I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere

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>
</tbody></table>
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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...

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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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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>
</ol>
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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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<br />
<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...

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by Scott Monty

Episode 74: BSI Weekend 2015

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisCHlqCxVJ_prIImbU9gbwMBmuEcs7fyClQRlrfpyHfoSsIbTONYlGTA_i2zyaOzLrZZUX6kmujh0PHGfQEX-OdxtSTJopw5a50A9rEy7WPK6-Rh-HS5ObPlOblvx-ngVOfA3VXjEaM48_/s1600/16063799110_388078aa2c_o.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Your affable hosts together at the Salmagundi Club during the BSI Weekend" border="0" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisCHlqCxVJ_prIImbU9gbwMBmuEcs7fyClQRlrfpyHfoSsIbTONYlGTA_i2zyaOzLrZZUX6kmujh0PHGfQEX-OdxtSTJopw5a50A9rEy7WPK6-Rh-HS5ObPlOblvx-ngVOfA3VXjEaM48_/s1600/16063799110_388078aa2c_o.jpg" title="Burt and Scott at the 2015 BSI Weekend" width="640" /></a> <br />
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The #BSIWeekend 2015 is in the history books. As usual, it was a reminder of the richness of friendship and fun that are the side effect - and in some cases, the driver - of our interest in Sherlock Holmes. And it is the subject of this episode of I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere.<br />
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<h3><a href="http://traffic.libsyn.com/ihearofsherlock/ihearofsherlock074.mp3">Download</a> [Save as] File size: 70.2 MB, 1:16:09</h3>
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As you know, the <a href="http://bsiweekend.com/" target="_blank">Baker Street Irregulars (and Friends) Weekend</a> is a gathering of some hundrends of interested Sherlockians that is always full of food, fun and friends, and this year was no exception. In fact, this year it coincided with the 125th anniversary of the birth of Christopher Morley, the founder of the BSI, and the 100th anniversary of the publication of <i>The Valley of Fear</i>.<br />
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One of the highlights for us was the Lunch of Steele at the Salmagundi Club, honoring the memory of Frederic Dorr Steele, one of the great illustrators of the Sherlock Holmes stories. Burt has hosted this luncheon for the last 12 years, and he tells us why he decided to bring back the tradition of Morley's Three Hours For Lunch Club under the topic of Steele.<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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiSvDV54G23IrT1lz55Yp5IELyL2uMeq6WnKk6773uLWXs9fBhyphenhyphenqnKTIwba9jXZ__Dv5LQyKzo-f6njH7oOdcCM9FBeRxtqPgKOzBT3PMxagibUJdzAQT7TDGyYoMYMyc1pFAGRahtw92p/s1600/16250345252_1d847e02f2_z.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="At the Salmagundi Club" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiSvDV54G23IrT1lz55Yp5IELyL2uMeq6WnKk6773uLWXs9fBhyphenhyphenqnKTIwba9jXZ__Dv5LQyKzo-f6njH7oOdcCM9FBeRxtqPgKOzBT3PMxagibUJdzAQT7TDGyYoMYMyc1pFAGRahtw92p/s1600/16250345252_1d847e02f2_z.jpg" title="At the Salmagundi Club" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the Salmagundi Club</td></tr>
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There at the club, we enjoyed an intimate setting that allowed us to share a variety of interests and to capture a couple of those legendary stories that aren't documented in writing. We refer, of course, to Peter Blau, who regaled us with a John Bennett Shaw story and an Al Silverstein tale.<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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgToQnnXkSxmSS5OdLYfuMRwb-AwrG8v6QeoH-78Mq5jUAVsqe7HqyVD-qrOGJd6J75qOJRlLmigG-zXBWrK7QBF6xDa7uIgfR1W1WJ-iQEyogvore7PcO_YdeLv0ostoofWLTI84DpJPWR/s1600/15654414174_f5779a0d75_k.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Peter Blau, looking rather forlorn during the BSI Auction" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgToQnnXkSxmSS5OdLYfuMRwb-AwrG8v6QeoH-78Mq5jUAVsqe7HqyVD-qrOGJd6J75qOJRlLmigG-zXBWrK7QBF6xDa7uIgfR1W1WJ-iQEyogvore7PcO_YdeLv0ostoofWLTI84DpJPWR/s1600/15654414174_f5779a0d75_k.jpg" title="Peter Blau during the BSI Auction" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peter Blau, looking forlorn after offering the raffle <br />
prize up for auction at the BSI Cocktail Reception.</td></tr>
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We also reflected on the associated interests of Sherlockians that brought us to other societies such as the Victorian Military Society, the English Speaking Union and others.<br />
