I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere

Episode 100: A Sherlockian Centennial

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"I am one of a hundred" [ILLU] </h4>
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Well, we managed to do it. And it only took us nine years, an 18-month hiatus, one lost episode and thousands of fans.<br />
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That's right, it's our <b><span style="font-size: large;">100th</span></b> episode.<br />
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We asked you what you wanted to hear for the centenary of the first podcast for Sherlock Holmes devotees, and time and again, we heard from you, telling us to do a retrospective - a look back at our favorite moments from what we've accomplished. We also asked you what your favorite moments are and what you wanted to know from us. Well, we managed to deliver on both.<br />
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Our 100th episode gave us a chance to reflect on exactly what turning 100 means, and to dive back into our murky and fuzzy origins. We try to answer some of your queries and we celebrate those who joined us previously before launching into our top memories of the show, as represented in audio clips. Our Gas-Lamp features two readings, including a new one created just for this episode. Finally, we wrap up with a couple of important announcements that you won't want to miss.<br />
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And perhaps there's an Easter egg somewhere as well...<br />
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We thank Mary Miller for her ongoing and generous support of our program on <a href="http://patreon.com/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">Patreon</a>. Perhaps you'd like to become a patron in honor of our 100th show. If ongoing support scares you, <a href="https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_flow&SESSION=XKuLv5IYzHCA0BhABhtC8xByijsZm5IbqGLk4r2fiNrFH-NwC3ZlaSnktJa&dispatch=5885d80a13c0db1f8e263663d3faee8d64813b57e559a2578463e58274899069" target="_blank">one-time PayPal contributions</a> are welcome too.<br />
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<h3>
Additional Thanks</h3>
We have so many of you to thank — from those of you who wrote in with feedback, to those who provided reviews, created something for us, provided financial support, and of course, those who appeared on the show. It's all been absolutely overwhelming and this wouldn't be possible without you.<br />
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So, in no particular order, thanks to: Steve Doyle, Mark Gagen, Steve Rothman, Mary Miller, John Rabe, James O'Leary, Kate Donley, Bob Katz, Andy Solberg, Jon Lellenberg, Dan Stashower, Mike Whelan, Peter Blau, Les Klinger, Bert Coules, Mike Berdan, Michael Dirda, Bob Thomalen, The Baker Street Babes, Otto Penzler, Maria Konnikova, Nicholas Meyer, Evelyn Herzog, Susan Rice, David Harnois, Gerry Turnbull, Steve Mason, Rob Nunn, Claire Strum, Peter Calamai, Nicholas Pidgeon, Nick Utechin, Ray Betzner, David Stuart Davies, David Ian Davies, Chris Redmond, Jamie Mahoney, Leah Guinn, Jerry Margolin, David Morrill, Sally Sugarman, Graham Moore, Henry Zecher, Tom Francis, Don Hobbs, Tom Richmond, Tim Johnson, Ken Ludwig, Glen Miranker, Zach Dundas, Bonnie MacBird, Bill Barnes, Roseane McNamara, Doug Elliott, Kerry Murphy, Christopher Sequeira, Erin O'Neill, and Robert Veld.<br />
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And extra special thanks to our spouses  Kathi and Mindi, who tolerate this silliness and allow us to interrupt the flow of home life more than we thought they would. Or certainly more than they'd prefer.<br />
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<b>Notes</b></h3>
1:37 Welcome and intro<br />
2:25 Someone else is pretty excited<br />
3:19 Other centenary celebrations in 2016<br />
7:10 Milestones can be <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INhL0MYhOOI" target="_blank">difficult to celebrate</a>, featuring <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Wolfberg" target="_blank">Dennis Wolfberg</a><br />
9:32 Our humble beginnings<br />
11:14 Spending time<br />
11:55 I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere - by the numbers<br />
15:49 Multiple IHOSE interview guests<br />
18:10 Your kind reviews <a href="http://bit.ly/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">on iTunes</a><br />
20:24 <a href="http://wessexpress.com/" target="_blank">Wessex Press</a><br />
21:40 You asked for it / your favorite moments<br />
23:29 How it all began<br />
34:24 Remembering our hiatus<br />
41:00 Looking back at our favorite moments<br />
42:25 Mike Berdan on getting involved with Sherlock Holmes<br />
45:12 Christopher Morley on the reality of Sherlock Holmes<br />
48:00 Peter Blau on Edgar Smith<br />
51:38 Otto Penzler gets defensive about his literary doppelgänger<br />
55:23 Fritz Weaver recalls <i>Baker Street</i>, the characterization of Sherlock Holmes, and the importance of Conan Doyle<br />
57:54 Michael Dirda reads from <i>On Conan Doyle</i><br />
1:01:59 Lara Pulver reflects on her success<br />
1:05:03 Bert Coules on the role of the writer with BBC Radio, the importance of his director David Johnson recognizing the major characters in <i>The Hound of the Baskervilles</i><br />
1:11:20 Bert Coules talks about casting Michael Williams as Dr. Watson, as opposed to Nigel Bruce<br />
1:14:55 A comic interlude: a halfway decent Jack Benny impersonation<br />
1:20:22 Lyndsay, Ashley and Ardy from the Baker Street Babes play Jeopardy and make Burt's editing job a living nightmare<br />
1:24:06 A flashback within our flashback as Steve Rothman is unruffled and Bob Katz freaks out about Dr. Rosenbach's credentials<br />
1:26:57 Nicholas Meyer recounts how he was invited to the BSI dinner and how he overstepped<br />
1:35:25 Susan Rice shares the story of the afternoon when women were granted membership in the Baker Street Irregulars, together with a recording of Tom Stix presiding at that very event.<br />
1:42:53 <i><a href="http://www.bakerstreetjournal.com/" target="_blank">The Baker Street Journal</a></i><br />
1:45:02 The Editor's Gas-Lamp: a two-fer with "221B" and "A Long Evening with Holmes"<br />
1:50:45 Housekeeping, special thanks and two announcements — listen closely, as we need your feedback<br />
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Sponsors</h3>
This episode includes our two longtime sponsors and we thank them. Please support our sponsors by visiting their sites:<br />
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<li>The <a href="http://www.wessexpress.com/" target="_blank">Wessex Press</a>, featuring <i><a href="http://wessexpress.com/html/fixedpoint.html" target="_blank">The One Fixed Point in a Changing Age</a></i>. </li>
<li><a href="http://www.bakerstreetjournal.com/" target="_blank"><i>The Baker Street Journal</i></a>, where you can get a gift subscription for the up and coming Sherlockian. </li>
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Would you care to become a sponsor? You can find <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/p/contact.html#.Vc1Qx7JViko" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">more information here</a>.</div>
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Links:</h3>
<ul>
<li>Our <a href="http://ihose.co/ihoseshows" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Archives</a></li>
<li>Episodes <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose04" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">4</a> and <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose05" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">5</a> (Sherlockian 101)</li>
<li><a href="http://ihose.co/ihose03" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 3</a>: Mike Berdan </li>
<li><a href="http://ihose.co/ihose04" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 4</a>: Sherlockian 101 </li>
<li><a href="http://ihose.co/ihose06" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 6</a>: Peter Blau </li>
<li><a href="http://ihose.co/ihose17" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 17</a>: Otto Penzler </li>
<li><a href="http://ihose.co/ihose26" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 26</a>: Fritz Weaver</li>
<li><a href="http://ihose.co/ihose38" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 38</a>: Michael Dirda </li>
<li><a href="http://ihose.co/ihose41" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 41</a>: Lara Pulver</li>
<li>Episodes <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose68" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">68</a> and <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose69" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">69</a>: Bert Coules</li>
<li><a href="http://ihose.co/ihose70" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 70</a>: The Baker Street Babes</li>
<li><a href="http://ihose.co/ihose85" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 85</a>: Nicholas Meyer</li>
<li><a href="http://ihose.co/ihose89" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 89</a>: Susan Rice and Evelyn Herzog</li>
<li><a href="http://ihose.co/ihose92" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 92</a>: that Jack Benny impersonation</li>
<li><a href="http://ihose.co/ihose93" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 93</a>: Bob Katz, Andy Solberg and Steven Rothman</li>
<li><a href="https://iamlostwithoutmyboswell.com/" target="_blank">I Am Lost Without My Boswell</a></li>
<li>Leave us a rating or review <a href="http://bit.ly/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">on iTunes by going here</a></li>
<li>The <a href="http://patreon.com/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere Patreon</a> page</li>
<li>The <a href="http://ihose.co/ihosesurvey" target="_blank">IHOSE listener survey</a></li>
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Many more links, articles and images are available in our Flipboard magazine at  <a href="http://ihose.co/flipsherlock" target="_blank">ihose.co/flipsherlock</a>, as well as on the <a href="https://plus.google.com/communities/114565123495685504221" target="_blank">The Sherlock Holmes Community</a> on Google+ (with over 3,700 members), as well as through our accounts on  <a href="http://facebook.com/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="http://instagram.com/ihearofsherlock">Instagram</a>, <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2016/04/ihose-on-snapchat-just-in-time-for.html">Snapchat</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">Twitter</a>  and <a href="http://ihearofsherlock.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Tumblr</a>.</div>
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Episode 100: A Sherlockian Centennial

"I am one of a hundred" [ILLU] Well, we managed to do it. And it only took us nine years, an 18-month hiatus, one lost...

