - 18 May 2006: a great collection of resources for the Sherlock Holmes fan visiting London.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2006/10/in-music-soli_1.html"><b>"Rejoicing in the Music..." [SOLI]</b></a> - 1 October 2006: music is a passion of ours, and this entry is a look at three soundtracks for Sherlockian works, including stage, screen and television.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2007/02/watson-very-odd-soli_14.html"><b>"Odd, Watson - Very Odd!" [SOLI]</b></a> - 14 February 2007: the discovery of Ernie Gilbert's (an animator for <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fairly-Odd-Parents-Season-2-Disc/dp/B001JAHS7S?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">The Fairly Odd Parents</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B001JAHS7S" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></i> on Nickelodeon) sketches of Sherlock Holmes and the integration of the finished artwork into this site's branding.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2007/04/is-long-row-veil_1.html"><b>"There Is the Long Row..." [VEIL]</b></a> - 1 April 2007: the date should have given it away, but this April Fools Day "news" item was picked up by a handful of entertainment blogs who didn't think to click on the final embedded link in the article.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2007/06/episode-01-welcome-and-introduction.html"><b>"I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere" [GREE]</b></a> - 18 June 2007: the premiere of "the first podcast for Sherlock Holmes devotees, where it's always 1895."</li>
<li><a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2007/07/july-7-hum-sign_7.html"><b>"Date, July 7. Hum!" [SIGN]</b></a> - 7 July 2007: an auspicious day that involved the number 7 and some interesting facts about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fact that we were able to find a Canonical quote with the date in question was even better.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2008/06/passed-over-little-ford-last_19.html"><b>"We Nearly Passed Over a Little Ford" [LAST]</b></a> - 19 June 2008: a more personal one that noted our transition to working for the global company that made one of two automobiles mentioned in the Canon.</li>
<li><b><a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2010/05/fresh-spec_31.html">"Perfectly Fresh" [SPEC]</a></b> - 31 May 2010: the historic transition of the <i><a href="http://www.bakerstreetjournal.com/">Baker Street Journal</a></i> to a new printer with a new format.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2010/10/to-me-than-twitter-illu_25.html"><b>"More To Me Than the Twitter" [ILLU]</b></a> - 25 October 2010: the first use of Twitter as part of a collective viewing experience of a Sherlock Holmes item. In this case, PBS Masterpiece Mystery asked us to host a chat on Twitter while the BBC series "<i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Season-Blu-ray-Benedict-Cumberbatch/dp/B004132I20?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Sherlock</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B004132I20" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></i>" aired. It was an unrivaled success.</li>
<li><b><a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2011/01/all-gossip-is-welcome-vall_31.html">"Where All Gossip Is Welcome" [VALL]</a></b> - 31 January 2011: the official start of our integration of Peter Blau's "Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press," in which we provide a visual of the newsletter as well as links to the sites mentioned within it.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2011/02/little-village-of-meiringen-fina_27.html"><b>"The Little Village of Meiringen" [FINA]</b></a> - 27 February 2011: Sherlockian travel comes of age when Michael Meer, BSI ("The Englisher Hof") creates an interactive Google Map with points of interest for Sherlockians visiting the Meiringen/Interlaken area of Switzerland.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2011/03/intelligence-of-your-correspondent-vall_6.html"><b>"The Intelligence of Your Correspondent" [VALL]</b></a> - 6 March 2011: the announcement that our site would be collectively authored by anyone who presents appropriate credentials. This was supported with the appearance of the <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/p/our-contributors.html" target="_blank">About page</a> at the top of the site, as well as <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/p/new-here.html">New Here?</a> and <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/p/resources.html">Resources</a>.</li>
</ol>
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We're sure there are many more, but these are just the first few that came to mind. But what about you? Is there a past entry here that you particularly enjoyed? If you can't think of one off the top of your head, you can always browse through the Archives section ("File It in Our Archives") over in the right column of the site, or click on the Random button in the toolbar the bottom of your screen, or simply click through some of the boxes at the end of each article captioned "<b>You might also like...</b>"<br />
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Let us know what you've enjoyed so far or what you'd like to see more of in the future by leaving a comment below. Thank you for being part of this amazing journey with us!<br />
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<i>Please consider visiting our sponsors (in the right column and footer of the site) from time to time. It helps defray the costs associated with running this site.</i> <br />
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"I Would Willingly Give Five Hundred" [REIG]

500. That's a nice round number. Or half-round if you consider the Roman numeral (D). It also happens to be the number of entries we...

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by Scott Monty

A Study in Sherlock: New Sherlock Holmes Stories

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"Some really extraordinary stories" [STOC]</h4>
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<img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0812982460" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />From the <a href="http://baker-street.org.uk/2011/03/a-study-in-sherlock/">Baker Street Supper Club</a>, March 19th:<br />
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<blockquote>
“For those of you already compiling your Christmas gift lists, Random House will be publishing a new anthology of stories inspired by Holmes canon, just in time for the holiday season.<br />
 <b><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Study-Sherlock-Laurie-R-King/dp/0812982460?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">A Study in Sherlock</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0812982460" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></i></b> features contributions from well known authors such as Neil Gaiman, Lee Child, Alan Bradley and many more. The anthology has been compiled by Laurie R. King, award winning writer of the Mary Russell and Kate Martinelli novels, and Leslie S. Klinger, world renowned Holmes expert and editor of The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes.<br />
 The collection will be published in December 2011 and is available to pre-order from Amazon now. For more details and future teasers from the book please visit the <a href="http://astudyinsherlock.com/">A Study in Sherlock</a> blog.”</blockquote>
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The publication date above is for the UK. According to Amazon.com, it will be released in the US on October 25th, 2011. On the <a href="http://astudyinsherlock.com/">A Study in Sherlock</a> blog, Laurie R. King says this about the stories in the anthology:<br />
<blockquote>
“They’re all fabulous. Absolutely great.<br />
Neil Gaiman writes about bees, China, and A Certain Beekeeper. Tom Perry set his story in 1901 Buffalo, New York. SJ Rozan’s is built around “The Man With the Crooked Lip.” Dana Stabenow’s Kate Shugak meets “The Eyak Interpreter.” Colin Cotterill did us a graphic story—that’s graphic as in drawings, not as in overt gore. And the 90 files he sent his story in has given Random House a…challenge (better them than me, thank heavens.) And by way of bonus, Les Klinger and I did an introduction—plus, there’s Twinterview (an interview, in 140 characters) between Les and Mary Russell!”</blockquote>
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Interested? Head over to <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Study-Sherlock-Laurie-R-King/dp/0812982460?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Amazon.com</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0812982460" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /> for price info and to pre-order. And for more with the other co-editor Les Klinger, check out <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2011/03/episode-31-chat-with-les-klinger.html">Episode 31 of I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere</a>.<br />
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<i>Editor's note: Kate writes at <a href="http://www.thediaryofdrwatts.com/">The Diary of Dr. Watts</a>. If you would like to be considered as a contributor to the Baker Street Blog, please see the <a href="http://www.bakerstreetblog.com/p/about-me.html">About page</a> above.</i><br />
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<i>Please consider visiting our sponsors (in the right column and footer of the site, as well as any Amazon.com links) from time to time. It helps defray the costs associated with running this site.</i><br />
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A Study in Sherlock: New Sherlock Holmes Stories

"Some really extraordinary stories" [STOC] From the Baker Street Supper Club , March 19th: “For those of you already compi...