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One of the common interests of Sherlockians is comedy. David Stuart Davies has always been a star attraction at comedic efforts at our gatherings. And this year was no different, with Davies doing a one-man rendition of a Goon Show-like interlude called "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYzfxlC6gbE" target="_blank">A Quartet of M's</a>," which we have a short audio clip of within the show. If you'd like to watch the full version, please check out the full video below (recorded with the permission of the BSI's "Wiggins," as you heard in <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2014/12/episode-71-conversation-with-head-of-bsi.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 71</a>).<br />
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The investitures this year were nothing short of thrilling, with two very special ones. Kristina Manente of the Baker Street Babes received the investiture "Grace Dunbar," and Emily Miranker is now "Lady Hatty St. Simon." We have audio clips of each of them, including some commentary from her father, Glen Miranker, BSI ("The Origin of Tree Worship").<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisjXRjKXdPQsbQSCFWQjv09AphaI4uBl2-r0FZq8JkAqTFZi91vgZq8_pTGHbXF6M5TSR0XGGqYE2trzdWJAD6Cgzn6v1aSqHTmznurlBYh_DyMQE2IRMNySvmBUCHX0-a3s8c6hay9YbV/s1600/15631302823_8a72dfdb7d_z.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Kristina Manente, BSI" border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisjXRjKXdPQsbQSCFWQjv09AphaI4uBl2-r0FZq8JkAqTFZi91vgZq8_pTGHbXF6M5TSR0XGGqYE2trzdWJAD6Cgzn6v1aSqHTmznurlBYh_DyMQE2IRMNySvmBUCHX0-a3s8c6hay9YbV/s1600/15631302823_8a72dfdb7d_z.jpg" title="Kristina Manente" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kristina Manente, BSI gets her investiture face on</td></tr>
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If you'd like to see more photos from the 2015 BSI Weekend, here's a slideshow from <a href="https://flic.kr/s/aHsk43xXcU" target="_blank">our Flickr set</a>:<br />
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The Editor's Gas-Lamp for this episode is "Watson's Wound: Real of Phantom?" by Robert Katz, MD, BSI from <i>The Watsonian </i>(Vol. 2, No. 2).<br />
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<b>Links</b>:<br />
<ul>
<li>The Three Stooges' <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYP1OBZfFK0" target="_blank">Niagara Falls routine</a></li>
<li>The Amateur Mendicant Society's history <i><a href="http://www.amateurmendicantsociety.org/2014/12/coming-soon-from-lower-vault-treasures.html" target="_blank">From the Lower Vault</a></i> by Chris Music is now for sale.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.musowls.org/netcommunity/CampusNews?ID=1940&Scrolling=SWEN" target="_blank">Tim Greer won the Morley Montgomery Award</a> for 2014 for the best article in the <i>Baker Street Journal</i>.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20150210-sherlock-as-youve-never-seen-him" target="_blank">A first look and review at <i>Mr. Holmes</i></a> with Ian McKellen as a 93 year-old retired Sherlock Holmes.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sherlocked-the-official-sherlock-convention-tickets-15647166095" target="_blank">Sherlocked is the official convention</a> of the BBC's Sherlock and it's taking place in London in April 2015.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.sherlockology.com/news/2015/2/10/sherlock-special-wrap-100215" target="_blank">Filming has wrapped</a> for the Christmas special of <i>Sherlock</i>, with the actors in full Victorian garb.</li>
</ul>
<br />
Many more links, articles and images are available in our Flipboard magazine at <a href="http://bit.ly/FlipSherlock">bit.ly/FlipSherlock </a>(NEW and improved on the web!) and <a href="http://www.scoop.it/t/sherlock-holmes">Scoop.it page</a>, as well as on the <a href="https://plus.google.com/communities/114565123495685504221">The Sherlock Holmes Community</a> on Google+ (still growing, now at over 2,300 members), as well as through our accounts on <a href="http://facebook.com/ihearofsherlock">Facebook</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/ihearofsherlock">Twitter</a> and <a href="http://ihearofsherlock.tumblr.com/">Tumblr</a>.<br />
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Please <a href="http://bit.ly/ihearofsherlock">subscribe to us on iTunes</a>, <a href="https://soundcloud.com/ihearofsherlock">Soundcloud</a>, <a href="http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/i-hear-of-sherlock-everywhere?refid=stpr">Stitcher</a> or <a href="http://www.spreaker.com/user/ihearofsherlock">Spreaker</a> and be kind enough to leave a rating or review for the show. And please tell a friend about us, in any fashion you feel comfortable.<br />
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Your thoughts on the show? Leave a comment below, send us an email (ihearofsherlock AT gmail DOT com), call us at (774) 221-READ (7323).<br />