+ Read more »

by Scott Monty

William Gillette's Sherlock Holmes (1916) Gets a Score

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"Holmes's musical disquisition" [STUD]</h4>
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The 1916 <i>Baker Street Journal Christmas Annual</i> will cover the topic of William Gillette's film <i>Sherlock Holmes</i> on the occasion of its 100th anniversary. We here at I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere <a href="http://ihose.co/1916film" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">broke the news</a> that the long-lost film had been discovered in Paris and covered <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2015/06/sherlock-holmes-in-san-francisco.html#.V4eggLgrLb0" target="_blank">the screening of the film</a> at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival last year.<br />
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We're pleased to present four musical themes that were played for the American premiere of the restored Gillette <i>Sherlock Holmes</i>. The excerpts are meant to illustrate the article, “Scoring Gillette’s Sherlock Holmes,” that acclaimed composer Donald Sosin wrote for the <i>BSJ Christmas Annual</i>, describing how he composed his music. And although these film excerpts are best understood when used in conjunction with Donald’s article, they can also be enjoyed on their own — examples of how a great original Holmesian score is constructed and coordinated with the images.<br />
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The tracks come from the opening night performance when Gillette’s film was screened at San Francisco’s Castro Theater on May 30, 2015, where 2,000 people heard the score that night, performed by Sosin and his ensemble: Donald on piano with Günther Buchwald, violin; Sascha Jacobsen, bass; and Frank Bockius, percussion.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PL6m8pknf2xi93U_1gnk0plD7jgatMMz2V" width="640"></iframe><br /></div>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL6m8pknf2xi93U_1gnk0plD7jgatMMz2V&v=tmA3svbgk-4" target="_blank">Four Musical Themes from Gillette's <i>Sherlock Holmes</i></a></div>
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Since then, the film has attracted several first-rate scores – all quite distinct and all fine examples of the broad range of silent film accompaniment. The film has attracted several leading silent film composers – Stephen Horne who accompanied the film in Bangkok; Neil Brand in Paris, London, Pordenone, and on the Flicker Alley DVD; Steve Sterner at New York’s Film Forum; Dan Drazin in Northbrook, Illinois; Dennis James in Santa Barbara, California; and Phil Carli at the Library of Congress and the BSI Conference in Chautauqua. No two performers sound alike, each creating his own signature motifs and building on those motifs to give fresh perspective to the characters and plot lines.</div>
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The themes performed here are the building blocks that Sosin created to build his extraordinary score. The themes recur, permitting improvisation and ingenious acoustic effects and designed to provide a musical mirror to the ever-changing mood and action.</div>
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<a href="https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/sherlock-holmes-the-odessa-connection#/" target="_blank">According to Sosin in an Indiegogo</a> he ran, he has been commissioned by the Odessa International Film Festival to expand that 4-musician score for a 45-piece orchestra. The premiere of that composition is set for July 16, 2016. The music is in rehearsal and on schedule – a generous, anonymous donor stepped in to make up the short fall. We certainly hope that more audiences will have the benefit of hearing it outside of Odessa.</div>
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[<i><b>Editor's note:</b> special thanks to Prof. Russell Merritt, BSI ("The Trepoff Murder") for providing the clips and the written update.</i>]</div>
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William Gillette's Sherlock Holmes (1916) Gets a Score

"Holmes's musical disquisition" [STUD] The 1916 Baker Street Journal Christmas Annual will cover the topic of William G...

+ Read more »

by Scott Monty

Sherlock Holmes and the Horror of Frankenstein — A Review

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"his manner suggested that it was some strange creature" [ENGR]</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlQdcpEpV3cVKXWh-maZIHNJegHVu9B5E7XKLGY9YfE9FGEOnylOGk3gyfcos_HEMZuUsLyQehVgjHNT4PBluJaL3QkYlNW47u9aQMfdW7agsMEAgARPFmNcG4nEUjbW0qNojaregUMH2j/s1600/Sherlock+Holmes+and+the+Horror+of+Frankenstein+-+header.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlQdcpEpV3cVKXWh-maZIHNJegHVu9B5E7XKLGY9YfE9FGEOnylOGk3gyfcos_HEMZuUsLyQehVgjHNT4PBluJaL3QkYlNW47u9aQMfdW7agsMEAgARPFmNcG4nEUjbW0qNojaregUMH2j/s640/Sherlock+Holmes+and+the+Horror+of+Frankenstein+-+header.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Holmesian pastiche is rife with mashups, especially the literary kind. Hoping to generate a strong story, authors frequently pair Holmes and Watson with other characters and historical figures to create unique tales that might not fit regular canon.<br />
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<b><i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="1780925042" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="e592d10dd2fae485c3c45d2dd9e9829d" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="Sherlock Holmes and the Horror of Frankenstein" href="http://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Holmes-Horror-Frankenstein-Kuhns/dp/1780925042/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=e592d10dd2fae485c3c45d2dd9e9829d&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_9040639" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes and the Horror of Frankenstein</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_9040639" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=e592d10dd2fae485c3c45d2dd9e9829d&_cb=1468243086011" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i></b>, written by Luke Benjamen Kuhns and drawn by Marcie Klinger (published in 2013 by <a href="http://mxpublishing.com/product/9781780925042/Sherlock+Holmes+and+The+Horror+of+Frankenstein" target="_blank">MX Publishing</a> and available through their site and on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Holmes-Horror-Frankenstein-Kuhns/dp/1780925042/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=e592d10dd2fae485c3c45d2dd9e9829d&linkCode=ktl" target="_blank">Amazon</a>) is an exceptional mix of horror and detection that is well worth reading.<br />
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The story opens with a man discovering — and chipping out — a figure in the ice. Discovering Holmes with his infamous seven-per-cent solution, Watson spurs Holmes to investigate a series of grave robberies. As the plot progresses, Holmes and Watson find themselves encountering the results of one scientist's ambitions...and facing the challenge of another ambitious scientist's plans.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgddztfWkY0zdq1htD5NXESBZ6BQCZUyrpX47m0apd9Xhd-hSwl6y5SZdWrLCyJ2uZV09_U2Kw_UGLEF_Agmbm6VtpjC9tDeNli1ERW8Ie554DQ77ZSlBganxqxTeKIXsJpFccnvVmr_q2p/s1600/Sherlock+Holmes+and+the+Horror+of+Frankenstein.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgddztfWkY0zdq1htD5NXESBZ6BQCZUyrpX47m0apd9Xhd-hSwl6y5SZdWrLCyJ2uZV09_U2Kw_UGLEF_Agmbm6VtpjC9tDeNli1ERW8Ie554DQ77ZSlBganxqxTeKIXsJpFccnvVmr_q2p/s400/Sherlock+Holmes+and+the+Horror+of+Frankenstein.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Sherlock Holmes and the Horror of Frankenstein</i> works as a more horror-oriented version of the canon. Klinger's art and layouts are very solid, driving the narrative and building the appropriate mood and atmosphere. Kuhn's writing is also exceptional - mostly dialogue-driven, but with clear awareness of both Conan Doyle and Mary Shelley's works, integrating both into a solid story that may seem reminiscent of past efforts, yet has a Holmesian flair of its own.<br />
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A relatively short yet enjoyable read, <i>Sherlock Holmes and the Horror of Frankenstein</i> is a good example of a literary mashup executed well. It is definitely <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B1yQNnBBnw" target="_blank">worth checking out</a>.<br />
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<i>Special thanks to Robert Skel for his assistance in acquiring a review copy</i><br />
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Sherlock Holmes and the Horror of Frankenstein — A Review

"his manner suggested that it was some strange creature" [ENGR] Holmesian pastiche is rife with mashups, especially the lit...