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by Katie Magnusson

"Goaded it to Fresh Madness" [STUD]

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIsgb2Z05PvZVGLRJo6U7STZ-lIl7rBLAeVEC9U8yeI2fUet_hCkJGA1oyeV4KQdW2KIJyIHiX4t68rUwJKOvJ6Z6ifgHz1VBncglJXGO7QvVDO9lB8IxOo9L6qyhdUY7P4_42CEmOdyZf/s1600/Blistervilles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIsgb2Z05PvZVGLRJo6U7STZ-lIl7rBLAeVEC9U8yeI2fUet_hCkJGA1oyeV4KQdW2KIJyIHiX4t68rUwJKOvJ6Z6ifgHz1VBncglJXGO7QvVDO9lB8IxOo9L6qyhdUY7P4_42CEmOdyZf/s320/Blistervilles.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/82181006@N00/5547461509/">kirinqueen (Flickr)</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0843100591" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />Some of you remember <b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&search-alias=aps&field-keywords=Mad%20libs" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mad Libs</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0843100591" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></b>, that fun series of books that combined storytelling, humor and the  knowledge of grammar for some fun road trips or sleepovers. Over time, the Mad Libs formula has worked its way into <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Libs-Roger-Price/dp/084313271X?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Star Wars</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=084313271X" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/SpongeBob-SquarePants-Libs-Roger-Price/dp/0843121270?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Spongebob Squarepants</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0843121270" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/iCarly-Mad-Libs-Roger-Price/dp/0843133562?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">iCarly</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0843133562" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /> and more.<br />
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Well now it seems that you can have fun with the Canon by participating in <a href="http://clozedbooks.com/the-adventures-of-sherlock-holmes/"><b>The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes as Mad Libs</b></a>. Francis Cleary has started <a href="http://clozedbooks.com/">ClozedBooks.com</a>, in which you - yes, you! - can help create Mad Lib versions of the stories. He has already finished "<a href="http://clozedbooks.com/the-adventures-of-sherlock-holmes/a-scandal-in-bohemia/read/" target="_blank">A Scandal in Bohemia</a>" with the help of a handful of participants. You can read the Mad Lib version by clicking through.<br />
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Other tales are in the process of being written: "The Red-Headed League," "A Case of Identity," "The Boscombe Valley Mystery," and "The Speckled Band." If you head over there now, you can suggest nouns, verbs and adjectives to be used within the stories. Participants have the choice of logging in with Facebook or Twitter, or contributing anonymously; those who do log in will be given credits on each story's title page.<br />
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We think this is a fun way to enjoy the core of the Canon that we all know so well. While we're not certain what level of editing or screening goes into the vetting of grammatical phrases, we'll see what a crowdsourcing exercise does for it.<br />
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<i>Please consider visiting our sponsors (in the right column and footer of the site) from time to time. It helps defray the costs associated with running this site.</i> <br />
<i><br />
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"Goaded it to Fresh Madness" [STUD]

Photo credit: kirinqueen (Flickr) Some of you remember Mad Libs , that fun series of books that combined storytelling, humor and the kno...

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by Scott Monty

"Rare Fits of Laughter" [STUD]

"Rare Fits of Laughter" [STUD]

Photo credit: David Jensen [Editor's note: This is Gordon's first post for us. He'll be covering the intersection of Sherlock Ho...

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by Scott Monty

"The Skull Was of Enormous Capacity" [DYIN]

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGFnJLNJoEdid4JLbD_KFDiUWok1aY1LMpdRunUWJRTrdgAQf9oljzFlv-Cv5uYQ2G-3IopCvge_4BQfQW_5j0_Pe-XgU5wu2DcVoJvsRb72wK1e_E1uk9EupL0k-zNyykaOUwuTjDvoxR/s1600/FINA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGFnJLNJoEdid4JLbD_KFDiUWok1aY1LMpdRunUWJRTrdgAQf9oljzFlv-Cv5uYQ2G-3IopCvge_4BQfQW_5j0_Pe-XgU5wu2DcVoJvsRb72wK1e_E1uk9EupL0k-zNyykaOUwuTjDvoxR/s200/FINA.jpg" width="100" /></a></div>It's always reassuring when we can find scientific validation of long-held commonly accepted truths. But it's quite another thing when we discover that what we accepted as fact is In a recent study by the <a href="http://www.sanger.ac.uk/">Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute</a>, scientists found that brain size and function are not correlated.<br /><br />The scientists who conducted the study determined that it is a matter of processing power rather than size that makes a difference. The estimated that approximately 37% of the population has a below-average size head, which had previously meant that they were considered intellectually inferior.<br /><br />This assumption is something that makes a few appearances in the Canon. For example, when Henry Baker lost his hat in "<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Sherlock-Holmes-Carbuncle-Beeches/dp/B00005O5CQ?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">The Blue Carbuncle</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B00005O5CQ" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></b>," Sherlock Holmes thought that he was highly intelligent. The exchange between Holmes and Watson:<br /><blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkw16hRW3x38QYlR5npS56gPz1ml1kUOjpUY6fkPj6OuazyjSSorFCZi12rdzTVsAHt2JWCErP1l4XFDAwzjEyZAf5QRaJmJsac55GYeeoMiyVidZwaH2nP1uYNZDdEoKT9sgQHky38f55/s1600/cubiccapacity.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkw16hRW3x38QYlR5npS56gPz1ml1kUOjpUY6fkPj6OuazyjSSorFCZi12rdzTVsAHt2JWCErP1l4XFDAwzjEyZAf5QRaJmJsac55GYeeoMiyVidZwaH2nP1uYNZDdEoKT9sgQHky38f55/s200/cubiccapacity.PNG" width="200" /></a></div>"I have no doubt that I am very stupid; but I must confess that I am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that this man was intellectual?"<br />   For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right over the forehead and settled upon the bridge of his nose. "It is a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a brain must have something in it."</blockquote>But clearly, Holmes wasn't alone in his assumption that a large skull meant a superior intellect. In "<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Sherlock-Resident-Patient-Red-Headed/dp/B000060MV1?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">The Final Problem</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B000060MV1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></b>," Professor Moriarty's first words upon meeting Sherlock Holmes were<br /><blockquote>"You have less frontal development than I should have expected."</blockquote><br />Dr. Mortimer also commented on the shape Sherlock Holmes's head in <i><b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hound-Baskervilles-Sherlock-Holmes-Mystery/dp/193659403X?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">The Hound of the Baskervilles</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=193659403X" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></b></i>, noting the relatively long shape compared to the width:<br /><blockquote>"You interest me very much, Mr. Holmes. I had hardly expected so dolichocephalic a skull or such well-marked supra-orbital development."</blockquote>Even among the highly intelligent Sherlock Holmes, Professor Moriarty and Dr. Mortimer, we can forgive them for being products of their age. Interesting that it has taken over 100 years for the facts to come to light. We wonder what other Canonical assumptions are no longer valid...<br /><br /><i>Please consider visiting our sponsors (in the right column and footer of the site) from time to time. It helps defray the costs associated with running this site.</i> <br /><i><br /></i><br /><i><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thebakerstree-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=0262710102&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe>  <iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thebakerstree-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B00005O5CQ&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe>  <iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thebakerstree-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=193659403X&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe></i><br />--

