I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere

Conan Doyle Didn’t Write the Lost Sherlock Holmes Story

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<b>"It was the first announcement in the 'Found' column." [STUD] </b></h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhupcARZHFWU-7MNUM9tkOXHy8PmsnBP1qSsHUXGCgyICnjkHc9JaSekpc_Fs5PJ4JFJy49CBdsppKPCK2dPGA1KmwK0yNygsR4nQlYBi66avfZY6fuhfrygOCswe74CTEuH2LaOLL_Trwm/s1600/conandoyle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Not the author of the Lost Sherlock Holmes story" border="0" height="446" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhupcARZHFWU-7MNUM9tkOXHy8PmsnBP1qSsHUXGCgyICnjkHc9JaSekpc_Fs5PJ4JFJy49CBdsppKPCK2dPGA1KmwK0yNygsR4nQlYBi66avfZY6fuhfrygOCswe74CTEuH2LaOLL_Trwm/s1600/conandoyle.jpg" title="Conan Doyle writing" width="640" /></a></div>
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Walter Elliot, a local historian in Selkirk, Scotland, claims that <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/11424549/Lost-Sherlock-Holmes-story-discovered-in-mans-attic.html" target="_blank">he has found a long lost Sherlock Holmes story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle</a>. <i>The Telegraph</i> reported on the discovery and also published <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/11425042/Read-the-lost-Sherlock-Holmes-story-found-in-an-attic.html" target="_blank">the entire story</a>. <br />
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It is a 1,300-word tale and was originally included in a 48-page booklet called <i>The Book o' the Brig</i>, published in December 1903 to raise funds during a bazaar in the Scottish town of Selkirk. A local wooden bridge over the river Ettrick had been destroyed during a flood in 1902, and the town needed money to build a new traffic bridge. <br />
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The story is barely three pages long, starting on page 40, and its headline is: <b>"Sherlock Holmes." — DISCOVERING THE BORDER BURGHS, and, BY DEDUCTION, the BRIG BAZAAR.</b> However, there is no mention in the booklet of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle having written the story. <br />
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By using quotation marks around Sherlock Holmes the author of the story showed that this person was fictional; the detective's name was often written that way in the newspapers back then. <br />
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The bazaar went on from 10 to 12 December 1903, and each day a prominent person opened it: Lord Polwarth (Lord Lieutenant of Selkirkshire) on the Thursday, George Rodger (Provost of Selkirk) on the Friday, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle on the Saturday — “the famous litterateur,” as he was called in the booklet, which also contained some information about the Saturday program for the bazaar. <br />
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Four days earlier Conan Doyle had given a recital of two extracts from <i>Rodney Stone</i> and three from <i>Brigadier Gerard</i> at the Victoria Hall in Selkirk. Conan Doyle showed his interest in the local bridge by declaring that the proceeds of the recital, at his own request, went to the fund for the new bridge.<br />
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The actual reason he was in Scotland at the time was that he was the prospective Unionist candidate for the Border Burghs, and between the two Selkirk events he made political speeches in the nearby towns of Hawick and Galashiels. So he had plenty of reasons to show himself generous.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhihll3Hvjf29VdtHKSe3zZLQ9TIDFRijKb7Es_oKW_ciC5VHMP0PSUfcxaKBzUzVhaOWp7XKqxUD3ys4l_UFvh_TrFUCThbpvGn7ehsbbeYKs5q-sQUcMH7GpNlMS9GLO9gkiJ900g8KVX/s1600/Lost+Sherlock+Holmes+Story.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Lost Sherlock Holmes Story?" border="0" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhihll3Hvjf29VdtHKSe3zZLQ9TIDFRijKb7Es_oKW_ciC5VHMP0PSUfcxaKBzUzVhaOWp7XKqxUD3ys4l_UFvh_TrFUCThbpvGn7ehsbbeYKs5q-sQUcMH7GpNlMS9GLO9gkiJ900g8KVX/s1600/Lost+Sherlock+Holmes+Story.jpg" title="The Book o' the Brig containing the lost Sherlock Holmes story?" width="640" /></a></div>
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Conan Doyle's host, the Selkirkshire historian Mr. Thomas Craig-Brown, made a long introduction to the recital—everything he said was reported in the weekly local newspaper <i>The Southern Reporter</i>—but he made no mention of a new Sherlock Holmes story by Conan Doyle soon being published in the local booklet. It would really have been worth mentioning since Conan Doyle had started publishing new Holmes stories in <i>The Strand Magazine</i> earlier that same autumn. <br />
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<i>The Southern Reporter</i> wrote on 10 December:<br />
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"We understand that No. 1 of the Bazaar Book will be issued to-day, and will be on sale at the price of one penny. Its contents, both poetry and prose, will be found to be of a most original and attractive nature, the various articles, all more or less of a local interest, being written by our leading literary men." </blockquote>
