I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere

Remembering Robert Hardy

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"The stage lost a fine actor" [SCAN] </h4>
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Multifaceted character actor <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0362735/" target="_blank">Robert Hardy</a> has died at the age of 91. He was recognizable to generations of fans from the popular roles he played on television and screen. And of course, Sherlockians have their own reasons for remembering him.<br />
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Timothy Sydney Robert Hardy was born in the Cotswolds in 1925 and got his start on the stage with the troupe that would eventually become the Royal Shakespeare Company. His roles ranged from historical figures, to nobility, politicians, villains and more. While his early career was mostly stage work, Among Hardy's first major off stage work was a television series adaptation of <i>David Copperfield</i>, in which he played the title role in 1956.<br />
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But looking back on his 70-year career, there were three roles which gained him the most fame. The first was as veterinarian Siegried Farnon in 90 episodes of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Creatures_Great_and_Small_(TV_series)" target="_blank"><i>All Creatures Great and Small</i> </a>from 1978-1990. The series was based on the books by James Herriot, the pseudonym of veterinarian Alf Wight. The second was his portrayals of Winston Churchill. Hardy portrayed the irascible and inveterate politician in five separate movies and three stage productions, beginning with the miniseries <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill:_The_Wilderness_Years" target="_blank">Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years</a></i> in 1981. He prepared for his role by listening to numerous audio recordings of Churchill's speeches. Finally, modern audiences got to know Hardy from a role he took up in his late seventies: that of Cornelius Fudge, the bewildered Minister of Magic in four Harry Potter movies.<br />
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But one role along the way led to a lifelong passion that inspired Hardy to pen two books. Inspired by his portrayal of Henry V in the play of the same name, Hardy took to the longbow and later wrote the definitive book on its history: <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Longbow-Military-History-Robert-Hardy/dp/1558212353/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1501943293&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Longbow+hardy" target="_blank">Longbow: A Social and Military History</a></i> (1976). He co-authored a follow-up volume in 2004, <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Great-Warbow-Hastings-Mary-Rose/dp/085733090X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1501943381&sr=1-1&keywords=warbow+hardy" target="_blank">The Great Warbow: From Hastings to the Mary Rose</a></i>.<br />
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<b>"His voice was as smooth and suave as his countenance" [CHAS]</b></h4>
Your editor first had the pleasure of experiencing Hardy in a medium about Sherlock Holmes via an audio cassette (remember those?), and it was in the medium of audio that first brought Hardy into a Canonical role.<br />
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In 1970-71, Hardy took up the role of Sherlock Holmes opposite Nigel Stock for a set of LP recordings. [Audiences will of course remember Stock for his role as Watson opposite Douglas Wilmer and Peter Cushing in <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2010/09/lyceum-theatre-sign_14.html#.VObHmPldWSr" target="_blank">the BBC television series in the 1960s</a>.] The four-record set contained eight stories and was issued by the Discourses label. They were:<br />
<ol>
<li>The Speckled Band / The Blue Carbuncle [DCO 1210]</li>
<li>Charles Augustus Milverton / Black Peter [DCO 1211]</li>
<li>The Norwood Builder / Lady Francis Carfax [DCO 1212]</li>
<li>Shoscombe Old Place / The Illustrious Client [DCO 1213]</li>
</ol>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Robert Hardy and Nigel Stock on the Discourses set</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Robert Hardy as Sherlock Holmes</td></tr>
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But to this editor's ear, it was Hardy's narration of certain Sherlock Holmes stories that solidified the association. As far as we were able to ascertain, there were five volumes produced by the Argo label in 1981, in which Hardy read 20 Sherlock Holmes stories, unabridged. These were:<br />
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<ol>
<li>Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: RESI, IDEN, BLUE, FIVE</li>
<li>Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes: YELL, STOC, GLOR, FINA</li>
<li>Four Sherlock Holmes Stories: 3STU, GREE, SUSS, CHAS</li>
<li>More Sherlock Holmes Stories: DYIN, SHOS, MUSG, CROO</li>
<li>The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes: 3GAB, 3GAR, LION, RETI</li>
</ol>
<b>Update</b>: Nick Utechin tells us there was a sixth volume, called the Return of Sherlock Holmes, consisting of EMPT, SOLI, REDC, MAZA. These stories are quite elusive online; we haven't been able to locate them anywhere.<br />
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[For the key to the story abbreviations, <a href="http://ihose.co/ABREV" target="_blank">click here</a>.]<br />
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Hardy's reading is easy on the ears and conveys every element of the stories as Conan Doyle wrote them, with Hardy giving the words their due. Our favorite among this set is his reading of "Charles Augustus Milverton," in which the smarmy, vile blackmailer scolds the detective with a smooth, "Mr. Holmes, Mr. Hoooooolmes..." and concludes with Milverton's late night visitor shouting as she delivers the final justice, "Take THAT! And THAT! And THAT! And THAT!" It's a delight to listeners' ears to hear Robert Hardy take up each of these cases.<br />
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We have to believe that it is these recordings that led the producer's of the Granada Sherlock Holmes series with Jeremy Brett to consider Hardy for the role of Charles Augustus Milverton in their version of the story, the two-hour film <i>The Master Blackmailer</i>. Without a doubt, Hardy simply looked the part of Milverton, who was described by Watson as having<br />
<blockquote>
"a large, intellectual head, a round, plump, hairless face, a perpetual frozen smile, and two keen gray eyes, which gleamed brightly from behind broad, golden-rimmed glasses. There was something of Mr. Pickwick's benevolence in his appearance, marred only by the insincerity of the fixed smile and by the hard glitter of those restless and penetrating eyes. His voice was as smooth and suave as his countenance, as he advanced with a plump little hand extended, murmuring his regret for having missed us at his first visit."</blockquote>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Holmes and Watson corner Milverton</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jeremy Brett, Robert Hardy, and Edward Hardwicke in <i>The Master Blackmailer</i></td></tr>
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His portrayal of one of the worst men in London made Milverton's eventual demise a welcome conclusion. But some reviewers thought that the production—a two-hour film for the shortest story in the Canon—was a bit of overkill.<br />
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There is much more to Robert Hardy's life and career than we were able to convey here. And thankfully much of his work remains in various formats for all to enjoy. For those able to discover and purchase his audio interpretations—whether it's his readings of Sherlock Holmes, Rumpole or the Aubrey-Maturin series—Hardy's voice gives new life to old works.<br />
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Remembering Robert Hardy