"The Skull Was of Enormous Capacity" [DYIN]

It's always reassuring when we can find scientific validation of long-held commonly accepted truths. But it's quite another thing wh...

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by Scott Monty

The Sherlock Holmes Drinking Game

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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: start;">"Drinking his beer" [SOLI]</span></h4>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wsmonty/4181727669/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="abbe-04 by Scott Monty, on Flickr"><img alt="abbe-04" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2570/4181727669_1cec6daccd_m.jpg" /></a></div>
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[<i>Editor's note: this is the first contribution by Kate, who writes at <a href="http://www.thediaryofdrwatts.com/">The Diary of Dr. Watts</a>. If you would like to be considered as a contributor to I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere, please see the <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/p/aboutcontribute.html" target="_blank">Contribute page</a> above.</i>]<br /><br />In the United States at least, Saint Patrick’s Day (March 17th) has become a comically irreverent excuse to wear ridiculous hats, paint oneself green and consume excessive amounts of alcohol. If you are a Sherlockian who intends to participate in this silly but entertaining tradition, I suggest taking a look at the “Sherlock Holmes Drinking Game.”<br /><br />Take along your copy of the Canon to a party or a pub, choose your favorite case and have your friends take turns reading aloud - or if you happen to be dramatically inclined, do it yourself. The important thing is to have fun with it!<br /><br />The rules are as follows:<br /><ol>
<li>Take one drink every time Holmes makes an amazing deduction </li>
<li>Take one drink every time Holmes speaks badly about the police </li>
<li>Take one drink every time Holmes lets a perpetrator go free </li>
<li>Take one drink every time Holmes chastises Watson for not 'observing' </li>
<li>Take one drink every time someone rushes into the rooms at 221B </li>
<li>Take one drink every time Holmes and/or Watson dash off in a hansom cab </li>
</ol>
<br />The creator of this game is <a href="http://www.examiner.com/sherlock-holmes-in-national/jill-brumer">Jill Brumer, “Sherlock Holmes Examiner” on Examiner.com</a>. You can find her article <a href="http://www.examiner.com/sherlock-holmes-in-national/sherlck-holmes-fans-21-up-the-sherlock-holmes-drinking-game-has-arrived">introducing the game</a> and from there you can find some inventive cocktail recipes inspired by the adventures. Ms. Brumer is making her way through the Canon, creating a drink to go with each story and providing an account of every drink taken. Even if you don’t drink, it’s an entertaining read. As she says at the start of her article for “The Blue Carbuncle,” “I knew my interest in both drinking and Sherlock Holmes would pay off eventually.”<div>
<br /><i>Note: I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere does not advocate for the consumption of alcohol. Please behave responsibly and take heed of all local laws and ordinances. Know your limits and don't overimbibe.</i><br />
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The Sherlock Holmes Drinking Game

"Drinking his beer" [SOLI] [ Editor's note: this is the first contribution by Kate, who writes at The Diary of Dr. Wat...

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by Katie Magnusson

"A Crack in One of His Own High-Power Lenses" [SCAN]