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by Gordon D

Sherlock Holmes and Secret Societies

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"Through the haze" [HOUN]</h4>
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Never say never about what Sherlockians might do or have already done, but so far as I know, the new society in the coal valleys of Pennsylvania, which held its first meeting recently, is the only one that has ever staged a reenactment of the Scowrers initiation from <i>The Valley of Fear</i> as a means of inducting new members. I wasn't there, and of course haven't passed through the necessary ordeals myself, so I don't know whether branding irons were involved. However, photos have appeared publicly demonstrating that there were blindfolds, and presumably ritual questions and answers (not the ones familiar to the Musgrave family). <br />
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When Jack McMurdo was admitted to the original Lodge 341, Vermissa, he was already a member of the Ancient Order of Freemen and had passed through whatever tests the more respectable Lodge 29, Chicago, required. The Bodymaster's requirements at Vermissa were extra. Both experiences can be seen as examples of what would now be called hazing, which has two general purposes: to ensure that someone is fit to be part of an organization and know its secrets, and to make the newcomer temporarily uncomfortable for the amusement of those already on the inside.<br />
When Arthur Conan Doyle wrote the Vermissa scene (Part II, Chapter III of <i>The Valley of Fear</i>) in 1914, he surely was remembering his own experience of being initiated into Phoenix Lodge 257 of the Freemasons in Southsea in 1887. He was not of course branded or threatened with sharp points to the eyes, but the essence of the experience, being a novice and the center of attention while not knowing what's about to happen, must have informed his description of McMurdo's welcome at Vermissa many years later.<br />
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Freemasons in the Canon</h4>
The Freemasons, or simply Masons, figure several times in the Canon; much has been written about Jabez Wilson's "arc-and-compass breastpin," John Hector McFarlane's "watch-charm," and so on. Neither the secrets nor the activities of Freemasons figure in the stories in any substantial way — that was left for the scriptwriters of <i>Murder by Decree</i> in 1979. When Holmes says in "A  Scandal in Bohemia" that "There is a wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsy men," he is using the word in a very loose sense, and his initiation into that freemasonry seems to have involved nothing more than "[lending] the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses".<br />
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Secret Societies, or Societies with Secrets?</h4>
Everything about Masonic secrets is a sensitive subject. Doubly sensitive is the question of how far Masonic ritual influenced the ceremonies of Mormonism when they were being developed, mostly in Ohio in the 1830s, some forty years before the events narrated in the second part of A Study in Scarlet. I am neither a Mason nor a Mormon, but I am willing to believe various authors who see similarities in the ceremonial words and handshakes used in the two traditions. In both cases, the rituals have religious meanings, the Masons looking to "the Great Architect" and the Mormons to God as understood by the Latter-Day Saints churches, and neither group tolerates the horseplay that we would understand as "hazing". <i>A Study in Scarlet</i> mentions the Endowment House in Salt Lake City, but does not talk about the crucial Endowment ceremony that takes place there. However, the Mormons who figure in the novel certainly have secrets, and their flying squad, the Avenging Angels, have passwords just as the Masons and the Ancient Order of Freemen do.<br />
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Other secret societies appear in the Canon as well, notably "the Red Circle, which was allied to the old Carbonari", into which Gennaro Lucca had been "initiated" at Naples. The arrival of the society in New York, with word that "a lodge would be held upon a certain date," precipitated the dreadful events of the story that is likewise called "The Red Circle". The society that figures as a red herring in "The Six Napoleons," though identified as "the Mafia," is not dissimilar, and no doubt has its own initiation rituals.<br />
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Finally, there is the Ku Klux Klan, the "terrible secret society" appears in "The Five Orange Pips." It clearly had its symbols, "a sprig of oak-eaves in some parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others," but since the intended victims were meant to understand the messages they were sent, they were hardly very secret. We are not told whether aspiring members of this particular version of the Klan had to undergo an initiation, or whether adhering to its anti-Republican political views was enough.<br />
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<h4>
Greek Interpreter Needed</h4>
In popular culture these days, hazing is mostly associated with college fraternities and sororities, although the reputable ones have largely repudiated it. "Greek letter organizations" date from the early 19th century, but most of their practices as they have been known over the past few generations originated after the American Civil War, largely in the southern states — interestingly, the same time and place in which the original Klan held sway. <br />
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Unsurprisingly, no fraternities or sororities are mentioned in the Canonical stories, unless the Alpha Inn ("The Blue Carbuncle") qualifies on the strength of its single Greek letter. There is, however, what a newspaper quoted in "The Illustrious Client" called "that criminal fraternity which has so often had occasion to bewail the activity and ingenuity of the injured man", namely Sherlock Holmes. It is not clear whether the criminal fraternity had its own initiation procedures.<br />
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Sherlock Holmes and Secret Societies

"Through the haze" [HOUN] Never say never about what Sherlockians might do or have already done, but so far as I know, the n...