No mention of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as the author of that story. Again. <br />
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They describe the booklet as "No. 1 of the Bazaar Book," which indicates that there was more than one. This is supported by the fact that the booklet that Walter Elliot has found includes a page with the text "To-Day's Programme" and showing the program for 12 December. And most importantly, in the story itself "the great Saturday edition of the <i>Bazaar Book</i>" is mentioned.<br />
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On 17 December there was an advertisement for <i>The Book o’ the Brig</i> in <i>The Southern Reporter</i>:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR_I2rdcTvex74e7naqWxaZAm0fLiEt7yDYeBsxBJmLtx9IDpEYcNS5HRBroOQRl1k8m3wSQBE68tJhPtg1yZ1_kDyqQOSI21viX-RWHbEwDpM5QMB3LjUTfDZNUL2FhryHkVaLXGIjibY/s1600/bookothebrig.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Book o' the Brig - Lost Sherlock Holmes story?" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR_I2rdcTvex74e7naqWxaZAm0fLiEt7yDYeBsxBJmLtx9IDpEYcNS5HRBroOQRl1k8m3wSQBE68tJhPtg1yZ1_kDyqQOSI21viX-RWHbEwDpM5QMB3LjUTfDZNUL2FhryHkVaLXGIjibY/s1600/bookothebrig.png" title="Book o' the Brig in The Southern Reporter" width="280" /></a></div>
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"The Committee of the New Bridge Bazaar have pleasure in announcing a Second Edition of this most popular Book.<br />
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To Souters at home and abroad it will form a most interesting Memento of the Town and the Movement, as its Contributors are either Natives, or Borderers who have a close interest in the Town."</blockquote>
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Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was neither a Native, nor a Borderer. And the publisher George Lewis & Co. would surely have mentioned his name here, if he had been one of the Contributors. It was after all an advertisement, and advertisers were never shy of telling and selling things. <br />
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The advertisement also reveals the contents of the booklet—or rather, the combined contents of the booklets of all three bazaar days—and that gives us the best proof that the story is not by Conan Doyle. Number 6 on the list of contents is something called "Notable Interviews," and the persons interviewed are: I. Walter Scott, II. Mungo Park, and III. Sherlock Holmes. <br />
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This explains why the Sherlock Holmes story starts like this: <br />
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"'We've had enough of old romancists and men of travel,' said the Editor, as he blue-pencilled his copy, and made arrangements for the great Saturday edition of the <i>Bazaar Book</i>. 'We want something up-to-date. Why not have a word from "Sherlock Holmes"?'" </blockquote>
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The "romancist" was of course Sir Walter Scott, who administered justice as sheriff of Selkirkshire. Mungo Park was an 18th century explorer of the African continent, born near Selkirk. The reason why Sherlock Holmes was chosen for the third interview was probably the fact that Conan Doyle was announced to open the bazaar. Since these three “interviews” are combined as one item in the list of contents, and there is a reference to the previous two in the Holmes text, it is most likely that they were written by the same author. And at the same time it is unlikely that Conan Doyle wrote all three of them. <br />
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The conclusion is that someone local, with at least a minor literary talent, wrote these three interviews. The lost Sherlock Holmes story is definitely a pastiche. Not an especially good one, but an early one, and a good example of how Conan Doyle's creation was used freely by other authors. For that it should be remembered, and nothing else. <br />
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[<b>Editor's note:</b> Mattias Boström, BSI ("The Swedish Pathological Society") is the author of <i><a href="http://www.piratforlaget.se/bocker/fran-holmes-till-sherlock/" target="_blank">Från Holmes Till Sherlock</a> (From Holmes to Sherlock)</i>, an award-winning Swedish non-fiction book about the history of the Sherlock Holmes success, which is now being translated into English and German, and co-editor of the book series<i><a href="http://wessexpress.com/html/newspaper.html" target="_blank"> Sherlock Holmes and Conan Doyle in the Newspapers</a></i>. This is his first post on I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere.]<br />
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo credit: SWNS</span></i><br />
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Conan Doyle Didn’t Write the Lost Sherlock Holmes Story