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<h3>
<b>Sponsors</b></h3>
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This episode includes three sponsors that deserve your attention: <br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.wessexpress.com/">Wessex Press</a> (check out the new <a href="http://wessexpress.com/html/newspaper.html">Sherlock Holmes and Conan Doyle in the Newspapers Volume 1</a>) </li>
<li><a href="http://www.bakerstreetjournal.com/">The Baker Street Journal</a>, where you should get <a href="http://bakerstreetjournal.com/itemsforsale/subscriptions.html">your annual subscription</a> in now to secure all four issues and a very special Christmas Annual about The Seven Per-Cent Solution. </li>
<li>The John H. Watson Monograph Series, from the <a href="http://www.johnhwatsonsociety.com/">John H. Watson Society</a>, sponsored by James O'Leary. </li>
</ul>
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Episode 74: BSI Weekend 2015

The #BSIWeekend 2015 is in the history books. As usual, it was a reminder of the richness of friendship and fun that are the side effec...

+ Read more »

by Scott Monty

Sherlock Holmes Valentine Day Quiz

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"Valentine?" [BRUC]</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_TWclrpr1E8WOHNmJLVK1kXvszs2tkdBtJ72KsBhR_yqpBeMgBmQ4pp6gBRSqFA3rQkNmR4G7Mod-VG7H9Paibzun5eiqA-aeLtaAbXoFuN93qTipG7BTuRb4ujgNu4SVIM19lwEBiCqS/s1600/Sherlock+kiss.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Sherlock kisses Molly" border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_TWclrpr1E8WOHNmJLVK1kXvszs2tkdBtJ72KsBhR_yqpBeMgBmQ4pp6gBRSqFA3rQkNmR4G7Mod-VG7H9Paibzun5eiqA-aeLtaAbXoFuN93qTipG7BTuRb4ujgNu4SVIM19lwEBiCqS/s1600/Sherlock+kiss.jpg" title="Sherlock kiss" width="640" /></a></div>
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We're used to seeing Sherlock Holmes as a creature of logic vs. emotion. Watson called him "an automaton - a calculating machine" in <i>The Sign of Four</i>, and it was only many years later that he noted, "For the one and only time I caught a glimpse of a great heart as well as of a great brain." [3GAR]<br />
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When it came to women - even <i>the</i> woman - Holmes was not moved:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"It was not that he felt any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler." [SCAN]</blockquote>
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And Holmes reassured us that the softer emotion wasn't part of his character:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"I have never loved, Watson, but if I did, and if the woman I loved had met with such an end, I might act even as our lawless lion-hunter has done." [DEVI]</blockquote>
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Of course, he did manage to play the part once when he led on Milverton's house-maid:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"You will be interested to hear that I am engaged."<br />
"My dear fellow! I congrat - "<br />
"To Milverton's housemaid."</blockquote>
He goes on to explain his rather mercenary reason for doing so: "I needed information, Watson." [CHAS]<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZz_y1uWwzsYYs98mZov2_qQLi_iQtsS2xO4aT2wlDMGnOqlUhR5ghaOvDDd_XI2qnTUP8R-57SewkTQUAv9H8qxZfqgSA_TD3ni6Ara82Wo0fKGIH3KjYUPJqSDZpB4_9mk2JrSArKo7r/s1600/4181731063_98f942ef11_m.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt=""my wife threw her arms round me" [DANC]" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZz_y1uWwzsYYs98mZov2_qQLi_iQtsS2xO4aT2wlDMGnOqlUhR5ghaOvDDd_XI2qnTUP8R-57SewkTQUAv9H8qxZfqgSA_TD3ni6Ara82Wo0fKGIH3KjYUPJqSDZpB4_9mk2JrSArKo7r/s1600/4181731063_98f942ef11_m.jpg" title="The Cubitts" /></a>But that's not to say that true love didn't play a part of the plots of some of the 60 stories. Unfortunately, we must admit that there are very few "happy ending" love stories in the Sherlock Holmes. When we do encounter love in Canon, it usually has some sort of dark side to it - twisted, tested, tortured, or tragic in nature.<br />
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To mark the occasion of Valentine's Day, we're bringing you a quiz about love interests in the Canon. There are 9 questions; those who answer all questions correctly will be entered for a chance to win a Sherlockian collectible - some piece of effluvium from our grab-bag.<br />
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The contest is open from February 14 - 21, 2015. The winner will be chosen randomly from all of the correct entries and notified by email.<br />
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<br />
If you're having trouble seeing the form on this page or in this email, simply <a href="https://ihose.wufoo.com/forms/sherlock-holmes-valentines-day-quiz/" target="_blank">click here for the direct link</a>.<br />