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by Chris Redmond

An Interview with Octavius Bear Author Harry DeMaio

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"bear upon the case" [VALL] </h4>
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Sherlock Holmes is no stranger to the animal kingdom. We have seen <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2016/07/thirty-years-of-great-mouse-detective.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">a delightful rodent version</a> of the great detective in Basil of Baker street, a number of canine variations such as the animated Sherlock Hound and Wishbone, the dog from the children's series, dawning the Holmes role in "The Slobber Hound," and there has even been a Sherlock Sheep in the social network game of Farmville.<br />
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But there never has been quite a Sherlockian character quite like Octavius Bear, a 1,400 pound anthropomorphic Kodiak bear living in an alternate future world where humans have perished and have been replaced by intelligent animals.<br />
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We interviewed author Harry DeMaio on how he imagined this Holmesian series, one like no other.<br />
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<b>I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere: Tell us about <a href="http://mxpublishing.com/search?ssv=demaio" target="_blank">the world of Octavius Bear</a> and why you decided to make a Holmesian character in a world of intelligent animals.</b></h4>
<b>Harry DeMaio:</b> Here’s the story background: About 100,000 years ago, according to scientific experts, a colossal solar flare blasted out from the Sun, creating gigantic magnetic storms here on Earth. These highly charged electrical tempests caused startling physical and psychological imbalances in the then population of our world. The complete nervous systems of some species were totally destroyed. For example, <i>Homo sapiens</i> lost all mental and motor capabilities and rapidly became extinct. Less developed species exposed to the radiation were affected differently.  Four-footed and finned mammals, birds and reptiles suddenly found themselves capable of complex thought, enhanced emotions, self-awareness, social consciousness and the ability to communicate, sometimes orally, sometimes telepathically, often both. Both speech production and speech perception slowly progressed with the evolution of tongues, lips, vocal cords and enhanced ear to brain connections. Many species developed opposable digits, fingers or claws, further accelerating civilized progress. Some others (most fish and underground dwellers) were shielded from the radiation and remained only as sentient as they were before the blast. This event is referred to as The Big Shock.  It remains under intensive study.<br />
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Alternate universes play an increasing level of importance in each succeeding book. Let’s hear it for Quantum Superposition and good old Schrodinger.<br />
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I wanted a new type of detective and I based Octavius on several prototypes, including Holmes.<br />
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Octavius is a nine foot tall, 1400 pound Kodiak Bear/consulting detective/scientist/inventor/seeker of justice/mega-billionaire owner of Universal Ursine Industries/narcoleptic war hero/gourmet-gourmand/somewhat sedentary and grouchy just on general principles. He is a hybrid character somewhat loosely based on Sherlock Holmes and Nero Wolfe with some characteristics of each but definitely his own bear. Octavius, among his many talents and accomplishments, he is a brilliant, self-taught practitioner in the wide ranging fields of biology, physics, ursinology, voodoo, teleology, chemistry, apiculture and oenology as well as a first rate electrical, electronic, structural, marine, aeronautical, mechanical and chemical engineer.  He has a few other interesting characteristics such as falling into brief, deep narcoleptic comas – side effects of his successful genetic experiments to eliminate the need for him to hibernate. He, his associates and nemeses are all figments of my warped imagination.<br />
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<b>IHOSE: Octavius is inspired by Holmes but he has some significant differences. What are some ways the characters are similar and different?</b></h4>
<b>HD: </b> The two primary inspirations for Octavius and his sidekick, Maury Meerkat are Holmes/Watson and Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin. Octavius is nine feet tall. Maury a little more than two feet. I wanted to play heavily on the sidekick dynamic with characters whose personalities, physical characteristics and backgrounds were wildly different but generally compatible. Octavius suffers from narcolepsy which pops up at very inopportune times.  Although he thinks he is, The Great Bear is not infallible and Maury lets him know it.   So do the Bearoness and Chita.<br />
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<b>IHOSE: There really has never been a book series quite like this one. At times your books are as serious as <i>Watership Down</i> and at others as goofy as <i>Zootopia</i>.  What, besides the original Holmes tales, were your literary influences in crafting this series?</b></h4>
<b>HD: </b> I’ve already mentioned Nero Wolfe (Rex Stout.) I am an animal enthusiast with a special affection for bears so I did a lot of research on the animal kingdom and queendom.  One of my primary villains, Imperius Drake is described as “Moriarty with wings,” The Thin Man films and some of the Sam Spade stories helped. You may have noticed that every chapter begins with a limerick and there are periodic disquisitions on the nature of this alternative earth. I also include short descriptions of the <i>dramatis personae</i> at the beginning of each volume. All of these features resonate well with the reader.<br />
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<b>IHOSE:  Will we ever see Octavius Bear somehow meet the real Sherlock Holmes? </b></h4>
<b>HD:  </b>Octavius has had meetings and dealings with Fetlock Holmes, the Great Horse Detective. We’d have to switch to another alternative universe to have Octavius and Sherlock Holmes come together. One that includes Homo Sapiens. I describe one in Book Four- <i>The Lower Case</i>. The meeting is possible with a manipulation of time as well as location but not immediately in the cards.<br />
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<b>IHOSE:  The question we ask every Sherlockian, if you were stranded on a desert island with just one Sherlock Holmes story, which would you choose and why?</b></h4>
<b>HD:</b>  "A Scandal in Bohemia" for several reasons. First, I greatly admire Irene Adler who comes as close to being a romantic interest as Conan Doyle ever invented. Second, Holmes both wins and loses in this one. Refreshing to see him caught up by The Woman. A shame she appears so seldom in the Canon and subsequent pastiches.<br />
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<b>IHOSE: What are your upcoming projects?</b></h4>
<b>HD: </b> Completion of Book Five - <i>The Curse of the Mummy’s Case</i> -  later this year. I’m also looking into converting the Casebooks into scripts for animated films.<br />
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<b>IHOSE: Any last thoughts?</b></h4>
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<b>HD: </b>Females play major roles in my books. Chita, Frau Schuylkill and the Polar Bearoness Belinda Bearnaise Bruin Bear (nee Black) are reader favorites but there are many others – heroines and villains alike. Octavius’ mother, Juno, is one of my favorites. Octavius and the Bearoness marry in Book Two and at the end of Book Four, two cubs, one male, one female arrive on the scene. They have major roles in Book Five along with their governess, Mlle Woof. (Yes, it is possible for a polar bear and Kodiak to have offspring.)  Bearnice and Bearyl are identical twins and in addition to piloting Bearoness Belinda’s SST Concorde, they sing and act and appear in the Bearoness’ Aquashow – Some Like It Cold.  But Chita (or the  pseudonymous Madame Catherine Catt) seems to really resonate. Pardon the pun, but she’s a keeper.</div>
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<b>Harry DeMaio</b> is a nom de plume of Harry B. DeMaio, successful author of several books on Information Security and Business Networks as well as the four volume The Casebooks of Octavius Bear – “Alternative Universe Mysteries for Adult Animal Lovers.” The latest volume, <i>The Lower Case</i>, <a href="http://mxpublishing.com/product/9781780929514/The+Lower+Case%3A+Octavius+Bear+Book+4" target="_blank">is available from MX Publishing</a>. He is also a prolific writer of humorous poems and limericks. His website is <a href="http://www.octaviusbearslair.com/">www.octaviusbearslair.com</a>.<br />
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<i style="background-color: white; font-family: 'times new roman';">Derrick Belanger is the author of the #1 bestselling book in its category <a amzn-ps-bm-asin="1519511957" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="9e2003200f68f2fe44eb4bcdd1a73f6d" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Peculiar Provenance" href="http://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Holmes-Adventure-Peculiar-Provenance/dp/1519511957/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=9e2003200f68f2fe44eb4bcdd1a73f6d&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_3292728" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Peculiar Provenance</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_3292728" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=9e2003200f68f2fe44eb4bcdd1a73f6d&_cb=1451973203084" style="border: none; height: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 0px;" width="0" />, which was in the top 200 bestselling books on Amazon. He also is the author of the MacDougall Twins with Sherlock Holmes books, the latest of which is <a amzn-ps-bm-asin="B017862MVS" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="5293cce6e7483fecbc2d08a80a6fd7fa" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="Curse of the Deadly Dinosaur" href="http://www.amazon.com/Deadly-Dinosaur-MacDougall-Sherlock-Holmes-ebook/dp/B017862MVS/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=5293cce6e7483fecbc2d08a80a6fd7fa&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_7842789" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Curse of the Deadly Dinosaur</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_7842789" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=5293cce6e7483fecbc2d08a80a6fd7fa&_cb=1451973247482" style="border: none; height: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 0px;" width="0" />, and he edited the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle horror anthology <a amzn-ps-bm-asin="B00P4E8AVI" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="a71c0c4edf6b4a9c56848bf35d8b468a" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="A Study in Terror: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Revolutionary Stories of Fear and the Supernatural" href="http://www.amazon.com/Study-Terror-Revolutionary-Stories-Supernatural-ebook/dp/B00P4E8AVI/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=a71c0c4edf6b4a9c56848bf35d8b468a&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_5010397" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">A Study in Terror: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Revolutionary Stories of Fear and the Supernatural</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_5010397" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=a71c0c4edf6b4a9c56848bf35d8b468a&_cb=1451973259426" style="border: none; height: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 0px;" width="0" />. Mr. Belanger has recently started the publishing company <a href="http://www.belangerbooks.com/" target="_blank">Belanger Books</a> which released the Sherlock Holmes anthology <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Watson-Sherlock-Anthology-Stories/dp/1533202273/" target="_blank">Beyond Watson</a>. Derrick Belanger also is a frequent contributor to I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere. He resides in Colorado and continues compiling unpublished works by Dr. John H. Watson.</i></div>
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An Interview with Octavius Bear Author Harry DeMaio

"bear upon the case" [VALL] Sherlock Holmes is no stranger to the animal kingdom. We have seen a delightful rodent versi...

+ Read more »

by Belanger Books

Celebrating the Life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

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"if it wasn't for this gentleman here..." [NORW]</h4>
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Today marks 86 years since Arthur Conan Doyle became the ultimate spiritualist. On July 7, 1930, he died after suffering a heart attack. By all accounts, he was a remarkable man — one who was much more than simply the creator of the timeless detective Sherlock Holmes.<br />
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Thanks to his own ability to document his life and the <a href="http://wessexpress.com/html/newspaper2.html" target="_blank">growing interest by the press</a>, we know quite a bit about the life he had and the exploits he led. From serving on a whaling ship in the arctic to racing automobiles, taking on cricket legend W.G. Grace, popularizing alpine skiing in Switzerland, running for Parliament and much more, he was a giant of a man, both physically and symbolically.<br />
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We have a few programs that might interest you, in which experts join us to discuss his life and his work - both renowned and newly discovered. Bookmark these and turn to them in your spare time to learn some of the intricacies behind the man who brought Sherlock Holmes to the world.<br />
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In <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose13" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 13: Arthur Conan Doyle - A Life In Letters</a>, we interviewed Jon Lellenberg and Dan Stashower, who, together with Charles Foley, edited a biography ofDoyle comprised of hundreds of letters, both personal and professional.<br />
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The pair returned to join us for <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose37" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 37: The Lost Conan Doyle Manuscript</a> to tell the tale of how The Narrative of John Smith, written in 1883 when Conan Doyle was a struggling doctor, never made it to the publishers - until now.<br />
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Then, Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post book critic and columnist Michael Dirda joined us to talk about one entry in his Writers on Writers series for <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose38" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 38: OnConan Doyle: Or, the Whole Art of Storytelling</a>.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" height="90" mozallowfullscreen="" msallowfullscreen="" oallowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/1828424/height/90/width/600/theme/custom/autoplay/no/autonext/no/thumbnail/yes/preload/no/no_addthis/no/direction/backward/no-cache/true/render-playlist/no/custom-color/ef6300/" style="border: none;" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="600"></iframe><br /></div>
<br />
<br />
And finally, Jon and Dan were with us for a third time on <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose48" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 48: Dangerous Work</a>, in which they shared the stories behind a truly remarkable tome: Dangerous Work: Diary of an Arctic Adventure - a book comprised of the hand-written journal entries (and drawings) from Doyle's time on an arctic whaling ship when he was but 20 years old.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" height="90" mozallowfullscreen="" msallowfullscreen="" oallowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/2148081/height/90/width/600/theme/custom/autoplay/no/autonext/no/thumbnail/yes/preload/no/no_addthis/no/direction/backward/no-cache/true/render-playlist/no/custom-color/00bbb1/" style="border: none;" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="600"></iframe><br /></div>
<br />
<br />
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A true gentleman and a remarkable human being. May you enjoy this week reveling in the wonder of the life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.<br />
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Celebrating the Life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

"if it wasn't for this gentleman here..." [NORW] Today marks 86 years since Arthur Conan Doyle became the ultimate spiri...