"The stage lost a fine actor" [SCAN] Multifaceted character actor Robert Hardy has died at the age of 91. He was recogniz...

+ Read more »

by Scott Monty

Episode 125: Revenge of the Sherlockian Nerd

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"a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend possessed" [FIVE] </h4>
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Curtis Armstrong, BSI ("An Actor, and a Rare One") is known by many names. Miles Dalby, Charles De Mar, Herbert Viola, Scooter, Metatron, and of course, Booger. But around these parts, he is known as a keen Sherlockian who has been part of our little corner of the universe since his grade school days.<br />
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His memoir <i><a href="https://amzn.to/2Wg5U7e" target="_blank">Revenge of the Nerd: Or...the Singular Adventures of the Man Who Would Be Booger</a></i> tells a series of tales that will be of interest to those who only know him through his remarkable career in show business. But we wanted to get behind all of that an delve into the intersection with his many other interests, such as Sherlock Holmes and P.G. Wodehouse, among others.<br />
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From Detroit to Geneva and back again, from the stage to the big screen and small screen, we explore the intricacies of nerd culture — particularly when it comes to the Victorian misfit Sherlock Holmes. Early influences of Curtis still have an impact today, and he leaves us with lessons that should have every Sherlockian embracing their inner nerd.<br />
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<h3>
<b>Sponsors</b></h3>
This episode includes our two longtime sponsors, plus a new addition. Please support our sponsors by visiting their sites:<br />
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<b>Notes</b></h3>
1:36 Panty raid!<br />
5:50 Wessex Press<br />
7:06 The many faces of Curtis Armstrong<br />
9:15 What is a nerd?<br />
12:00 Nerd beginnings in Detroit<br />
17:01 First meeting with Sherlock Holmes<br />
23:06 Joining the Trifling Monographs<br />
25:22 Curtis's favorite Sherlock Holmes story currently is...<br />
28:51 Radio dramatizations—the "Orson Welles" period<br />
33:51 Who's a nerd in the Canon?<br />
36:05 Was Sherlock Holmes a nerd?<br />
43:37 The Baker Street Journal<br />
45:07 Booger was Curtis!<br />
47:02 Instruction at Meadow Brook by Billy the Page<br />
52:05 A Plum interest<br />
56:34 The roll tossing tradition at Wodehouse meetings<br />
1:00:13 Comparing an actor's life to that of Sherlock Holmes's profession<br />
1:03:34 Pay attention, grammar nerds and pun nerds<br />
1:09:49 The Editor's Gas-Lamp—guest reading from Curtis's book<br />
1:19:19 Just one more thing...</div>
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<b>Links</b></h3>
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<li>Curtis Armstrong's book: <a href="https://amzn.to/2Wg5U7e"><i>Revenge of the Nerd: Or...the Singular Adventures of the Man Who Would Be Booger</i></a> </li>
<li>Michael Dirda on <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose38">Episode 38: On Conan Doyle</a> </li>
<li>Susan Rice, Curtis' Sherlockian mentor, on <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose61">Episode 61: The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes</a> and <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose89">Episode 89: The Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes</a> </li>
<li>The 2003 <a href="http://www.bakerstreetjournal.com/christmasannuals.html"><i>Baker Street Journal Christmas Annual: The Strength and Activity of Youth</i></a> </li>
<li><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0452953/">Terry Kilburn</a> from the IMDb </li>
<li><a href="http://wodehouse.org/">The Wodehouse Society</a></li><li><a href="http://ihose.co/ihose143" target="_blank">Episode 143: P.G. Wodehouse and Sherlock Holmes</a></li>
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Transcript<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Transcript not yet released</span></span><br />
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Episode 125: Revenge of the Sherlockian Nerd