<br />
Bonus question, just for fun - no points awarded:<br />
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<b><i>Roses are red</i></b></h4>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<b><i>Violets are blue... </i></b></h4>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<b><i>We know four Violets in the Canon</i></b></h4>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<b><i>How many do you?</i></b></h4>
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Leave us your Violet answer as a comment below.<br />
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In the meantime, is there a love story in the Canon that has stuck with you, either because of its poignancy or tragic nature? Please share it as a comment.<br />
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Sherlock Holmes Valentine Day Quiz

"Valentine?" [BRUC] We're used to seeing Sherlock Holmes as a creature of logic vs. emotion. Watson called him "an a...

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by Scott Monty

Canonical Connections in Conan Doyle's "The Winning Shot"

Though most of the facts were familiar to me, I had not sufficiently appreciated their relative importance, nor their connection with each other. [SILV]<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX8IfXkvrAWamhgE07Ea-IBktVHub06veorZD4FD1Lzg97Zyfzus6BNpLtJcICNw7SCHapTT8zJq0rC4JfCtnnBWjnFelasIX31ZdzedsLq-Tt-tSHlzEVC6OYinzOJbzNbzPMhD0oLXex/s1600/Arthur_Conan_Doyle_by_Herbert_Rose_Barraud_1893.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Arthur Conan Doyle portrait 1893 - credit Wikimedia" border="0" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX8IfXkvrAWamhgE07Ea-IBktVHub06veorZD4FD1Lzg97Zyfzus6BNpLtJcICNw7SCHapTT8zJq0rC4JfCtnnBWjnFelasIX31ZdzedsLq-Tt-tSHlzEVC6OYinzOJbzNbzPMhD0oLXex/s1600/Arthur_Conan_Doyle_by_Herbert_Rose_Barraud_1893.jpg" title="Arthur Conan Doyle portrait c. 1893" width="640" /></a></div>
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As readers of the Sherlock Holmes adventures know, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a master of the short story. He wrote in many genres: mystery, horror, science fiction, adventure, romance and humor.</div>
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"The Winning Shot" was the first of three short stories Doyle had published in Bow Bells weekly magazine during his career, in the July 11, 1883 issue. In a June or July 1882 letter to his mother Mary (quoted in <i><a href="http://amzn.to/1vG5sve" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life in Letters</a></i> by Jon Lellenberg, Daniel Stashower and Charles Foley), Doyle wrote, "I have a wonderful story on hand 'The Winning Shot' about mesmerism and murder and chemical magnetism and a man's eating his own ears because he was hungry," and in a second letter to her as "a very ghastly Animal Magnetic vampery sort of tale." </div>
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The 12,000 word story is unusual in Doyle's oeuvre in that it is told in the first person by Charlotte "Lottie" Underwood. I will be discussing the story in detail (yes - there will be spoilers!), so if you would like to read it first, it is available in <i><a href="http://amzn.to/1Mf0n1R" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Uncollected Stories: The Unknown Conan Doyle</a></i> edited by John Michael Gibson and Richard Lancelyn Green or you can read the text <a href="http://www.sshf.com/encyclopedia/index.php/The_Winning_Shot">here</a> at <a href="http://www.sshf.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Main_Page">The Conan Doyle Encyclopedia</a>.</div>
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Despite the opening statement </div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
"I know that many people will always ridicule the supernatural, or what our poor intellects choose to regard as supernatural, and that the fact of my being a woman will be thought to weaken my evidence. I can only plead that I have never been weak-minded or impressionable, and that other people formed the same opinions of Octavius Gaster that I did," </blockquote>
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Lottie's story starts out as if it were a romance about her impending marriage to old Colonel Pillar’s son Charley of Roborough, Devon. Staying at the Colonel’s "merry household at Toynby Hall" during the Long Vacation that August along with Charley and Lottie were "Harry, Charley's younger brother, and Trevor, his bosom friend at Cambridge," Lieutenant Jack Daseby "fresh home from Japan in Her Majesty's ship <i>Shark</i>" who is engaged to Charley's sister Fanny, and Lottie's mother, "dearest of old ladies, beaming at us through her gold-rimmed spectacles, anxiously smoothing every little difficulty in the way of the two young couples, and never weary of detailing to them her own doubts and fears and perplexities."</div>