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by Scott Monty

Thirty Years of The Great Mouse Detective

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“it was remarkably animated” [SCAN]</h4>
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaiDGNGUOvQOXeBmp-mzHdWqm9ggWPcmktDi1BfaWN6KPxxkrzUffNuIKErynMqquUFZ6rW2dH5rbTAlKQGqudxGqzdWKYevQeNe06Guj8bd34j4DLJuVKA5fJ1vaCl1RHlOD9_3zvM7d4/s1600/The-great-mouse-detective-wallpapers-13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaiDGNGUOvQOXeBmp-mzHdWqm9ggWPcmktDi1BfaWN6KPxxkrzUffNuIKErynMqquUFZ6rW2dH5rbTAlKQGqudxGqzdWKYevQeNe06Guj8bd34j4DLJuVKA5fJ1vaCl1RHlOD9_3zvM7d4/s640/The-great-mouse-detective-wallpapers-13.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Disney’s <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Great-Detective-Two-Disc-Special-Blu-ray/dp/B0081VMYBI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1467515080&sr=8-2&keywords=great+mouse+detective">The GreatMouse Detective</a></i> was released 30 years ago yesterday — July 2, 1986. While not a breakout hit for the studio, its
place in history not only laid the path for the Disney renaissance period of
the 1990s, but also paid homage to the Sherlockian past that had come before it.<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
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While working on <i>The
Rescuers</i> in the mid 70s, studio heads at Disney Animation had discussed
creating an animated Sherlock Holmes film, and the <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Basil-Baker-Street/dp/0671702874">Basil of Baker Street</a></i> series of books by Eve Titus were agreed upon
to be adapted into a feature length film. The production was shelved for the time being, due to its similarities
with <i>The Rescuers</i>, and the world
would have to wait another decade for Basil, Doctor Dawson and Professor
Ratigan.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In 1982, Disney Animation Studios was in turmoil. <i>The Fox
and the Hound</i> had been released but had underperformed, leading many Disney
executives to think that animated features had past their prime after Walt
Disney died. Funding was drying up for
animated projects, and the studio’s next release, <i>The Black Cauldron,</i> had many behind the scenes problems, leading to
newly appointed Disney heads Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg to reassign
some of its animators to begin work on a new project titled “Basil of Baker
Street.”<o:p></o:p><br />
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Following an initial meeting where the plot and early sketches
were presented to studio heads, animators were told that the story moved too
slowly.  Back to the literal drawing
board they went.  Along with the news
that instead of being released for Christmas of 1987, the film was to be ready
for a summer 1986 release, the budget of the film had been cut from $24 million
to $10 million and that the title sounded “too English.”    <o:p></o:p></div>
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Animators John Musker and Ron Clements appeared at the BSI’s
conference in 2012, and their more detailed talk, describing the ups and downs
of the production can be found in <i><a href="http://www.bakerstreetjournal.com/behindscreen.html">SherlockHolmes: Behind the Canonical Screen</a>.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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When the movie debuted for the July 4<sup>th</sup> weekend
in 1986, it was a moderate success, doing much better than <i>The Black Cauldron</i> that had preceded it. Critics enjoyed the movie. Gene Siskel called it the most “truly
memorable animated feature in 25 years" and many were enamored with the
chase sequence through the clockwork gears of Big Ben. This scene in itself was ground-breaking: the
first time that computer animation was used in conjunction with traditional
cell animation. This process would lead
Disney to their hits of the 90s such as <i>The
Little Mermaid</i> and <i>Beauty and the
Beast</i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Thirty years on, it’s easy to look back and see <i>The Great Mouse Detective</i> as an
important film in Disney history. But
what about Sherlockiana?<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMcNNR51I0YEYoDVX9-EsmQb-NbOEul4BT1ChS0ePOfhCGy9nD17a4blD-D0kNMshcAkr2uRsbI8EhUKsZEgsss03gfZv34CFGqFXSojeN5BoardexQLLjjGgSxutAU3kyhEkPL2fVAhvy/s1600/the-great-mouse-detective-15.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMcNNR51I0YEYoDVX9-EsmQb-NbOEul4BT1ChS0ePOfhCGy9nD17a4blD-D0kNMshcAkr2uRsbI8EhUKsZEgsss03gfZv34CFGqFXSojeN5BoardexQLLjjGgSxutAU3kyhEkPL2fVAhvy/s640/the-great-mouse-detective-15.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Basil and Doctor Dawson introduced a new generation to
Sherlock Holmes and his capabilities. While children of this time may have been familiar with the deerstalker
and magnifying glass from the bumbling <i>Sesame
Street</i> character, Sherlock Hemlock, this was the first time that many
children got to see intelligence as a superpower.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Basil enters the story by charging into 221 1/2 Baker Street
in a manic fashion, and within minutes has shown his mastery of disguise,
ballistics, ingenuity and determination. Once Doctor Dawson introduces him to young Olivia Flaversham, and the
problem of her missing father, the game is afoot and the movie really takes
off.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The viewers are then introduced to Professor Ratigan, voiced
by the incomparable Vincent Price. The rivalry between Basil and Ratigan is one
that both characters revel in, and the continual cat and mouse between Basil
and his “Napoleon of crime” urges the story along to its climaxes with a
dastardly Rube Goldberg-esque death machine, a mechanical queen, and the
aforementioned battle at Big Ben.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The nods to the Sherlock Holmes stories abound through this
film. From the obvious inspiration of the name
of the main character to the inclusion of Basil Rathbone’s voice as Sherlock
Holmes, there is something for every Sherlockian out there. A personal favorite is Toby, Basil’s reliable
bloodhound, whom is a clear take off from Toby from <i>The Sign of Four</i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Many Sherlockians in their 30’s and 40’s have fond memories
of <i>The Great Mouse Detective</i>, and
although its stormy beginnings were not a high point in Disney history, it
sparked an interest in a new generation for Sherlock Holmes fans that have
grown over the years to treasure it for the great film it is.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Thirty Years of The Great Mouse Detective

“it was remarkably animated” [SCAN] Disney’s The GreatMouse Detective was released 30 years ago yesterday — July 2, 1986. While no...

+ Read more »

by Rob Nunn

Rare First Edition of The Speckled Band at Auction

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"Now and again I drive down to Sotheby's" [3GAR]</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq99GzgVRCHh0oLSek3xU6gsYqL8BSK9EKWuI83ERKuOOtXTC8bojCSDAPw4mnXW8y87020VUMg5opJdDcqRwk7RJg5_DOGc9KxA55Q-qMj_d4Zi-0MsW0dy5g-RLOMLRDP49kE34EXwN9/s1600/The+Speckled+Band+-+play+header.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="470" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq99GzgVRCHh0oLSek3xU6gsYqL8BSK9EKWuI83ERKuOOtXTC8bojCSDAPw4mnXW8y87020VUMg5opJdDcqRwk7RJg5_DOGc9KxA55Q-qMj_d4Zi-0MsW0dy5g-RLOMLRDP49kE34EXwN9/s640/The+Speckled+Band+-+play+header.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
A rare item from the world of Sherlock Holmes will be up for auction. Sotheby's is offering a chance to own a first edition of the play "The Speckled Band," written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.<br />
<br />
The <a href="http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/2016/english-literature-history-childrens-books-illustrations-l16404-.html" target="_blank">English Literature, History, Children's Books and Illustrations</a> auction is set for July 12, 2016 in London. <a href="http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2016/english-literature-history-childrens-books-illustrations-l16404-/lot.153.html" target="_blank">Lot 153 is a first edition of "The Speckled Band,"</a> written in December 1909 and based on the story of the same name, which was originally published in 1892. The estimate is £5,000-7,000.<br />
<br />
According to Green and Gibson,<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"[Doyle] took a six-month lease on the Adelphi Theatre so that The House of Temperley might be produced. The death of the King and a serious slump in audience attendance, coupled with the subject which was not thought suitable for women, meant that the run was short. 'When I saw the course that things were taking I shut myself up and devoted my whole mind to making a sensational Sherlock Holmes drama. I wrote it in a week and called it The Speckled Band after the short story of that name. I do not think that I exaggerate if I say that within a fortnight of the one play shutting down I had a company working upon the rehearsals of a second one, which had been written in the interval' (<i>Memories and Adventures</i>, p. 101). The new play was a great success. It opened at the Adelphi on 4 June 1910 and was transferred to the Globe on 8 August. It ran, in all, for 169 performances." (Green and Gibson, pp. 163-164).</blockquote>
<div>
The play enjoyed a successful tour in England, with two touring-companies on the road by the end of August. The actor who portrayed Sherlock Holmes in England was H.A. Saintsbury, who enjoyed Claude King as his Dr. Watson. Lyn Harding was cast at Dr. Rylott [sic] (a variation on the original Dr. Roylott). You may recall Harding as Professor Moriarty in the <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/search/label/Arthur%20Wontner#.V3dYD7grLb0" target="_blank">Arthur Wontner films</a>. </div>
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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/AVvXsEgYdr0-R5Nh0v11dFHPzwVuzwaCmO1FRQMVaEALg5ETx8Yo9kgdQr0U8eAC9RxXVBfaSMdN_0bEdbLUAe1N67iQlIcFwApIZi6Lx_jGZFNUPrSUYrkkiohwIfYflO3n5y4L6ZgF49Jqc1iG/s1600/H.A.+Saintsbury.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYdr0-R5Nh0v11dFHPzwVuzwaCmO1FRQMVaEALg5ETx8Yo9kgdQr0U8eAC9RxXVBfaSMdN_0bEdbLUAe1N67iQlIcFwApIZi6Lx_jGZFNUPrSUYrkkiohwIfYflO3n5y4L6ZgF49Jqc1iG/s1600/H.A.+Saintsbury.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">H.A. Saintsbury as Sherlock Holmes</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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After the success of the play, it was committed to print. According to Green and Gibson, there were four impressions of "The Speckled Band" — the first issue on thick paper, published August 1912, the text block measuring 184 x 120 mm.; the title-page with [left of a vertical rule] "New York / Samuel French / Publisher / 28-30 West 38th Street" and to the right of a vertical rule "London / Samuel French, Ltd / 26, Southampton Street / Strand"; at the foot of p.124 under a rule "Printed by Butler & Tanner, Frome and London."; and pp.125-126 consist of publisher's advertisements for the plays of Alfred Sutro, etc.</div>
<div>
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The second impression conforms textually with the first but is printed on thinner paper.<br />
<br />
The third and fourth impressions are quite different — the text block measures 183 x 123 mm.; the title-page has the New York and London addresses reversed with the London address now being to the left of the vertical line and the New York address being to the right. The "London" address now has the addition of ",WC2"; the imprint (previously at the foot of p.124 under a rule "Printed by Butler & Tanner, Frome and London.") has now moved to the foot of p. 4 and reads "Made and Printed in Great Britain by Butler & Tanner Ltd., Frome and London"; and the publisher's advertisements pp.[125-126] "The Plays of Alfred Sutro" have now been replaced with publisher's advertisements for Sherlock Holmes, and the plays of Gertrude E. Jennings.</div>
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According to <a href="http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2016/english-literature-history-childrens-books-illustrations-l16404-/lot.153.html" target="_blank">the description on Sotheby's</a>, the book (image above) is described as follows:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
8vo, FIRST ENGLISH EDITION, the author's dramatic adaptation of his celebrated Sherlock Holmes story, publisher's advertisements at the beginning and end, stage plot, properties plot and electric and lime plot at the end, original light green paper covers glued to spine blocked and titled in black with floral bands, some slight browning, backstrip partially unglued, slight creasing and wear to covers.</blockquote>
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Further note: the image of the item is severely cropped and no picture of the spine or rear cover is shown.<br />
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<div>
While it is not certain which impression this lot is, a previous auction at Sotheby's offered a first impression in December 1998 in Lot 382 and brought £4,200 +15% premium, for a total of £4,830. And again, Sotheby's New York sold it as Lot 88 in December 2002 for $11,000 + 20% premiumk, or a total of $13,200. More recently, Swann Galleries offered what appears to be <a href="http://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/asp/fullCatalogue.asp?salelot=2397+++++110+&refno=++709862&saletype=" target="_blank">a similar item in Lot 110 of its Sale 2397</a> in November 2015; the item appears to have gone unsold on an estimate of $10,000 - 15,000. Swann sold a different copy in May 2016 in <a href="http://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/asp/fullCatalogue.asp?salelot=2416+++++126+&refno=++714753&saletype=" target="_blank">Lot 126 in Sale 2416 for $4,500</a>, including the buyer's premium.</div>
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More information on the variants of the publication can be found on the <a href="http://www.davidbrassrarebooks.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-shopping-cart/single_book.php/?sbook=959" target="_blank">David Brass Rare Books</a> site.</div>
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Rare First Edition of The Speckled Band at Auction