"It was the first announcement in the 'Found' column." [STUD] Walter Elliot, a local historian in Selkirk, Sco...

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by Mattias Boström

Celebrating 50 Years of Douglas Wilmer as Sherlock Holmes

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"fifty years back" [STUD]</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglURTCUICcCtXoJNF1hfpweMzlPaqWOC75l5M7vK39IkLZadqN6klZuXe0ZD5y3wc-GzGKVgPd6qFRk5sInnKNkRj-OorRytFYq5o7jwm6-JCuJE0mIa4lIusG1MMs7bTNEL8nikad47Pi/s1600/wilmer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Douglas Wilmer, Sherlock Holmes of the 1965 BBC series" border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglURTCUICcCtXoJNF1hfpweMzlPaqWOC75l5M7vK39IkLZadqN6klZuXe0ZD5y3wc-GzGKVgPd6qFRk5sInnKNkRj-OorRytFYq5o7jwm6-JCuJE0mIa4lIusG1MMs7bTNEL8nikad47Pi/s1600/wilmer.jpg" title="Douglas Wilmer as Sherlock Holmes" width="640" /></a></div>
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On 20 February 1965, Sherlock Holmes came to life on millions of flickering black and white screens across England.<br />
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Following a successful pilot episode ("The Speckled Band") the year before, Douglas Wilmer and Nigel Stock returned to their roles of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in the BBC <i><a href="http://amzn.to/1DFNAS6" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes</a></i> series of 12 episodes, beginning with "The Illustrious Client."<br />
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From then on, he was burned in the minds of Britons as the definitive Sherlock Holmes. Or, as David Morrill, BSI ("Count Von Kramm") called him, "The only actor who ever got it right." [Listen to David's take on Sherlock Holmes of the screen on Episodes <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2010/01/episode-21-sherlock-holmes-at-movies.html#.VObLtfldWSo" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">21</a> and <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2010/01/episode-22-sherlock-holmes-at-movies.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">22</a>]<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://bakerstreetirregulars.com/2014/12/27/bsj-2014-christmas-annual/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Douglas Wilmer, subject of the 2014 Baker Street Journal Christmas Annual" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjw1cIsnjp_2aI5NOuwTRLUuc1mmbf70n1Sn2qy9YiOlYmpZBXkB1jTvZrjqxA_lploXIu7w5kaJE2f9QHFPAIsFnn4N5q5z5NMAjuWdRoynKNhoeMv92w_UKKKX1f8JSybf9ZM8SoGxfS/s1600/BSJ+Christmas+Annual+2014.jpg" title="2014 BSJ Christmas Annual" width="267" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://bakerstreetirregulars.com/2014/12/27/bsj-2014-christmas-annual/"><i>The Baker Street Journal 2014 Christmas Annual</i></a></td></tr>
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Wilmer was the subject of the <a href="https://bakerstreetirregulars.com/2014/12/27/bsj-2014-christmas-annual/">2014 <i>Baker Street Journal Christmas Annual</i></a>, faithfully edited by Elaine and Jonathan McCafferty, who were raised on Wilmer as their Holmes - and who were "not unbiased" in their editing. The annual covered everything from Wilmer's self-effacing and frank speech to The Sherlock Holmes Society of London at their annual dinner on 15 January 1994, to film historian Russell Merritt, BSI ("The Trepoff Murder") noting the chasm between the U.S. and Great Britain that existed in the 1960s regarding Sherlock Holmes portrayals.<br />
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The work also contains a greeting from <i>Sherlock </i>co-creator and writer Mark Gatiss, who was a long-time Wilmer fan. He managed to work Wilmer into the production of "The Reichenbach Fall" as a Diogenes Club member who nearly had a conniption with John making noise in the club.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYG0Gyrbz2p3GeCxzKGTTL34cz4BPbVQ6zl4vA89rkH0aqE11oYneYw1Zwl60HJori4chiUCZcaMfEYd_SflGZg9kv8iu41df7NzjUxbHfKKjaSURCtg4qdO6XYRQaDgb7lJdOtmMNoUDO/s1600/Wilmer+-+Sherlock+Diogenes+Club.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Douglas Wilmer in The Reichenbach Fall at the Diogenes Club" border="0" height="462" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYG0Gyrbz2p3GeCxzKGTTL34cz4BPbVQ6zl4vA89rkH0aqE11oYneYw1Zwl60HJori4chiUCZcaMfEYd_SflGZg9kv8iu41df7NzjUxbHfKKjaSURCtg4qdO6XYRQaDgb7lJdOtmMNoUDO/s1600/Wilmer+-+Sherlock+Diogenes+Club.jpg" title="Douglas Wilmer at the Diogenes Club" width="640" /></a></div>