"a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend possessed" [FIVE] Curtis Armstrong, BSI ("An Actor, an...

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by Scott Monty

Baker Street Elementary — Things Are Seldom What They Seem

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"the impersonal joy of the true artist" [VALL] </h4>
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The scenes we develop in our mind's eye when reading are as unique as each one of us. We make a mental image of setting, scene and characters, and absent any other kind of visual cues, that becomes our reality of the fiction we enjoy.<br />
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Artists' depictions bring those scenes to life, but of course, we're at the mercy of the artists, who are invariably bringing to life the image in their minds. But just imagine if a work was based on a real-life adventure or actual people. Then the depictions might be scrutinized just a little more by the protagonists...<br />
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Oh, and for the uninitiated, "Ignatius" is Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle.<br />
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<b style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><i>Baker Street Elementary</i></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> follows the original adventures of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, as they and their friends work through the issues of elementary school in Victorian London. An archive of all previous episodes can be viewed at </span><a href="http://www.bakerstreetelementary.org/" style="background-color: white; color: #006f85; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold;">www.bakerstreetelementary.org</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">.</span></div>
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Baker Street Elementary — Things Are Seldom What They Seem

"the impersonal joy of the true artist" [VALL] The scenes we develop in our mind's eye when reading are as unique as e...

+ Read more »

by Scott Monty

Sleuth Your Way Through This Sherlock Holmes Corn Maze

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"the gap which opened into the cornfield" [STUD] </h4>
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If you're anywhere near Leicestershire, England, the famed Wistow Maze is a seasonal wonder. And for Sherlockians, it's a must-see this year.</div>
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Every year, this maze takes on a different shape. It's  one of the country's largest maize mazes, set in 8 acres of living maize and sunflower crop. </div>
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This year, to mark the 130th anniversary of the first appearance of Sherlock Holmes in <i>A Study in Scarlet</i>, written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the maze has been designed in the shape of Sherlock Holmes himself, with a 'Whodunnit' themed Quiz Trail hidden among the three miles of pathways.</div>
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Wistow Maze is a winner of Leicestershire's "Best Visitor Attraction" and attracts more than 20,000 visitors each year. The maze is open from Wednesday, July 19 to Sunday, September 3 daily, then weekends only until Sunday, September 17. Located near Wistow south of Leicester, the maze is open from 10:00 am — 6:00 pm. Parking is free and admission is £5.95 child, £6.95 adult, and a family ticket (2+2) is £24.<div>
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<b>"I was very much surprised" [HOUN]</b></h4>
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A quick word about the connection between corn and Sherlock Holmes. We must admit that we were skeptical that we would find a Canonical quote that would relate to the subject. Certainly, in The Hound of the Baskervilles, there's the mention of "the lodge gates, a maze of fantastic tracery in wrought iron, with weather-bitten pillars on either side," and about 90 instances of the word 'amazement' in the Canon. But we couldn't possibly recall a mention of corn in the Sherlock Holmes stories.</div>
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Until...</div>
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Corn (maize) has its origins in Mexico and is the most widely grown grain crop in the Americas, so we wouldn't expect to see corn to make an appearance in the Canon. And at any rate, when it came to food, Watson seemed to focus his attentions on main courses rather than side dishes. Beef, fish and fowl are typically what we think of along with "a group of ancient and cobwebby bottles" [NOBL] at dinner. </div>
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Of the visions of food that Watson brings us, there are but two vegetables which he named: yams / sweet potatoes ("<i>I gave him directions to have several gourds of water and a lot of yams, coconuts, and sweet potatoes</i>" [SIGN]) and peas ("<i>the landlady babbled of green peas at seven-thirty</i>." [3TSU]).</div>
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So imagine our joy when we turned the pages of <i>A Study in Scarlet</i> — partially an American story, after all — and found this passage:</div>
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"Jefferson Hope had the scanty provisions and water, while Lucy had a small bundle containing a few of her more valued possessions. Opening the window very slowly and carefully, they waited until a dark cloud had somewhat obscured the night, and then one by one passed through into the little garden. With bated breath and crouching figures they stumbled across it, and gained the shelter of the hedge, which they skirted until they came to the gap which opened into the <b>cornfield</b>."</blockquote>
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In our business, it doesn't get much more exact than that.</div>
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If you do visit the Wistow Maze don't expect to return home with an edible Sherlockian souvenir. As mentioned above, this maze is maize, not sweet corn. Maize is typically used for animal feed.</div>
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However, if you really want to stretch a connection, you can always buy yourself a 'Missouri Meerschaum': a <a href="http://corncobpipe.com/">corn cob pipe</a>.</div>
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<i>Thanks to Karen Murdock for the tip.</i></div>
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Sleuth Your Way Through This Sherlock Holmes Corn Maze