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<b>Canonical connection:</b> Sherlock Holmes spent part of the long vacation at college friend Victor Trevor’s home in Donnithorpe.</div>
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Doyle gives a wonderful word-picture of an evening at home with the characters vividly delineated before Charley and Lottie decide to take a stroll on the moor. Doyle places Toynby Hall on the southwest side of Dartmoor; Baskerville Hall will be on the northeast. Dartmoor apparently held a long fascination with Doyle and the moor gives "The Winning Shot" some of its elements of mystery. Almost twenty years later, the moor became a character of its own in <i>The Hound of the Baskervilles</i> [HOUN].</div>
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From "The Winning Shot": </div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Above us towered two great columns of rock, between which the water trickled to form a deep, still pool at the bottom. This pool had always been a favourite spot of Charley's, and was a pretty cheerful place by day; but now, with the rising moon reflected upon its glassy waters, and throwing dark shadows from the overhanging rocks, it seemed anything rather than the haunt of a pleasure-seeker…. I have already mentioned that the pool by which we were standing lay at the foot of a rough mound of rocks. On the top of this mound, about sixty feet above our heads, a tall dark figure was standing, peering down, apparently, into the rugged hollow in which we were.<br />
<br />
"The moon was just topping the ridge behind, and the gaunt, angular outlines of the stranger stood out hard and clear against its silvery radiance.<br />
<br />
"There was something ghastly in the sudden and silent appearance of this solitary wanderer, especially when coupled with the weird nature of the scene."</blockquote>
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Doyle reworked the scene to great effect in Chapter 9 of HOUN:</div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The moon was low upon the right, and the jagged pinnacle of a granite tor stood up against the lower curve of its silver disc. There, outlined as black as an ebony statue on that shining background, I saw the figure of a man upon the tor. Do not think that it was a delusion, Holmes. I assure you that I have never in my life seen anything more clearly. As far as I could judge, the figure was that of a tall, thin man. He stood with his legs a little separated, his arms folded, his head bowed, as if he were brooding over that enormous wilderness of peat and granite which lay behind him. He might have been the very spirit of that terrible place. It was not the convict. This man was far from the place where the latter had disappeared. Besides, he was a much taller man. With a cry of surprise I pointed him out to the baronet, but in the instant during which I had turned to grasp his arm the man was gone. There was the sharp pinnacle of granite still cutting the lower edge of the moon, but its peak bore no trace of that silent and motionless figure."</blockquote>
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The description of the stranger will sound very familiar to a Sherlockian: <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"<b>Weird as his appearance had been</b> when we first caught sight of him, the impression was intensified rather than removed by a closer acquaintance.<br />
<br />
"The moon shining full upon him revealed a long, <b>thin face of ghastly pallor</b>, the effect being increased by its <b>contrast with the flaring green necktie</b> which he wore.<br />
<br />
"A <b>scar</b> upon his cheek had healed badly and caused <b>a nasty pucker at the side of his mouth</b>, which gave his whole countenance a most distorted expression, more particularly when he smiled."</blockquote>
<br />
This is Holmes’ description of Huge Boone from "The Man with the Twisted Lip": <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"His <b>appearance</b>, you see, is <b>so remarkable</b> that no one can pass him without observing him. <b>A shock of orange hair, a pale face disfigured by a horrible scar</b>, which, by its contraction, has <b>turned up the outer edge of his upper lip</b>, a bulldog chin, and a pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present <b>a singular contrast to the colour of his hair</b>, all mark him out from amid the common crowd of mendicants, and so, too, does his wit, for he is ever ready with a reply to any piece of chaff which may be thrown at him by the passers-by." [Emphasis added.]</blockquote>
<br />