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1421498903/darleneredcoat2018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1421498903/darleneredcoat2018.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"></span><br />
<div style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"><span style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; line-height: 1.5;"><span _mce_style="color: #333399;" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">[<i>Editor's note: This is an interview with Darlene Cypser, Author of </i><strong style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Crack-Lens-Darlene-Cypser/dp/0971855250?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">The Crack in the Lens</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0971855250" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></strong><i> - a New Novel about Sherlock Holmes - that originally appeared on the LondonW1 blog by Marc, who joins us as a regular correspondent.</i>]</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"><span style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; line-height: 1.5;"><span _mce_style="color: #333399;" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;"><strong style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">W1: Hi Darlene, Welcome to LondonW1, Tells us a bit about yourself:</strong></span></span></div><div class="mceTemp" draggable="" style="line-height: 1.5;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; line-height: 1.5;"><span _mce_style="color: #333399;" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">DC: I am 53 years old. I currently live in Colorado but I mostly grew up in Poughkeepsie, New York. I read everything when I was a child. In my early teens I went through a Ellery Queen streak and then Nero Wolfe and eventually ended up reading W.S. Baring-Gould's biography of Sherlock Holmes. Baring-Gould's book puts an entirely different spin on Sherlock Holmes. When you write a biography you are no longer thinking in terms of individual adventures but rather of reconstructing a mans' life. It was from that book that I learned of the existence of the "Baker Street Irregulars" organization of Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts who "play the game" that Holmes was a real person and study his life and works. There are local Sherlock Holmes groups across the US and many of them are considered "scions" (It means "offspring".) of BSI. I started attending meetings of one of those when I was in my teens. I read and re-read the Canon, but I also read the "Higher Criticism" -- essays written by such scholars about Sherlock Holmes, and of course read many pastiches and saw many movies. I wrote my own first scholarly essays (called "trifling monographs" after a comment by Holmes) in the 1980s. I began my collection of Sherlock Holmes books, movies and memorabilia in the mid-1970s. More details on my Sherlockian background <a href="http://www.theconsultingdetective.com/shessay1.html">can be found on this webpage</a>. </span></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"><span style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; line-height: 1.5;"><span _mce_style="color: #333399;" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;"><strong style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;"></strong></span></span><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="more"></a><span style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; line-height: 1.5;"><span _mce_style="color: #333399;" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;"><strong style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;"><br />
</strong></span></span> <span style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; line-height: 1.5;"><span _mce_style="color: #333399;" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;"><strong style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">W1: What was the first SH Adventure and what grabbed your attention?</strong></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"><span style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; line-height: 1.5;"><span _mce_style="color: #333399;" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">I don't remember what was the first Sherlock Holmes story I read. It would have been over 40 years ago. I think I had read most of them at some time before I encountered Baring-Gould's biography which is what really intrigued me. To me it is the characters of Holmes and Watson that are most interesting. The cases are fun but it is Holmes and Watson that keep us following along.</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"><span style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; line-height: 1.5;"><span _mce_style="color: #333399;" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;"><strong style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">W1: What inspired you to start writing a SH story?</strong></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Crack-Lens-Darlene-Cypser/dp/0971855250?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="The Crack in the Lens" height="200" src="http://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=0971855250&tag=thebakerstree-20" width="133" /></a><span style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; line-height: 1.5;"><span _mce_style="color: #333399;" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">DC: You need to understand that my book is not a Sherlock Holmes mystery <img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0971855250" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />where he solves crimes. In fact the mysteries that arise in <i>The Crack in the Lens</i> are <b><i>not</i></b> solved in the book. Sherlock Holmes is an unusual man.  He has trained himself in the skills he needs to be a detective at a time when no one really thought such skills were useful. He is not a sociable man. He has few friends. He does not date women. He hides his inner emotions and even Watson rarely sees them. The question in my mind was: "How did Sherlock Holmes become the man we know?" That question went around and around in my head over 27 years ago. As I read the Canon, ideas about the answer to that question came to me and I started keeping notes. </span></span><br />
<span style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; line-height: 1.5;"><span _mce_style="color: #333399;" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;"><br />
</span></span> <span style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; line-height: 1.5;"><span _mce_style="color: #333399;" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">Eventually in my mind I started to feel like I knew the character of the younger, more open Sherlock Holmes and how he changed into the man that Dr. Watson knew. Other characters sprang up and the story unfolded. However, I knew that in order to write the story properly I needed to do a lot of research about the time and the place. I've never been to Yorkshire.  So I had to learn about the country, what it looks like and how the people live and speak. I taught myself to write broad Yorkshire dialect and then later had to tone it down substantially because most the readers (from the UK, USA, Canada and Australia) could read it! I had to learn about the behavior of the different classes of British society at the time. It took many, many years of research to understand Sherlock Holmes' world but many people have commented that the result is a world that is realistic and believable. Arthur Conan Doyle did not to do that research because he was writing about the time and the places he lived.  It is harder to write about a time and place that is 140 years ago and thousands of miles away.</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"><span style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; line-height: 1.5;"><span _mce_style="color: #333399;" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;"><strong style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">W1: Clive Merrison is an excellent Sherlock Holmes in the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Sherlock-Holmes-Radio-Collection/dp/0563525207?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">audio book series by Bert Coules</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0563525207" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />, would you like the book to be made in to audio drama?</strong></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"><span style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; line-height: 1.5;"><span _mce_style="color: #333399;" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">DC: I heard that BBC radio had recorded the entire Canon a few years back but radio stations that play dramas are rare in the US these days. So I have not heard them. I'll have to buy the CDs sometime. I have some interest in converting my book to an audio drama in a year or two. Since Sherlock is a 17-year-old boy in <i>The Crack in the Lens</i> I would probably need someone younger to pay that part.  I am a movie producer, so I have contacts with a lot of actors and have access to audio equipment.  So it would not be that difficult.</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"><span style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; line-height: 1.5;"><span _mce_style="color: #333399;" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;"><strong style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">W1: Any thoughts on Anthony Horowitz being the chosen by the estate to make a ‘Holmes return’ and do you think it will ever be seen as Canon?</strong></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"><span style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; line-height: 1.5;"><span _mce_style="color: #333399;" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">DC: I have never read any of Horowitz's writing, so I am not familiar with his style or his skills at adapting to other styles. No, it won't ever be Canon. It would be just another pastiche, whether a good one or a bad one, is to be seen.</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"><span style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; line-height: 1.5;"><span _mce_style="color: #333399;" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;"><strong style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">W1: If you had to take a vacation with Holmes or Watson which would it be and why?</strong></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"><span style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; line-height: 1.5;"><span _mce_style="color: #333399;" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">DC: I would prefer to follow Holmes around and learn from him.</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"><span style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; line-height: 1.5;"><span _mce_style="color: #333399;" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;"><strong style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">W1: What is your favourite SH Adventure?</strong></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"><span style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; line-height: 1.5;"><span _mce_style="color: #333399;" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">DC: That is really hard to say. There are some I like better than others but no single one stands out. Among my favorites are the 4 novels: <i>A Study in Scarlet</i>, <i>The Sign of Four</i>, <i>The Hound of the Baskervilles</i> and <i>The Valley of Fear</i>, plus "The Copper Beeches," "The Speckled Band," and "The Devils Foot."</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"><span style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; line-height: 1.5;"><span _mce_style="color: #333399;" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;"><strong style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">W1: There have been many who have played Holmes but who is your favourite?</strong></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"><span style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; line-height: 1.5;"><span _mce_style="color: #333399;" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">DC: Oh, I have several. I do like what Benedict Cumberbatch is doing with the character currently. Jeremy Brett was very good but I also like Basil Rathbone and Ronald Howard.</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"><span style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; line-height: 1.5;"><span _mce_style="color: #333399;" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;"><strong style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">W1: And will be seeing any more Holmes Novel?</strong></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"><span style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; line-height: 1.5;"><span _mce_style="color: #333399;" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">DC: Yes, there is a trilogy that follows after <i>The Crack in the Lens</i>.  It is 3 books that cover Sherlock's years at University, his acting career and the early years of his career at Montague Street. <i>The Crack in the Lens</i> ends with Sherlock emotionally and physically devastated.  In the following books we see him rebuild his life and gradually become the man Dr. Watson meets in 1881. In fact the last book of the trilogy ends at the moment Holmes and Watson meet.</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"><span style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; line-height: 1.5;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span _mce_style="color: #333399;" style="line-height: 1.5;">Thank for all your time Darlene and keep us up to date on further writings...many thanks...</span>W1</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"><span style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; line-height: 1.5;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;"><a _mce_href="http://www.thecrackinthelens.com/buy.html" href="http://www.thecrackinthelens.com/buy.html" style="line-height: 1.5;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 1.5;">Buy </span><i style="line-height: 1.5;">The Crack in the Lens</i></a></span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; line-height: 1.5;"><b><i>If you would like to contribute to the Baker Street Blog, <a href="http://www.bakerstreetblog.com/p/about-me.html">please visit our About page</a> by clicking here or the link at the top of the site. There you'll find a form you may submit for consideration.</i></b></span><br />
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</span> <span style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; line-height: 1.5;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">--</span></span><br />
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"A Crack in One of His Own High-Power Lenses" [SCAN]