"Now and again I drive down to Sotheby's" [3GAR] A rare item from the world of Sherlock Holmes will be up for auction. So...

+ Read more »

by Scott Monty

This One Trick Will Help You Stay More Informed on Sherlock Holmes News

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"So there you are, Watson. You are up to date now." [ILLU]</h4>
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It can be difficult to keep up with all of the goings-on of Sherlock Holmes online. In <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose99" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">our most recent episode, Chris Redmond describes</a> the impossibility of maintaining the original mission of Sherlockian.net to document all Sherlock Holmes content on the Internet.<br />
<br />
One of the ways we share updates is on our <a href="http://facebook.com/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">Facebook Page</a> (do already like us on Facebook, don't you?). And as you probably know, social media has increased the speed and frequency of online communications — certainly the Sherlockian world has exploded with the concurrence of social media and of popular versions of Sherlock Holmes such as <i>Elementary</i> and <i>Sherlock</i>.<br />
<br />
But earlier this week, <a href="http://newsroom.fb.com/news/2016/06/news-feed-fyi-helping-make-sure-you-dont-miss-stories-from-friends/" target="_blank">Facebook made some changes to the News Feed</a> which means that you're more likely to see content from your friends and family than you are from Pages like ours. We understand that — you want to connect with other human beings on social media rather than with brands.<br />
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This One Trick Will Help You Stay More Informed on Sherlock Holmes News

"So there you are, Watson. You are up to date now." [ILLU] It can be difficult to keep up with all of the goings-on of Sherl...

+ Read more »