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It didn't escape our notice that Wilmer managed to sneak in his own Sherlockian prop: his Baker Street Irregulars bow tie. Mr. Wilmer, who turned 95 on January 8 (two days after Sherlock Holmes's birthday!) was invested into the BSI in 2000 as "The Lyceum Theatre."<br />
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For his own part, Wilmer has long bemoaned the less than buttoned down production of the 1965 series. He was enticed to return after the well-received pilot, having been told that Robin Midgley, the director of "The Speckled Band" would direct most of the 12 episodes in the series. As it turns out, "He didn't do one of them. Not one." (<i><a href="http://amzn.to/1AqvQrH" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Starring Sherlock Holmes</a></i> by David Stuart Davies, BSI ("Reginald Musgrave")).<br />
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Wilmer did not return for the second series because the production schedule - already tight at two weeks per episode, with actors working seven days straight - was being cut to 10 days. Wilmer was "an exacting perfectionist" (Davies) and brought the collaboration to an end because he said that, even though he was a quick study, it couldn't be done in that timeframe.<br />
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To give a sense as to how the BBC undervalued the franchise, when Wilmer requested one of the BBC's better directors, he was rebuffed and told exactly where Sherlock Holmes fit within the BBC empire:<br />
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I begged the head of the serials department to lend him to us for at least one episode of our series. The man looked at me, open-mouthed at my cheek. "What?" he barked in a tones of outraged bumbledom, "You can't have him! He's serials - you're series!" For all the world as if Harvey Nichols had asked the head of Harrods for the loan of his best salesman in Christmas week.</blockquote>
We're fortunate that, despite the challenges, Douglas Wilmer rose to meet them and prevailed in some of the greatest performances of the great detective ever seen on the screen. More fortunate still are we that the series was <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2010/09/lyceum-theatre-sign_14.html#.VObHmPldWSr" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">released on DVD to the U.S. five years ago</a>.<br />
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And now, 50 years after the first airing of the classic series, <a href="http://shop.bfi.org.uk/sherlock-holmes.html#.VObVs_ldWSr" target="_blank">the British Film Institute have announced that the 13-episode series will be released on DVD</a> . The 4-DVD set is <a href="https://amzn.to/301rGco">available from Amazon</a> (affiliate link).<br />
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And then there are anecdotes that we have about our personal interaction with Mr. Wilmer during his 1998 tour of the United States. But that is a story for which the world is not yet prepared...<br />
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But until then, here are some recent images of Douglas Wilmer at the London Museum Sherlock Holmes exhibition, courtesy of Roger Johnson, BSI ("<i>Pall Mall Gazette</i>") and Jean Upton, BSI ("Elsie Cubitt").<br />
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If you have memories of seeing Mr. Wilmer's performances, please share them in a comment below.<br />
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<b>Further reading:</b></h4>
<a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2016/03/remembering-douglas-wilmer-bsi.html" target="_blank">Remembering Douglas Wilmer</a><br />
<a href="http://www.movietone-news.com/2009/05/interview-with-douglas-wilmer.html" target="_blank">Interview with Douglas Wilmer</a>, May 2009 (Movietone)<br />
Sherlock Holmes Society of London's <a href="http://www.sherlock-holmes.org.uk/conan-doyle/television/douglas-wilmer/" target="_blank">summary of Wilmer's career</a><br />
<i><a href="https://amzn.to/2N5XRlS" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Stage Whispers: Douglas Wilmer, the Memoirs</a></i> by Douglas Wilmer<br />
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Celebrating 50 Years of Douglas Wilmer as Sherlock Holmes

"fifty years back" [STUD] On 20 February 1965, Sherlock Holmes came to life on millions of flickering black and white screens...