[ Editor's note: This is an interview with Darlene Cypser, Author of The Crack in the Lens - a New Novel about Sherlock Holmes - that ...

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by Scott Monty

Episode 31: A Chat with Les Klinger

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We are delighted to bring you one of the greats of the Sherlockian world in this episode - none other than the Edgar-winning editor Leslie Klinger, BSI, 2s ("The Abbey Grange"). And while it's tempting to craft these show notes entirely out of endnotes and footnotes, we'll give you some meaty content.<br />
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Les Klinger is one of the foremost living experts on Sherlock Holmes, having edited a number of books related to the great detective. He also has a vast knowledge of Dracula and has contributed to the literature of that subject as well. We have a representative listing of his works in the links section below.<br />
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Les is the editor of the three-volume set <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/New-Annotated-Sherlock-Holmes-Complete/dp/0393059162?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0393059162" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></i> and the ten-volume <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&search-alias=aps&field-keywords=Sherlock%20Holmes%20Reference%20Library" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes Reference Library</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />. He has written numerous books and articles on Sherlockiana and co-edited with Andrew Jay Peck, BSI ("Inspector Baynes, Surrey Constabulary") the revised edition of <i>The Date Being--?: A Compendium of Sherlockian Chronologies</i> and <i>Sherlock Holmes, Conan Doyle & The Bookman: An Anthology of Literary Treasures (1895-1933)</i> with S.E. Dahlinger. He has taught several UCLA Extension courses on "Sherlock Holmes and His World" and has consulted with Warner Bros. on the Sherlock Holmes film series with Robert Downey, Jr. He is co-editing an anthology of Victorian detective stories for IDW Publishing. Les has written <a href="http://www.amazon.com/New-Annotated-Dracula-Bram-Stoker/dp/0393064506?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">The New Annotated Dracula</a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-color: initial !important; border-width: initial !important;"><i><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0393064506" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></i></span> and is also editing an anthology of Victorian vampire stories for IDW Publishing. He served as the Series Editor for the BSI Manuscript Series and is currently the editor of the BSI's History Series. With Laurie R. King, he co-editing <i>The Grand Game</i> and the duo is currently co-editing a collection of original Sherlock Holmes-inspired short stories called <i>A Study in Sherlock</i>, due out from Random House in December 2011.<br />
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Les joins us for a very robust discussion of his passion - mostly editing, writing and lecturing about Sherlock Holmes and Dracula - passions that have seemingly been fueled by a lack of weekend activities of this practicing attorney. He shares with us the beginnings of his interest, the growth of his writing and editing responsibilities and eventual academic post involving Sherlock Holmes, and has recommendations as to where new Sherlockians can get started.<br />
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We also have a wonderful audio comment from a listener.<br />
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<b>Links:</b><br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fgp%2Fentity%2FLeslie-S.-Klinger%2FB002LABYP2%3Fie%3DUTF8%26ref_%3Dsr_ntt_srch_lnk_1%26qid%3D1299722576%26sr%3D8-1&tag=thebakerstree-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957">Leslie S. Klinger on Amazon</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=ur2&o=1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></li>
<li><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/New-Annotated-Sherlock-Holmes-Complete/dp/0393059162?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0393059162" style="border-bottom-style: none !important; border-color: initial !important; border-left-style: none !important; border-right-style: none !important; border-top-style: none !important; border-width: initial !important; cursor: move; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /></i></li>
<li><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&search-alias=aps&field-keywords=Sherlock%20Holmes%20Reference%20Library" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes Reference Library</a></span></i></li>
<li><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><a href="http://wessexpress.com/html/bookman.html">Sherlock Holmes, Conan Doyle & The Bookman: An Anthology of Literary Treasures (1895-1933)</a></i></span></i></li>
<li><i><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/New-Annotated-Dracula-Bram-Stoker/dp/0393064506?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">The New Annotated Dracula</a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-color: initial !important; border-width: initial !important;"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0393064506" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span></span></i></li>
<li><i><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-color: initial !important; border-width: initial !important;"><a href="http://bakerstreetjournal.com/grandgamev1.html">The Grand Game: A Celebration of Sherlockian Scholarship Volume 1: 1902-1959</a></span></span></i></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://bakerstreetjournal.com/itemsforsale/bsimanuscriptseries.html">The BSI Manuscript Series</a></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://bakerstreetjournal.com/itemsforsale/bsihistoryseries.html">The BSI History Series</a></span></li>
</ul>
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<a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2011/04/episode-32-untitled-les-klinger-sequel.html" target="_blank">Part II of this interview can be found here</a>.<br />
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--

Episode 31: A Chat with Les Klinger

We are delighted to bring you one of the greats of the Sherlockian world in this episode - none other than the Edgar-winning editor Leslie...