by Scott Monty

Episode 99: Chris Redmond

<h4 style="text-align: center;">
"Billy had appeared in answer to a ring." [MAZA] </h4>
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It's a rare thing to find a Sherlockian legend these days, but Chris Redmond, BSI ("Billy"), ASH, MBt certainly qualifies as one. From his investiture in the Baker Street Irregulars at the tender age of 16 to his long association with the Bootmakers of Toronto, he is a respected speaker at all kinds of Sherlockian events. And online, he's probably best known for his longstanding and comprehensive reference site <a href="http://sherlockian.net/">Sherlockian.net</a>.<br />
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Chris's writing output is impressive, steady and ranges from the scholarly to the humorous. <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="0889241422" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="9ceb28156eb8517fb361cd92779e837a" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="In Bed with Sherlock Holmes" href="http://www.amazon.com/Bed-Sherlock-Holmes-Elements-Detective/dp/0889241422/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=9ceb28156eb8517fb361cd92779e837a&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_3222660" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">In Bed with Sherlock Holmes</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_3222660" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=9ceb28156eb8517fb361cd92779e837a&_cb=1467271406022" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i>, <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="B00AVDXHNS" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="4b27c5f6ef3f4a1da5b75ee8f883474c" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="Welcome to America, Mr. Sherlock Holmes" href="http://www.amazon.com/Welcome-America-Mr-Sherlock-Holmes-ebook/dp/B00AVDXHNS/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=4b27c5f6ef3f4a1da5b75ee8f883474c&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_7856661" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Welcome to America, Mr. Sherlock Holmes</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_7856661" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=4b27c5f6ef3f4a1da5b75ee8f883474c&_cb=1467271423678" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i> and <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="0889242461" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="244f3b8d95f68280927d69e3de53fb8f" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="A Sherlock Holmes Handbook" href="http://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Holmes-Handbook-Christopher-Redmond/dp/0889242461/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=244f3b8d95f68280927d69e3de53fb8f&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_816053" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">A Sherlock Holmes Handbook</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_816053" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=244f3b8d95f68280927d69e3de53fb8f&_cb=1467271442149" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i> are all well known and in depth volumes about Arthur Conan Doyle's great detective. But in this interview, we move beyond the written page and get into Chris's inspirations and aspirations (still!).<br />
<br />
You'll learn what Chris's initial career choice was before moving along to communications and how that initial proclivity stayed with him. You'll hear about some of Chris's great speeches, from the man who loved women to the hilarious take on how to give a Sherlockian presentation. As if there isn't enough to content with in simply concepting and assembling one, Chris shares the most difficult part of compiling a comprehensive biography of some 800 individuals. And finally, we have Chris's next book to look forward to in which he challenges each of 60 authors to determine why every Sherlock Holmes story is the best.<br />
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As usual, we couldn't do this without the significant support of Mary Miller for her extraordinary Patreon support! If you contribute at Mary's level, you get mentioned on the show. But we welcome any amount of support that you can muster.<br />
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<h3>
<b>Notes</b></h3>
1:50 Welcome and please take our survey at <a href="http://ihose.co/ihosesurvey">ihose.co/ihosesurvey</a><br />
5:25 Sponsor: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FR93K1O" target="_blank">Amanda Lester, Detective</a><br />
6:48 Introducing Chris Redmond<br />
8:46 First meeting with Sherlock Holmes<br />
11:25 The Toronto Public Library's Arthur Conan Doyle Collection<br />
13:21 Discovering a world of Sherlock Holmes beyond the original stories<br />
16:25 Chris gets started on the Internet<br />
20:33 Setting the course for Sherlockian.net<br />
26:19 Sponsor: <i><a href="http://bakerstreetjournal.com/behindscreen.html" target="_blank">The Baker Street Journal</a></i><br />
27:50 Finding inspiration and training throughout one's career, and the Spiritualizing Sherlock Holmes project<br />
33:20 Developing the content for <i>A Quick Succession of Subjects</i><br />
44:50 The impact of color in the Sherlock Holmes stories<br />
48:22 Sponsor: <a href="http://wessexpress.com/html/quicksuccession.html" target="_blank">Wessex Press</a><br />
49:45 <i>Lives Beyond Baker Street</i><br />
59:10 An upcoming book project: <i>About 60: Why Every Sherlock Holmes Story Is the Best</i><br />
1:04:25 What Chris is reading now and his book habits<br />
1:09:47 Wrap up<br />
<br /></div>
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<h3>
Sponsors</h3>
This episode includes our two longtime sponsors and a special sponsor who is supporting us for the first half of this year:<br />
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<li>The <a href="http://www.wessexpress.com/" target="_blank">Wessex Press</a>, featuring <i><a href="http://wessexpress.com/html/quicksuccession.html" target="_blank">A Quick Successful of Subjects</a></i> </li>
<li><a href="http://www.bakerstreetjournal.com/" target="_blank"><i>The Baker Street Journal</i></a>, where <i>Sherlock Holmes: Behind the Canonical Screen</i> is now available. </li>
<li>And Paula Berinstein's <a href="http://amandalester.net/" target="_blank">Amanda Lester, Detective</a> series for young adults is now available as <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FR93K1O" target="_blank">a four-volume box set</a>.</li>
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Would you care to become a sponsor? You can find <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/p/contact.html#.Vc1Qx7JViko" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">more information here</a>.</div>
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<a href="http://traffic.libsyn.com/ihearofsherlock/ihearofsherlock099.mp3" target="_blank">Download</a> [Save As] | File size 35.4 MB, 1:17:20</h4>
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<h3>
Links:</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://sherlockian.net/">Sherlockian.net</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.torontobootmakers.com/" target="_blank">The Bootmakers of Toronto</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/books-video-music/specialized-collections/literature-genre-doyle.jsp" target="_blank">The Arthur Conan Doyle Collection</a> at the Toronto Public Library</li>
<li><a href="http://www.sherlockian.net/pastiches/fanfic.html" target="_blank">The best fanfic on Sherlockian.net</a></li>
<li>Chris Redmond on Twitter: <a href="http://twitter.com/darkgreendesk" target="_blank">@darkgreendesk</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/search/label/Chris%20Redmond" target="_blank">Chris's output on I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere</a></li>
<li><i><a href="http://wessexpress.com/html/quicksuccession.html" target="_blank">A Quick Succession of Subjects</a></i></li>
<li><a href="http://ash-nyc.com/" target="_blank">The Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes</a></li>
<li><i><a href="http://mxpublishing.com/product/9781780929064/Lives+Beyond+Baker+Street%3A+A+Biographical+Dictionary+of+Sherlock+Holmes%27s+Contemporaries" target="_blank">Lives Beyond Baker Street: A Biographical Dictionary of Sherlock Holmes's Contemporaries</a></i></li>
<li>Chris's article on IHOSE: <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2015/11/his-last-bow-power-of-women.html#.V3S8brgrLb0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">His Last Bow - The Power of Women</a></li>
<li><a href="http://wildsidepress.com/" target="_blank">Wildside Press</a></li>
<li><i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Mark-Strike-Autobiography-Steve-Allen/dp/B0021ZWBRM" target="_blank">Mark It And Strike It</a></i> by Steven Allen</li>
<li>Leave us a rating or review on iTunes by <a href="http://bit.ly/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">going here</a></li>
<li>The <a href="http://patreon.com/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere Patreon</a> page</li>
<li>The <a href="http://ihose.co/ihosesurvey" target="_blank">IHOSE listener survey</a></li>
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Many more links, articles and images are available in our Flipboard and Scoop.it sites at <a href="http://ihose.co/flipsherlock" target="_blank">ihose.co/flipsherlock</a> and <a href="http://www.scoop.it/t/sherlock-holmes" target="_blank">ihose.co/scoopsherlock</a>, as well as on the <a href="https://plus.google.com/communities/114565123495685504221" target="_blank">The Sherlock Holmes Community</a> on Google+ (with over 3,700 members), as well as through our accounts on <a href="http://facebook.com/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="http://instagram.com/ihearofsherlock">Instagram</a>, <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2016/04/ihose-on-snapchat-just-in-time-for.html">Snapchat</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and <a href="http://ihearofsherlock.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Tumblr</a>.</div>
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Episode 99: Chris Redmond

"Billy had appeared in answer to a ring." [MAZA] It's a rare thing to find a Sherlockian legend these days, but Chr...

+ Read more »