+ Read more »

by Scott Monty

Baker Street Web Series Has Real Life Sensibility

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"Genuine admiration - the characteristic of the real artist" [VALL]</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisTLqcSns2AB1YatIauDZ3p38zSaegeSo6kO5ANgQGMtLmDwQ4bRxEVoOMfLGsfa_HaswLx8IiDgNkJZNRIMypC_G4RD7rjf2-lXtq9cjYgfaFUw-q82yg1bJed9-nlWCbFxR9sg-ITYm5/s1600/IHOSE+-+Baker+Street+Web+Series.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Screenshot from Baker Street the web series" border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisTLqcSns2AB1YatIauDZ3p38zSaegeSo6kO5ANgQGMtLmDwQ4bRxEVoOMfLGsfa_HaswLx8IiDgNkJZNRIMypC_G4RD7rjf2-lXtq9cjYgfaFUw-q82yg1bJed9-nlWCbFxR9sg-ITYm5/s1600/IHOSE+-+Baker+Street+Web+Series.jpg" title="Baker Street - the web series" width="640" /></a></div>
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Conversation in Sherlockian as well as other communities (including Doctor Who fandom and the <a href="http://www.newpulpfiction.com/" target="_blank">New Pulp movement</a>) often leads to at least one individual declaring a particular approach to a character inappropriate.<br />
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In other words, someone declared the battle cry of "<i>My </i>Holmes wouldn't do that".<br />
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Even with Sherlock Holmes and John H. Watson as public domain characters, any variation from the Canon becomes somehow sacrosanct. Differing approaches are seen as passable...but somehow off-label when it comes to how a character <i>should</i> be portrayed.<br />
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So when the opportunity came to view the new online <i>Baker Street</i> series (<a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2015/02/new-web-series-baker-street-finds-its.html#.VOVXR_nF9gQ" http:="" new-web-series-baker-street-finds-its.htm="" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" www.ihearofsherlock.com="">reviewed by another contributor here recently</a>), I eagerly took it...and I'm glad, because <i>Baker Street</i> is a very entertaining, unique take on the Holmes mythos.<br />
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Created, co-written, and featuring Hannah Drew and Karen Slater as Holmes and Watson, <i>Baker Street</i> should not be dismissed as a fan-made gender-flipped <i>Sherlock</i>. Even though (as Jacquelyn mentioned in her review) the series starts off awkwardly, there is a great, playful inversion of many Sherlockian tropes. (In fact, <i>Baker Street</i> most accurately resembles the Gary Reed/Guy Davis graphic novel <i><a href="http://amzn.to/1An60EM" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Honour Among Punks</a></i>). There's a wonderful sense of immediacy to <i>Baker Street</i>, and unlike <i>Sherlock</i>, the web series takes its time in building narrative momentum despite some early, awkward moments.<br />
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But <i>Baker Street</i>'s greatest asset is how it demonstrates the strength of the canon. <i>Baker Street</i> takes some great creative risks, but at no point does any of it feel inauthentic or somehow betraying the original canon. For those who prefer Conan Doyle's original work - it will still stand. But <i>Baker Street</i> takes some intriguing, clever chances, and demonstrate the ideal that now, Sherlock Holmes is <i>everyone's</i> Holmes, and that creative variations on a theme can bring about new aspects and insights. (Including, as my colleague intimated, the fact that Holmes might be involved in some less-than-legal-yet-still-moral activities before meeting Watson)<br />
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The series may not have the flourishes of language that Conan Doyle's work, but <i>Baker Street</i> makes the effort to bring a real-life sensibility that even <i>Sherlock </i>and <i>Elementary </i>lack. It's a solid series (with some NSFW language), and more importantly - deserves your attention, because it performs the most elementary of tasks.<br />
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For those who believe that "their Holmes wouldn't do that", <b><i>Baker Street </i></b>politely reminds the viewer that Sherlock Holmes now belongs to <i>everyone</i>.<br />
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See <a href="http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6m8pknf2xi8pEsrUqPSgIY2b7QWeGXwa" target="_blank">the entire 3-part series</a>, along with a Q&A with Hannah and Karen:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="338" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PL6m8pknf2xi8pEsrUqPSgIY2b7QWeGXwa" width="600"></iframe></center>
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Baker Street Web Series Has Real Life Sensibility