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by Scott Monty

The Undershaw Preservation Trust

<h4 style="text-align: center;">"an effort to preserve it" [IDEN]</h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmBsOzdNlrszMlJ16Ad_Z942Ha6kaItzY9_QKdOS-UxnVNRD_9nn1fv7AXRClSHS6rXK8WTnpW3cM0DXyRTio1UbqoYcZCEM0lAhtvT_Wt8aMd1iP7G91HxNNhTQZ_f5wipSmdm11xV-Rk/s1600/Undershaw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="470" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmBsOzdNlrszMlJ16Ad_Z942Ha6kaItzY9_QKdOS-UxnVNRD_9nn1fv7AXRClSHS6rXK8WTnpW3cM0DXyRTio1UbqoYcZCEM0lAhtvT_Wt8aMd1iP7G91HxNNhTQZ_f5wipSmdm11xV-Rk/s640/Undershaw.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>[<i>Editor's note: Jacquelynn Morris, ASH is an Undershaw Preservation Trust Representative—Maryland, USA. She is also the sparking plug behind <a href="http://www.watsonstinbox.org/a-scintillation-of-scions.html">A Scintillation of Scions</a>.</i>]<br />
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<blockquote>It was an old, tumbledown building in a crazy state of disrepair… the grass-grown drive in front of the blotched and weather-stained door…the whole place was depressing.</blockquote><br />
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle once wrote these words about <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Adventure-Wisteria-Lodge-Dodo-Press/dp/1406556076?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Wisteria Lodge</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1406556076" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />, but they have come to be sadly prophetic about a house nearer and dearer to his heart. Not Wisteria Lodge, but <b><a href="http://www.saveundershaw.com/">Undershaw</a></b>, the home designed by and lived in by Conan Doyle and his family for over ten years, during which time he wrote some of his most memorable work.<br />
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Undershaw came into being after a conversation Conan Doyle had with his friend, novelist Grant Allen, in 1895. Allen suffered from tuberculosis, the illness which left Conan Doyle’s wife, Louise, an invalid for the last 15 years of her life. In this conversation Conan Doyle had with Allen, Allen claimed the healthy air of <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Hindhead+surrey+england&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=Hindhead,+Surrey,+UK&gl=us&ei=E3dwTfftGM-ftwfU2bWNDw&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CBcQ8gEwAA">Hindhead</a>, in Surrey, England, cured him of tuberculosis.<br />
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At a time when wealthy tuberculosis sufferers were encouraged to go to the Swiss Alps for a better chance of survival, Conan Doyle himself had taken to moving the family about for Louise’s health from Switzerland to Egypt. Hindhead certainly offered an alternative closer to London.<br />
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Immediately after this conversation with Grant Allen, Conan Doyle visited Hindhead, about 40 miles south of London, and decided it was his “English Switzerland.” He purchased a plot of land where he planned to have a house built and drafted the first designs of the house himself before passing them on to architect and friend Joseph Henry Ball to complete.<br />
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<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2peXAVNQdwDsmkDUnfD5t3KlOGIIOCExBPN-cvImfFYM_lFCyAgsGiqIbHPbfW5sFzHOekRqhQtJ6kAsgvEk7xac_Ya7jun1p-8APPRoXNej9PYf3poBpRyjDSB-c9YbCSbAJ6dYksavr/s1600/b_undershaw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2peXAVNQdwDsmkDUnfD5t3KlOGIIOCExBPN-cvImfFYM_lFCyAgsGiqIbHPbfW5sFzHOekRqhQtJ6kAsgvEk7xac_Ya7jun1p-8APPRoXNej9PYf3poBpRyjDSB-c9YbCSbAJ6dYksavr/s1600/b_undershaw.jpg" /></a></div>In his autobiography, <b><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sir-Arthur-Conan-Doyle-Adventures/dp/184022570X?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Memories and Adventures</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=184022570X" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></i></b>, Conan Doyle describes the house as “a considerable mansion…planned upon a large scale.” The house was built on a four-acre site, facing south toward woods and the heath. Conan Doyle wanted a comfortable modern house to entertain family and friends as well as to allow Louise a quiet place to rest. When completed, the substantial gabled red-brick house was approached from a winding drive. There was an impressive two-story entrance hall where there was displayed a collection of swords as well as a series of stained glass windows with what Conan Doyle considered his family coat of arms. The house included eleven bedrooms and dressing rooms, a dining room that could seat 30, Conan Doyle’s study, a wood-paneled drawing room, a billiard room, substantial servants’ quarters, and a power plant to provide electricity to the house. Also on the grounds were a four-room lodge, a stable which held six horses, a coach house, a garage, a magnificent railway on the grounds to delight his children, and a tennis court. With Louise’s ill health in mind, doors that hinged both ways were installed per Conan Doyle’s instructions, and the house’s main staircase was built with shallow steps to allow her to ascend and descend with relative ease.<br />
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Sir Arthur named the house “Undershaw,” from the word “shaw,” meaning a small copse or wood. Conan Doyle writes: “…we moved into the new house, which I called Undershaw—a new word, I think, and yet one which described it exactly in good Anglo-Saxon, since it stood under a hanging grove of trees.”<br />
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Once the Conan Doyle family took up residence in Undershaw they began receiving visitors. At first it was mostly family, but one of their first non-family visitors was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Paget">Sidney Paget</a>, illustrator of the majority of Holmes stories and who had been commissioned by Conan Doyle to paint his portrait. J.M. Barrie, who wrote <i><b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Peter-Pan-100th-Anniversary-Barrie/dp/0805072454?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Peter Pan</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0805072454" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></b></i>, was also a guest at Undershaw, as were both Virginia Woolf and Bram Stoker, creator of Dracula, who said about Undershaw:<br />
<blockquote>It is so sheltered from cold winds that the architect felt justified in having lots of windows, so that the whole place is full of light. Nevertheless, it is cosy and snug to a remarkable degree and has everywhere that sense of “home” which is so delightful to occupant and stranger alike… </blockquote><br />
Stoker describes the view at Undershaw:<br />
<blockquote>…an endless sea of greenery, ranges of hills piling up one behind the other, in undulations of varying blue. An expanse which, whether seen from near or far, in unity or detail, simply ravishes the eye with its myriad beauties.</blockquote><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Great-Boer-Arthur-Conan-Doyle/dp/1147178933?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="The Great Boer War" src="http://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=1147178933&tag=thebakerstree-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1147178933" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />Conan Doyle wrote <b><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Great-Boer-Arthur-Conan-Doyle/dp/1147178933?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Great Boer War</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1147178933" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></i></b> there in 1900, after his time as a volunteer physician in South Africa during the war. <i>The Great Boer War</i> became influential in military reforms, when Conan Doyle suggested use of camouflage and advised against continued use of cavalry swords. He felt that all Englishmen should be marksmen, forming the Undershaw Rifle Club where he held bi-weekly training sessions and provided, at his own expense, firearms and ammunition. The rifle club had over 300 members and became an example followed by other communities across England; this served the country well when Englishmen trained in marksmanship joined the British Army at the start of the First World War.<br />