The stranger is Swedish Doctor Octavius Gaster, a traveler lost on the moor. Despite his appearance, Charley is intrigued by the man and invites him to stay at the Hall. On the way back Gaster relates how he and Karl Osgood of Upsala went on a trading venture in Cape Blanco (Ras Nouadhibou on the west African coast which has been called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cap Blanc</i> by the French, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cabo Blanco</i> by the Spanish and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cabo Branco</i> by the Portuguese) who had to flee on a small boat in the night when the local Moors came to kill them.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"There was no country where we could hope for food nearer than Canary [the Canary Islands], and for that we made.<br />
"I reached it alive, though very weak and mad; but poor Karl died the day before we sighted the islands.<br />
"I gave him warning!<br />
"I cannot blame myself in the matter.<br />
"I said, 'Karl, the strength that you might gain by eating them would be more than made up for by the blood that you would lose!'<br />
"He laughed at my words, caught the knife from my belt, cut them off and eat them; and he died."<br />
"Eat what?" asked Charley.<br />
"His ears!" said the stranger.</blockquote>
<br />
The gruesome scene of a small boat on the ocean and severed ears would become the climax of Jim Browner’s confession in "The Cardboard Box":<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"At last I saw them hire a boat and start for a row, for it was a very hot day, and they thought no doubt that it would be cooler on the water. It was just as if they had been given into my hands. There was a bit of a haze, and you could not see more than a few hundred yards. I hired a boat for myself, and I pulled after them. I could see the blur of their craft, but they were going nearly as fast as I, and they must have been a long mile from the shore before I caught them up. The haze was like a curtain all round us, and there were we three in the middle of it. My God, shall I ever forget their faces when they saw who was in the boat that was closing in upon them? She screamed out. He swore like a madman, and jabbed at me with an oar, for he must have seen death in my eyes. I got past it and got one in with my stick, that crushed his head like an egg. I would have spared her, perhaps, for all my madness, but she threw her arms round him, crying out to him, and calling him `Alec'. I struck again, and she lay stretched beside him. I was like a wild beast then that had tasted blood. If Sarah had been there, by the Lord, she should have joined them. I pulled out my knife, and - well, there! I've said enough."</blockquote>
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<br />
Given what we later learn about Gaster, the reader may well wonder who actually cut off and ate Karl’s ears.<br />
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Gaster joins the gathering for (a non-aural) dinner and, as Lottie writes:<br />
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"Whatever Doctor Octavius Gaster might be physically, he was certainly a social success.<br />
<br />
"By next day he had so completely installed himself as a member of the household that the Colonel would not hear of his departure.<br />
<br />
"He astonished everybody by the extent and variety of his knowledge. He could tell the veteran considerably more about the Crimea than he knew himself; he gave the sailor information about the coast of Japan; and even tackled my athletic lover upon the subject of rowing, discoursing about levers of the first order, and fixed points and fulcra, until the unhappy Cantab was fain to drop the subject.</blockquote>
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<b>Canonical connection:</b> Here Gaster sounds very Holmes-like:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Our meal was a merry one. Holmes could talk exceedingly well when he chose, and that night he did choose. He appeared to be in a state of nervous exaltation. I have never known him so brilliant. He spoke on a quick succession of subjects - on miracle plays, on medieval pottery, on Stradivarius violins, on the Buddhism of Ceylon, and on the warships of the future - handling each as though he had made a special study of it. His bright humour marked the reaction from his black depression of the preceding days." - <i>The Sign of Four</i></blockquote>
<br />
Lottie also relates an incident illustrating Gaster's "quiet power about everything he said and did":<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Trevor had a remarkably savage bulldog, which, however fond of its master, fiercely resented any liberties from the rest of us. This animal was, it may be imagined, rather unpopular, but as it was the pride of the student's heart it was agreed not to banish it entirely, but to lock it up in the stable and give it a wide berth.”</blockquote>
 <b>Canonical connection:</b> Victor Trevor’s bull-terrier froze onto Holmes’ ankle as he when down to college chapel one morning.<br />
<br />
One day, the Swede hears the dog and wants to see it.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"He's rather a nipper," said Trevor, with a mischievous expression in his eye; "but I suppose you are not afraid of a dog?"<br />
"Afraid?—no. Why should I be afraid?"