"Genuine admiration - the characteristic of the real artist" [VALL] Conversation in Sherlockian as well as other communit...

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by Gordon D

Apply for a Grant to Help Teach Sherlock Holmes to Students

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<span style="text-align: start;">"hundreds of bright little seeds..." [NAVA]</span></h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhSk9iTJdcwWHRzQaEwmwkdqhpb8XV4zA9hXdP9iTU63Rn51DJmt4FAe0PE0hHDMd1R96Fo9pnJNBCCV-NPL_fCIsh6lMFSz03-TJTW3xuq_nGbP6KhXN5o-HCsHugcbj71EzaluqAp9z6/s1600/Getting+1st+Beacon+Award.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The first Beacon Award went to Jan Stauber" border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhSk9iTJdcwWHRzQaEwmwkdqhpb8XV4zA9hXdP9iTU63Rn51DJmt4FAe0PE0hHDMd1R96Fo9pnJNBCCV-NPL_fCIsh6lMFSz03-TJTW3xuq_nGbP6KhXN5o-HCsHugcbj71EzaluqAp9z6/s1600/Getting+1st+Beacon+Award.JPG" title="Jan Stauber - 1st Beacon Award Recpient" width="640" /></a></div>
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We've been associated with the <a href="http://beaconsociety.com/" target="_blank">Beacon Society</a> for over a decade. The group supports and recognizes exemplary efforts to introduce young people to Sherlock Holmes.<br />
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The recognition portion is primarily expressed through the <a href="http://beaconsociety.com/TwoAwardsPerYear.html" target="_blank">Beacon Award</a>, an annual accolade bestowed on some Sherlockian who is doing his or her part to bring Sherlock Holmes to young people. The award consists of a certificate and a check for $221. Pictured above is Jan Stauber, the recipient of the very first Beacon Award in 2004.<br />
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Speaking of Jan Stauber, that's where the "support" element of the Beacon Society's mission comes in. The group not only provides guidelines, curricula and case studies to help teachers and others in their efforts to educate Sherlock Holmes, but it also provides financial assistance through the <a href="http://beaconsociety.com/JanStauberGrant.html" target="_blank">Jan Stauber Grant</a> each year, which was established by Jan's husband Al Gregory.<br />
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We'll tell you more about Jan after the announcement below.<br />
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Jan Stauber Grant Application Process Is Open Until May 1, 2015</h4>
The Jan Stauber Grant will provide <b>up to $500</b> to fund the development of a project that will introduce young people to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories about his famous fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes. In 2014, 19 teachers and librarians received grant funds from the Beacon Society.<br />
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U.S. and Canadian teachers, librarians, Sherlockian literary societies, and others are invited to apply for the Beacon Society's major funding project. The grant period will be from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016.<br />
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If you're interested in introducing Sherlock Holmes to elementary, middle or upper school children in the United States or Canada, please <a href="http://beaconsociety.com/JanStauberGrant.html#Application Form" target="_blank">apply now for a 2015 Jan Stauber Grant</a>.<br />
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About Jan</h4>
Because the grant is named after Jan, and because <a href="http://beaconsociety.com/BeaconWinner2004.html" target="_blank">Jan was the Beacon Society's first award recipient</a>, we thought you might like to learn a little more about her. She was born - like Irene Adler - in New Jersey and was a polymath: a computer programmer, an artisan, a member of <a href="http://www.mensa.org/" target="_blank">MENSA</a> and a gifted counselor, she touched many lives. Jan died peacefully at home on October 7, 2005.<br />
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But the life she probably touched the most profoundly is that of her widower, Al Gregory. Al wrote <a href="http://www.ash-nyc.com/JanStauber.htm" target="_blank">an in-depth piece about Jan's life story</a> and the wonderful story of love, friendship and world travel that the two of them shared. You can check it out <a href="http://www.ash-nyc.com/JanStauber.htm" target="_blank">on the ASH website</a>.<br />