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Undershaw was where Conan Doyle lived when he received the knighthood in 1902. It was where he learned to drive a motorcar as one of Hindhead’s first motorists, and it was in the driveway of Undershaw where Conan Doyle had his first car crash in 1905.<br />
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Undershaw was where Conan Doyle’s children, Mary and Kingsley, grew up and where his wife, Louise, spent the last years of her life.<br />
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It was from Undershaw that Conan Doyle championed the cause of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Conan-Doyle-Parsons-Son-George/dp/1843862417?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">George Edalji</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1843862417" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />, falsely imprisoned for animal mutilation.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hound-Baskervilles-First-American/dp/1131210344?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="The Hound of the Baskervilles ( First American Edition )" src="http://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=1131210344&tag=thebakerstree-20" /></a><b><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hound-Baskervilles-Sherlock-Holmes-Mystery/dp/193659403X?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><br />
</a></i></b><b><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hound-Baskervilles-Sherlock-Holmes-Mystery/dp/193659403X?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1131210344" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />The Hound of the Baskervilles</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=193659403X" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></i></b> was written at Undershaw. Holmes was resurrected in "The Adventure of the Empty House" at Undershaw in 1903, and Conan Doyle went on to write the 13 stories of <b><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Return-Sherlock-Holmes-Collection/dp/B00009WVO2?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">The Return of Sherlock Holmes</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B00009WVO2" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></i></b> while in residence.<br />
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It was also at Undershaw where Conan Doyle first considered writing a play about Sherlock Holmes. Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, one of the great figures of the English theatre, was interested in the play but wanted the character of Holmes adapted to his own acting style. Conan Doyle refused. About this he said,<br />
<blockquote>Rather than re-write it on lines which would make a different Holmes from my Holmes, I would without the slightest pang put it back in the drawer.</blockquote>Although Conan Doyle would not change Holmes himself (even though he professed disdain for the character), he later allowed actor William Gillette to change Holmes and allow him to be engaged to be married at the end of the play (famously replying to Gillette’s telegram “MAY I MARRY HOLMES?”, Conan Doyle said, “YOU MAY MARRY HIM OR MURDER HIM OR DO ANYTHING YOU LIKE WITH HIM”). Gillette’s portrayal of Holmes became legendary and even iconic, introducing the calabash pipe to our perception of Holmes as Gillette preferred not to block his face with any other style of pipe.<br />
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After Louise finally succumbed to illness in 1907, Conan Doyle sold Undershaw and his life went in a different direction with his new wife, Jean Leckie. Undershaw was sold again in 1924, and until 2004 the house was used as a small country hotel and restaurant, when it was once again purchased by a developer. It has languished in neglect in the years since then.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggE8Bf8EdQu0jme65PO0BH9PYeUHnl8CGTpiPrjCorC_akLAVdzDOOLfy_U_KBdzzBFH2gOnio0TEHXGtj0oEBB2TBNn1qL11xg_Hvg9_j7JiIVjhLlphHMCg-yHgmsno18X5MAOYE_mve/s1600/Undershaw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggE8Bf8EdQu0jme65PO0BH9PYeUHnl8CGTpiPrjCorC_akLAVdzDOOLfy_U_KBdzzBFH2gOnio0TEHXGtj0oEBB2TBNn1qL11xg_Hvg9_j7JiIVjhLlphHMCg-yHgmsno18X5MAOYE_mve/s1600/Undershaw.jpg" /></a></div>Today, Undershaw stands sorrowfully empty, neglected and vandalized. The three-story red-brick structure forlornly awaits its fate, with boarded-up windows and an overgrown yard, sadly bringing to mind Wisteria Lodge. Lead has been stolen from the roof, graffiti has marred the walls, windows have been broken and water has leaked in nearly every room. Promises by the owner/developer for upkeep of Undershaw have been poorly implemented, forcing the Waverley Borough Council to take some measures to at least secure the building from further damage.<br />
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<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1257565/Its-mystery-stump-Sherlock-Holmes-Why-earth-letting-Conan-Doyles-home-fall-ruin.html"><b><i>Robert Hardman</i></b> of the <i>The Daily Mail</i> wrote</a>:<br />
<blockquote>The imposing late Victorian house…is boarded up, dilapidated…How on earth could a nation which has produced the most famous character in modern fiction—inspiring a record 223 films and 400 fan clubs worldwide—simply stand by while his creator’s legacy is erased?</blockquote><br />
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<center><iframe frameborder="0" height="285" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/11360128" width="500"></iframe></center><center><a href="http://vimeo.com/11360128">Save Undershaw</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user762441">WetherbyPond</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a></center>.<br />
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Some of us cannot “simply stand by.” In August 2009 <b><a href="http://www.saveundershaw.com/">Undershaw Preservation Trust</a></b>, or UPT, was formed by <b><i>John Gibson</i></b>, author of 5 books on Conan Doyle, some with his friend, the late Richard Lancelyn Green. John Gibson is now Director of the Undershaw Preservation Trust and has campaigned for the restoration and preservation of Undershaw, testifying at hearings in defense of Conan Doyle’s legacy. After a visit to the property, Gibson reported:<br />
<blockquote>It was in a terrible state. I came here once and the front door was wide open with rain pouring through. I reported it to the Council and came back two weeks later and it was still open to the world.</blockquote><br />
The developer/owner has proposed several different plans for the grounds and Undershaw itself, most rejected by the Waverley Borough Council in Hindhead, but all involving destroying the historic value of Conan Doyle’s home in pursuit of financial gain. The developer's plans have included permanently dividing the building into townhomes, building other structures on the property, and converting Conan Doyle’s horse stables with their cast iron stalls into a garage.<br />
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A very telling comment by Michael Wilson, the developer's architect, about the proposed changes for Undershaw: "The main house is being put back in the original form but vertically divided. To leave it as a single house doesn't work financially."<br />
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In June 2010 Waverley Borough Council, after having rejected numerous redevelopment plans over the years, at last gave in and granted the owners planning permission to carve up the literary, historic house into three flats, with five more homes built on the site.<br />