<br />
<br />
The mischievous look on Trevor's face increased as he opened the stable door. I heard Charley mutter something to him about its being past a joke, but the other's answer was drowned by the hollow growling from inside.<br />
<br />
The rest of us retreated to a respectable distance, while Octavius Gaster stood in the open doorway with a look of mild curiosity upon his pallid face.<br />
"And those," he said, "that I see so bright and red in the darkness—are those his eyes?"<br />
"Those are they," said the student, as he stooped down and unbuckled the strap.<br />
"Come here!" said Octavius Gaster.<br />
<br />
The growling of the dog suddenly subsided into a long whimper, and instead of making the furious rush that we expected, he rustled among the straw as if trying to huddle into a corner.<br />
"What the deuce is the matter with him?" exclaimed his perplexed owner.<br />
"Come here!" repeated Gaster, in sharp metallic accents, with an indescribable air of command in them. "Come here!"<br />
<br />
To our astonishment, the dog trotted out and stood at his side, but looking as unlike the usually pugnacious Towzer as is possible to conceive. His ears were drooping, his tail limp, and he altogether presented the very picture of canine humiliation.<br />
"A very fine dog, but singularly quiet," remarked the Swede, as he stroked him down.<br />
"Now, sir, go back!"<br />
<br />
The brute turned and slunk back into its corner. We heard the rattling of its chain as it was being fastened, and next moment Trevor came out of the stable-door with blood dripping from his finger.<br />
"Confound the beast!" he said. "I don't know what can have come over him. I've had him three years, and he never bit me before."<br />
<br />
I fancy—I cannot say it for certain—but I fancy that there was a spasmodic twitching of the cicatrix upon our visitor's face, which betokened an inclination to laugh.</blockquote>
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<br />
Of course Jack Stapleton [HOUN] and Jephro Rucastle [COPP] both had a way with vicious canines.<br />
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There are a couple of passages in the story that give the <a href="http://amzn.to/1zNQvXo">Sherlockian with an interest in H.P. Lovecraft</a> pause. Gaster is frequently reading a book he keeps hidden from the others. One day Lottie and Charley come upon Gaster before he can secret the book.</div>
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"Ah, Gaster," said Charley, "studying, as usual! What an old bookworm you are! What's the book? Ah, a foreign language; Swedish, I suppose?" <br />
"No, it is not Swedish," said Gaster; "it is Arabic." <br />
"You don't mean to say you know Arabic?" <br />
"Oh, very well—very well indeed!" <br />
"And what's it about?" I asked, turning over the leaves of the musty old volume. <br />
"Nothing that would interest one so young and fair as yourself, Miss Underwood," he answered, looking at me in a way which had become habitual to him of late. "It treats of the days when mind was stronger than what you call matter; when great spirits lived that were able to exist without these coarse bodies of ours, and could mould all things to their so-powerful wills."</div>
</blockquote>
Later, Lottie spies Gaster reading a newspaper clipping which he finds very amusing. "There was something horrible too in this mirth of his, for though he writhed his body about as if with laughter, no sound was emitted from his lips." Gaster leaves the room and the clipping behind which Lottie reads.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Sudden Death in the Docks.—The master of the bark-rigged steamer Olga, from Tromsberg, was found lying dead in his cabin on Wednesday afternoon. Deceased was, it seems, of a violent disposition, and had had frequent altercations with the surgeon of the vessel. On this particular day he had been more than usually offensive, declaring that the surgeon was a necromancer and worshipper of the devil. The latter retired on deck to avoid further persecution. Shortly afterwards the steward had occasion to enter the cabin, and found the captain lying across the table quite dead. Death is attributed to heart disease, accelerated by excessive passion. An inquest will be held to-day."<br />
And this was the paragraph which this strange man had regarded as the height of humour!</blockquote>
<br />
An Arabic grimoire, necromancy:
could Gaster have been reading the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necronomicon"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: blue;">Necronomicon</span></i></a> some forty years
before Lovecraft invented it?<br />
<br />