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But we also sat down with Al to learn about Jan's commitment to introducing Sherlock Holmes to children and her association with the Beacon Society.<br />
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<b>I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere</b>: <i>The Beacon Society gave Jan its first Beacon Award in 2004. What were they recognizing?</i><br />
<b>Al Gregory</b>: Every year Jan would borrow my deerstalker, Inverness cape, pipe and some Sherlockian toys and visit the 7th and 8th grades where they read "The Adventure of the Dying Detective." She went around to the students, "studied" them with her magnifying glass and made "deductions" about them. Of course, as a school counselor she already knew a lot about them. Then she'd talk about Holmes and the Victorian world. As a school counselor for about 15 years she introduced some hundreds of students to Holmes on a one-to-one level. Just how many people can say they've done that?<br />
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<b>IHOSE</b>: <i>What made you decide to establish the grant program with the Beacon Society?</i><br />
<b>AG</b>:  I wanted Jan's work to continue. That's why I set up the matching fund grant. It is not only keeping her memory alive, but more importantly it's keeping her work alive. The Beacon Society:<br />
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<ol>
<li>Introduces Holmes to the kids</li>
<li>Helps fight illiteracy, functional illiteracy, and semi-literacy. </li>
<li>It advances English as <i>the</i> language of our country. </li>
<li>The Beacon Society is raising a new generation of Sherlockians who will replenish the ranks of the BSI and the scions after we have cast off this mortal coil.  Without these replacements our Sherlockian world will go extinct.</li>
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<b>IHOSE</b>: <i>How does the matching fund work?</i><br />
<b>AG</b>: Each year, the Beacon Society raises money for the Grant. I pledged to match whatever they are able to raise each year, dollar for dollar, up to $1,000. I figured that by promising a matching fund of $1000 I would virtually guarantee a budget of $2000. Hell, we've gone way beyond that to my intense delight! If I had deeper pockets I'd make a matching fund of $5000 or more for all the reasons outlined above.<br />
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<b>IHOSE</b>: <i>Is there anything else about Jan's passion for Sherlock Holmes and the great work of the Grant that you think is relevant for people to know?</i><br />
<b>AG</b>: Jan never had kids, But she loved working with them. And she was damned good at it. This grant helps teachers who love kids to work with them more effectively, and better supplied. Jan operated on a principle I've long held dear -- to leave this world a little better place than you found it. That is a life well lived!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw-ih7gTV9gJixCSuPi2IqQFRq0Are7Np6yKRvGle4RgXh2SeRrnwA1JrYR1oxfbIYo6-HHLDnm4lgjkCrQKdee4IgLw7yHrjsSkdDg6QANQAnMDhPHKbUDLnKYsJCPyhXZeEhuS3kKAin/s1600/In+Paris.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Jan Stauber in Paris" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw-ih7gTV9gJixCSuPi2IqQFRq0Are7Np6yKRvGle4RgXh2SeRrnwA1JrYR1oxfbIYo6-HHLDnm4lgjkCrQKdee4IgLw7yHrjsSkdDg6QANQAnMDhPHKbUDLnKYsJCPyhXZeEhuS3kKAin/s1600/In+Paris.JPG" title="Jan Stauber in Paris, one of her favorite cities" width="300" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://beaconsociety.com/JanStauberGrant.html" target="_blank">About the Jan Stauber Grant</a><br />
<a href="http://beaconsociety.com/JanStauberGrant.html#Application Form" target="_blank">Apply for a Jan Stauber Grant</a> - deadline is May 1, 2015<br />
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Apply for a Grant to Help Teach Sherlock Holmes to Students

"hundreds of bright little seeds..." [NAVA] We've been associated with the Beacon Society for over a decade. The group s...

+ Read more »

by Scott Monty