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About this, John Gibson said:<br />
<blockquote>It will destroy the whole spirit of the place. You’ll have Conan Conan Doyle’s drawing room in one house, his dining room in another, and his study in another.</blockquote><br />
One member of the Waverley Borough Council, Jim Edwards, cast the only vote against the planning officers’ recommendations and took the preservationists' side. Mr. Edwards is quoted as saying "This house has got tremendous historical importance. This is a massive development, and quite unacceptable in my view." Conan Doyle's great-nephew Richard Conan Doyle, said "The family had been trying to come up with ways of buying it, but the price was so high we could not afford it. We just wish there was something we could do."<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/christianpayne/3523758590/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" title="Stephen Fry visits Bletchley Park by Documentally, on Flickr"><img alt="Stephen Fry visits Bletchley Park" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3311/3523758590_be3fb546d1_m.jpg" /></a>Actor <a href="http://twitter.com/stephenfry"><b>Stephen Fry</b></a> is a supporter of UPT and had this to say to the Council:<br />
<blockquote>As Patron of the Conan Conan Doyle library, as a former youngest member of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London, as an admirer of Conan Doyle and his achievements I urge Waverley Borough Council to reconsider what future ages will adjudge a foolish short-sighted and wanton act of vandalism. There is real value in Undershaw. If it is thought about, it can attract new generations of tourists to the area, it can be an enormous source of local pride.</blockquote><br />
In spite of last year’s setback, all is not yet lost. Word is spreading about Undershaw through a concerted effort on the part of the Undershaw Preservation Trust via <a href="http://www.saveundershaw.com/"><b>their website</b></a>, <a href="http://undershawhelp.blogspot.com/"><b>a blog</b></a>, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Undershaw-Preservation-Trust/143840102309365"><b>Facebook page</b></a>, and UPT volunteer representatives. Writers <i><b>Julian Barnes</b></i> and <i><b>Ian Rankin</b></i> are backing the campaign, and author <b><i>Alistair Duncan</i></b> is currently writing a book, <i>An Entirely New Country - Arthur Conan Conan Doyle, Undershaw and the Resurrection of Sherlock Holmes</i>. Even more significantly, actor and writer <b><i>Mark Gatiss</i></b>, writer/creator and portrayer of Mycroft in the new <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Season-One-Benedict-Cumberbatch/dp/B004132HZS?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><b><i>Sherlock</i></b></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B004132HZS" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /> TV series, is now patron and sponsor of the Undershaw Preservation Trust and has been a champion of the cause in recent interviews:<br />
<blockquote>I would like to express my whole-hearted enthusiasm for the campaign to save Undershaw. It seems to me a very sad reflection on our times that the home of one of our greatest and most popular writers should be so neglected and in danger of unsympathetic redevelopment…Sir Arthur Conan Conan Doyle occupied several residences in his prolific and thrilling career, only Undershaw bears the stamp of his massive personality…It’s no exaggeration to say that Undershaw was the centre of Conan Doyle’s life during perhaps the most fruitful and fascinating phase of his career. It must be saved and take its place among the sensitively preserved residences of this country’s other literary giants. This is certainly a three-pipe problem but not, I am convinced, an insoluble one.</blockquote><br />
John Gibson has been consulting with attorneys to determine whether the planning permission from Waverley was possibly unlawful; they are in the process of preparing Judicial Review papers for submission to the Royal Courts of Justice to have the decision overturned. It is hoped that sometime this spring there will be good news on this front.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7YMrQduRHZU9Rv9zzQ30kHY8aaASvs9hopV1i7DL-0uWdesLiirXdhG6gL6_AV3RGTBOykRMntf7H1DK2KbllBz1HOcPAJR5rNjoYdpXl2KrNOkl0m59CBdAu-_-lRrJRumFJz9rDktBl/s1600/conandoyle-pic03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7YMrQduRHZU9Rv9zzQ30kHY8aaASvs9hopV1i7DL-0uWdesLiirXdhG6gL6_AV3RGTBOykRMntf7H1DK2KbllBz1HOcPAJR5rNjoYdpXl2KrNOkl0m59CBdAu-_-lRrJRumFJz9rDktBl/s200/conandoyle-pic03.jpg" width="143" /></a></div>The vision of the Undershaw Preservation Trust is to someday see the Undershaw house, stable, and grounds restored to their former glory, eventually becoming a self-supporting Sherlock Holmes/Conan Doyle Museum. Exhibits could be on view in conjunction with the <a href="http://www.conandoylecollection.co.uk/">Portsmouth Museum’s 50,000-item Conan Doyle collection</a> of John Gibson’s late friend, Richard Lancelyn Green. Ideally, the proposed museum at Undershaw might then become part of a Conan Doyle tour, including visits to London, Portsmouth Museum, and Conan Doyle’s grave in the New Forest’s Minstead Churchyard. This would certainly require a significant amount of money which would need to be raised, but major fundraising is still in the future. The first priority has to be stopping the proposed development. If that is allowed to occur there will be no saving Undershaw for future generations of Sherlockians.<br />
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The Undershaw Preservation Trust now has more than 25 representatives in at least 10 different countries. The representative's task is to spread the word about Undershaw and rally the Sherlockian troops for support in upcoming projects and fundraising. Preliminary fundraising plans at this point include a UPT pin which will be for sale in coming months, as well as some items which will be sold on eBay. An Undershaw awareness-raising project for the UK is being considered for the opening of a long-awaited tunnel in Hindhead this May; tentative plans include Undershaw supporters attending in Victorian attire to hand out flyers about saving Conan Doyle’s house.<br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">How can you help? </span></b><br />
<ol><li>If you’re on Facebook, find the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Undershaw-Preservation-Trust/143840102309365"><b>Undershaw Preservation Trust’s Facebook page</b></a> and join as a fan. </li>
<li>Visit the website, <a href="http://www.saveundershaw.com/"><b>www.saveundershaw.com</b></a>, for updates and to leave comments. </li>
<li>Follow <a href="http://twitter.com/spiritangel04">@spiritangel04</a> on Twitter; retweet UPT tweets so that your followers will see them. </li>
<li>Tweet a #FollowFriday recommendation for UPT. </li>
<li>On your blog or website mention UPT and link to <a href="http://www.saveundershaw.com/"><b>Save Undershaw's website</b></a>. </li>
<li>Mention Undershaw to any Sherlockians of your acquaintance and refer them to the website.</li>
<li>Spread this blog post by email, Twitter, Facebook or any other sharing method; we've provided the tools directly at the top and bottom of this entry to help you with that.</li>
</ol><br />
We cannot do this alone, but we just may be able to do it together. As Holmes says in "The Copper Beeches,"<br />
<blockquote>The pressure of public opinion can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish.</blockquote><br />
If we believe that Holmes and Conan Doyle belong to all of us--even generations long beyond our own time--then we are charged with making it known through the Undershaw Preservation Trust that Undershaw must be preserved and restored. We must bring that “pressure of public opinion” to this campaign. The loss of Undershaw is more than a loss for Hindhead; it is a loss for us all.<br />
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