Mrs. Underwood tells her daughter she thinks Gaster is in love with Lottie and events come to a head. One evening, Lottie is waiting for Charley in an arbor but the doctor shows up instead, declaring his love to the horrified woman. She tries to leave, but Gaster forces himself upon her. Just then Charley shows up and punches Gaster in the face. Gaster flees and life returns to normal at Toynby Hall.<br />
<br />
On the eve of Lottie and Charley’s wedding was a marksmanship contest between the Roborough volunteers, of which Charley was the captain and best shot, and the Plymouth regulars, the match to take place at the Roborough shooting-range on the moor itself.<br />
<br />
The contest is even and the last shot, potentially the winning shot, belongs to Charley. Earlier, the couple had seen Gaster in the crowd of spectators and now as Charley takes aim, Lottie, standing between two Devon farmers, sees Gaster in a trance-like prayer staring at a space halfway between Charley and the target. One of the farmers says of Gaster’s manner, "Blessed if he bean't foamin' like Farmer Watson's dog—t' bull pup whot died mad o' the hydropathics." (Is that what happened to John H. Watson’s own bull pup in <i>A Study in Scarlet</i>?)<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, Charley hesitates to shoot because he sees a figure in front of the bull's-eye. Assured by his teammates and the crowd that no one is there, Charley pulls the trigger and wins the contest. When his fellows go to congratulate him, they find him dead. While brain-fever is not mentioned, like Percy "Tadpole" Phelps in "The Naval Treaty," Lottie becomes ill and does not recover until "I found myself in the sick-room at Toynby Hall, and learned that three restless, delirious weeks had passed since that terrible day."<br />
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The story ends with this paragraph:<br />
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"Within a fortnight after writing this narrative, my poor daughter disappeared. All search has failed to find her. A porter at the railway station has deposed to having seen a young lady resembling her description get into a first-class carriage with a tall, thin gentleman. It is, however, too ridiculous to suppose that she can have eloped after her recent grief, and without my having had any suspicions. The detectives are, however, working out the clue.—EMILY UNDERWOOD."</blockquote>
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"The Winning Shot" is one of Doyle’s better early works. It should come as no surprise that Doyle could write a credible first-person female character; he had five sisters and the family was headed by Doyle’s mother Mary. In fact, Doyle’s favorite sister was Caroline, who was called Lottie by the family and in “The Winning Shot” Lottie has a brother named Arthur Cooper Underwood—A.C.U. as opposed to A.C.D.<br />
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<br />
<br />
Doyle uses length to build a believable world with real people and then slowly reveals the preternatural or supernatural underpinnings that are waiting to be exposed to the observant. In 1884, he thought of including "The Winning Shot" with "The Captain of the <i>Pole-Star</i>," "John Barrington Cowles," "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" and others in a collection called <i>Twilight Tales</i>.<br />
"You see," he wrote to his mother, "it would have a double meaning---not only as being tales suitable for the gloaming, but as a treating of the strangle twilight land between the natural and the absolutely supernatural…"<br />
<br />
That collection never came into being and the story became one Doyle’s forgotten works until 1982. Why? Perhaps because so many of the story's elements were revised, reused and improved upon in later endeavors. For Sherlockians, there are overlaps minor (a college friend named Trevor with a biting dog, severed ears on the ocean and a Watson with a bull pup) to major (the Dartmoor setting, a mysterious stranger standing on a rocky prominence silhouetted against the moon and a pale, scar-faced antagonist) that make this good eerie tale doubly worth reading.<br />
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<br />
<i>Note to <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2013/10/episode-57-sherlockian-halloween.html#.VNxMx_nF_14" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Charles Prepolec</a>, editor of the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Charles-Prepolec/e/B002BO801O/">Gaslight</a><a href="http://amzn.to/1vG900u" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> series of supernatural Holmes</a> stories and its contributors: If there hasn't been one already, there’s a pastiche waiting to be written about the young Holmes and Watson in 1883 on the trail of the missing Lottie Underwood and </i>Necronomicon<i>-toting Octavius Gaster.</i><br />
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