by Scott Monty

Remembering John Constable, BSI

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"They had at once sent for the doctor and for the constable" [DANC]</h4>
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<a href="http://ihose.co/ihose77" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Speckled Band of Boston</a> has a storied history that traces its roots to the early days of the Baker Street Irregulars. Founded in 1940, it is the oldest scion society of the BSI outside of the New York area (only the Five Orange Pips of Westchester County was founded earlier). And in its long history, the Band has had surprisingly few chairmen (or "Keeper," as the role is currently called).<br />
<br />
James Keddie, Sr. was the founder, but he died suddenly in 1943 and was by followed by his son James Keddie, Jr. in the role of what was then called "Cheetah."  The executive leadership of the Band changed significantly in its earliest years. Here, the program from the 50th anniversary of the Speckled Band explains the roles and the roster:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
After James Keddie, Sr. and James Keddie, Jr. had served as Cheetah, P.M. Stone was named "Stoker". Next, H.W. Bell was elected Chairman of the Band in 1945, and, following his death in 1947, Douglas Lawson took over as Chairman, later known as the Keeper.<br />
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Subsequent Keepers have been: Philip Mather, Richard Wait, James Keddie, Jr., and John Constable.</blockquote>
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John Constable, MD, BSI ("The Crooked Man") passed away peacefully at home on June 6, 2016, aged 88. He joined the Speckled Band in 1953 and was fortunate enough to know every Keeper since Douglas Lawson. He served as Keeper for 30 years and assumed the role of Keeper Emeritus in the last five years. He received his investiture in the Baker Street Irregulars in 1986.<br />
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Our own association with the Band began in 1991, when we enjoyed the now-defunct traditions of the passing of cigars and of the Keeper's amethyst snuff box. But the tradition that remained throughout his years of service is one that touched us deeply: when it was time for champagne after dinner, the Keeper himself ladled it out into coupe glasses for every member. It's a symbolic gesture that conveys that the Keeper serves the membership, and Dr. Constable was no stranger to serving others.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU7KSFtYi97778I52my6e4DbBgBmBNSa6DLHZqGn6hRz9S9qJzIuHO8kU_w7K0QjoNB9YNoRq6eovVCzZWZeXKAn7W-I2ZGq4K_eWmvj_LhVN7UXoUgMD7PL-7oUJvV8LYgzQra1kaRC0f/s1600/scan0005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU7KSFtYi97778I52my6e4DbBgBmBNSa6DLHZqGn6hRz9S9qJzIuHO8kU_w7K0QjoNB9YNoRq6eovVCzZWZeXKAn7W-I2ZGq4K_eWmvj_LhVN7UXoUgMD7PL-7oUJvV8LYgzQra1kaRC0f/s640/scan0005.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dr. Constable preparing to serve the champagne at the 1992 Speckled Band dinner.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dr. Constable carrying on the tradition at the Speckled Band dinner in 2004.</td></tr>
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In order to understand Dr. Constable's commitment to service, let's step back a bit. Constable received his A.B., <i>magna cum laude</i>,<i> </i>from Harvard College in 1947 and then proceeded directly to Harvard Medical School, where he received his M.D., <i>cum laude</i>, in 1952. His residency in surgery and preceptorship in plastic surgery took place at Massachusetts General Hospital.<br />
<br />
Interestingly—and perhaps foreshadowing his time with the Speckled Band—Constable worked in herpetology in Harvard's <a href="http://www.mcz.harvard.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Museum of Comparative Zoology</a>. And although he abandoned wildlife conservation as a career in favor of surgery, he served on the administrative board of the Museum and with his wife Sylvia, he organized and led ecotourism trips to India, East Asia and South America.<br />
<br />
According to his own words in the <i>Harvard Class of 1947 25th Anniversary Report</i><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
By the end of the second year I found that surgery has become my greatest interest and I completed a surgical internship and residency at Massachusetts General Hospital. This training was interrupted by 2 years with the U.S. Navy where spent a year as the only doctor on a heavy cruiser in the Formosan Straits. With the help of a generous commanding officer and of the bicycle kept in the upper bunk of my cabin, I was able to see a lot of Japan and other parts of the Orient.</blockquote>
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This interest of travel in Asia was given a further boost upon Dr. Constable's application of his medical knowledge for humanitarian purposes. Again, according to the <i>25th Anniversary Report</i>,</div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I have been greatly influenced by three trips to Vietnam, none of which was undertaken to work in plastic surgery. In 1967, I went as one of the initial team for the Committee of Responsibility to visit almost every civilian hospital and South Vietnam in order to make the first reasonably complete survey of civilian war casualties. Subsequently I was asked to return by USAID to evaluate the very limited success of American doctors in teaching Vietnamese colleagues. On this occasion I was within three days of returning home when the Tet Offensive of 1968 resulted not only in a considerable delay in my trip and in my seeking Refuge under the bed when our hospital was invaded by the NLF, But also in a great opportunity to work closely with some really superb Vietnamese surgeons. More recently I went back as a medical member of the AAAS team evaluating the long-term destruction of the forest of Vietnam by chemical defoliants and of their possible toxicological and genetic effects on the population.</blockquote>
And of his work closer to home, Constable wrote:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The usual attempt of the academic MD to look after half a dozen half-time jobs at once keeps me professionally very busy with responsibilities in plastic surgical care and a residency training at the MGH and at the Shriners Burn Institute (a 30-bed hospital exclusively for burned children built in association with the MGH); with teaching at Harvard Medical School, and Boston University; and with clinics at the Veterans Administration, Crippled Children's and the Norfolk prison, there is limited remaining time for the private practice that has to support the rest. As a more distant consultant, I and a resident interested in plastic surgery have made annual trips to the Greenfell Mission in Newfoundland, Labrador,  where we look after the year's accumulation of plastic cases.</blockquote>
As a permanent monument to his interest in plastic surgery and international travel, Dr. Constable endowed the <a href="http://www.aaps1921.org/awards-John-D-Constable.cgi" target="_blank">John D. Constable International Traveling Fellowship</a> in the American Association of Plastic Surgeons. According to the AAPS site,<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The fellowship invites an international plastic surgeon to come to the United States under the auspices of the American Association of Plastic Surgeons. The goal is to improve the fellow’s understanding of American plastic surgery and to promote good will and academic interchange among surgeons of the international and American surgical communities. The chosen fellow will be in the United States as an observer for a period of 6-12 weeks under the sponsorship of members of the American Association of Plastic Surgeons.</blockquote>
The whole of Dr. Constable's professional accomplishments and accolades are impressive, including serving as the chief of plastic surgery at the Shriners Burn Institute, assistant clinical professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School, chairman of the Plastic Surgical Research Council, founder of the Indochina Surgical Education Exchange. Because of his extensive work in plastic surgery and research in their country, Dr. Constable received the Order of Friendship from the Government of Vietnam.<br />
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In both the 25th and 50th Anniversary Reports, Dr. Constable listed some of his interests and hobbies, and memberships associated with each: the Tavern Club and Somerset Club in Boston; chairman of the Boston Concert Opera, co-chair of the Cambridge Arts Council, and chairman of the conservation committee at the New England Aquarium.<br />
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<br />
Based on a career laden with such selflessness and service, it's easy to see why Dr. Constable was eager to ladle out the champagne to Speckled Band members every year.<br />
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<br />
<h4>
A personal recollection</h4>
To your editor, there were three things that stood out about John Constable. The first is that his voice was distinctive. One couldn't quite pinpoint the accent; was it English? Or perhaps a patrician-style Boston accent? Combined with a James Mason-like tenor tone, it was one of the most memorable, certainly. Your editor may have even tried to approximate an impression on more than one occasion.<br />
<br />
The second is that to us, he will always be "Dr. Constable." That's how he was introduced to us. It's how we always referred to him. To call him "John" just didn't seem to fit. Similar to how hearing "Sherlock" and "John" rather than Holmes and Watson cause us to tense up a bit. Perhaps that bit of Victorian/Edwardian tradition still remained in Dr. Constable.<br />
<br />
The third is a memory of a classroom experience in graduate school. In taking a class on medical insurance at the Boston University School of Public Health, your editor was fortunate enough to have had Peter Hiam, former Commissioner of Insurance for Massachusetts, as an instructor. The first thing you need to know is that in Massachusetts, the Commissioner sets the rates for medical procedures; the second thing is that surgeons and the Commissioner have traditionally been on adversarial terms.<br />
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So, one day in class, as Prof. Hiam was giving a lecture on insurance rate setting, he recalled a time in which he had to give a speech to a gathering of plastic surgeons at a dinner. To say that he was nervous to appear before his accusers would have been an understatement. Hiam recounted,<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"They gave me a polite—but not warm—reception and after my speech, the chairman took the podium, turned in my direction and said, 'Your rates are not...generous, but they are...adequate.'"</blockquote>
At which I point, I raised my hand from the back of the room and asked,<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Was that John Constable?"</blockquote>
The instructor nearly fell over with shock and amazement, and then asked,<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"How could you possibly know <i>that</i>?"</blockquote>
It's a long story.<br />
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A long and memorable one. Wishing you godspeed and eternal peace, Dr. Constable.<br />
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His official obituary can be found <a href="http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/bostonglobe/obituary.aspx?n=john-davidson-constable&pid=180307654" target="_blank">here</a> and a longer reminiscence can be <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/08/04/john-constable-plastic-surgeon-honored-for-humanitarian-work-vietnam-dies/MHbfKrktImJFGZzWE7fe0M/story.html" target="_blank">found in the <i>Boston Globe</i></a>; a memorial service will be held in October.<br />
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Remembering John Constable, BSI

"They had at once sent for the doctor and for the constable" [DANC] The Speckled Band of Boston has a storied history that t...

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by Scott Monty

Sherlock Holmes and The Adventure of the Primal Man — A Review

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“I was left in doubt as to whether it was animal or human.” [WIST]</h4>
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It’s summer of 1901, and a prehistoric man, frozen in ice, is up for auction in London. The British Museum is considering placing a bid, despite many opinions that the so-called Primal Man is a hoax. What’s a desperate academic to do to save the reputation of such an august institution?<br />
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Hire Sherlock Holmes, of course.<br />
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<i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="153271257X" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="a0fb7801e229e6c58c5e54304f42df40" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Primal Man" href="http://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Holmes-Adventure-Primal-Man/dp/153271257X/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=a0fb7801e229e6c58c5e54304f42df40&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_1835158" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Primal Man</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_1835158" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=a0fb7801e229e6c58c5e54304f42df40&_cb=1467118729372" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i> by Derrick Belanger is a lot of fun, with a lovely hint of pulp to flavor the mystery. For when there’s a potentially prehistoric creature involved, even the Great Detective would desire assistance from none other than Professor Challenger— er, I mean, Professor Ellington Dynamo, explorer, inventor, and Sherlock Holmes’s cousin.<br />
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The scenes with Dynamo, whom the introduction would have you believe is the ‘real’ figure behind the Challenger stories, are entertaining, though the inventions he demonstrates initially came across as a little steampunk. I was delighted to read in the notes afterward that they were based on actual devices that existed at the time. Dynamo himself is splendidly antagonistic toward everyone whose last name isn't Holmes; a brilliant mind in a brawler’s body, as he should be. His contribution to the mystery is small, and at first may seem colorful but superfluous. However, to paraphrase Chekhov, if there’s a rifle hanging on the wall, then by the end it must be used, and Mr. Belanger uses it perfectly at the climax.<br />
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The story takes place after The Great Hiatus, and there is one aspect of Holmes character that is oddly absent. No, it’s not just the cocaine. During his time in Tibet, Holmes apparently rid himself of all his vices, including alcohol and tobacco, though he’ll occasionally indulge on the rare celebratory occasion. If it hadn’t been mentioned, I probably wouldn’t have noticed Holmes wasn’t smoking. The story is paced well, and it’s hardly a three-pipe-problem. Since it is pointed out, though, I’m not sure I like it. This new philosophy on health makes sense, the author lays it out well, but Holmes and his pipe are so intrinsically tied together in my mind that it was really odd trying to imagine him intentionally staying away from it.<br />
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My only other very small point of contention is that at one point Watson uses the word ‘okay.’ While this isn’t anachronistic -- the word was in use at least in the States and likely across the pond —  it isn’t ever used in Canon and it’s jarring to hear it in Watson’s voice.<br />
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Apart from those two admittedly minor points, Holmes and Watson are at their Canonical best. Holmes gets to genuinely enjoy himself investigating and exposing a fraud, and it is so much fun watching Sherlock Holmes have fun. As the case takes a deadly turn, he leaps into action to track down a murderer, with Watson forever at his side. Watson tries to navigate the plot as best he can, reacting very much as the reader does with each new development (though he found his confrontation with Dynamo much less humorous than I did.)<br />
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Another character I must mention is Chief Inspector Lestrade. I loved his interactions with Holmes. His voice is spot on, whether in admirably contained righteous fury at seeing one of his men killed, or the genuine respect he holds for Holmes, a respect which Holmes also holds for him at this point in their careers. It’s great, and reminded me of their interactions in “The Six Napoleons.” This is what the author does particularly well, making good use of established characters, tapping into what made them so enjoyable in the first place.<br />
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<i>Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Primal Man</i> is available <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Holmes-Adventure-Primal-Man/dp/153271257X?ie=UTF8&qid=&ref_=tmm_pap_swatch_0&sr=">on Amazon.</a><br />
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