"the gap which opened into the cornfield" [STUD] If you're anywhere near Leicestershire, England, the famed Wistow Maz...

+ Read more »

by Scott Monty

Intrigue Around Victorian Men Living Together

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<span style="font-weight: bold;">"I should have suspected a mere vulgar intrigue" [REDH] </span></div>
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There was an argument on Twitter the other day (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma_Nishtana">ma nishtana</a>) about whether Sherlock Holmes and John H. Watson were lovers. It wasn't about the characters by those names in the BBC's "Sherlock" television series — that war has finished, with both sides declaring victory. This time, it was about the Holmes and the Watson of the original stories, written between 1887 and 1927 by Arthur Conan Doyle.<br />
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I'm not here to take a position in that argument. Anything I have to say about the issue, I said three years ago in <i><a href="http://bakerstreetjournal.com/">The Baker Street Journal</a></i>, in an article that may not have been particularly original, but represented the first time the case for a potentially gay Holmes and Watson had been set out for the readers of that relatively conservative Sherlockian journal. (The text of the article is <a href="http://credmond.ca/intimate-converse.pdf">available on my website</a>, for those who don't have the winter 2014 BSJ at hand.)<br />
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I'm just here to riff on something one participant in the conversation mentioned: after she wrote something about Conan Doyle's intentions, and whether or not they're relevant to readers these days, the Twitter software urged her to "tag" ACD (that is, mention his Twitter name explicitly) so he could join in the discussion.<br />
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Arthur Conan Doyle died in 1930, and Twitter began in 2006, but that isn't necessarily an obstacle for a man who believed in Spiritualism — communication with the dead — and in fact wrote a book posthumously (<i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/return-Arthur-Conan-Doyle/dp/0854870458">The Return of Arthur Conan Doyle</a></i>, 1963). However, there might be a little difficulty finding <a href="http://twitter.com/A_Conan_Doyle">the authentic man</a> among Twitter's millions of users, and while the actual user of Twitter name <a href="https://twitter.com/acd">@acd</a> is, among other things, a beekeeper, there's no indication that he is also a novelist, a Briton, or dead.<br />
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The more interesting issue is, if we did manage to get into electronic communication with Sir Arthur, what would we ask him? "Did you intend for Holmes and Watson to be gay?" I think we know what his response would be, consisting mostly of spluttering. And, as another participant in the recent Twitter conversation, observed, "the author is both literally and figuratively dead and you do not need his permission." So.<br />
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Way more interesting, I think, would be to ask Doyle about daily life in the era he lived in and wrote about. It's generally accepted that his stories are, in most ways, a realistic portrayal of how people lived. Indeed, one thing that made the Sherlock Holmes stories stand out from earlier "detective" tales is their setting in everyday London, with familiar streets, trades and allusions. Arthur Conan Doyle knew Pope's Court and the Serpentine Mews well, even if he gave them pseudonyms, and he wrote about ostlers, stockbrokers and typists convincingly because he had observed them. <br />
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Well, then, what about the habits of impecunious single young men in English cities in the Victorian era? We weren't there to observe, and we have a tendency to impose today's norms and categories on those who dwell in a different century. But Conan Doyle was there, and we have to assume that his portraits are accurate ones. Wouldn't it be helpful to hear a bit more explanation, not about Holmes and Watson specifically but about men and their housing generally?<br />
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When Doyle was in the young-and-impecunious category himself, setting up as a doctor in Southsea in 1882, he rented a house and did his best to provide for both himself and his younger brother — a "bachelor establishment" for sure, to borrow a phrase from "The Reigate Squires." Victor Hatherley [ENGR] was a bachelor who lived alone, and so was Jonas Oldacre [NORW], but they both could afford it. The Canon does however, offer at least one bachelor who took on a roommate for financial reasons: Mr. Roundhay, the vicar in "The Devil's Foot." <br />
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As for gays on the London scene, Conan Doyle was certainly aware of them. He knew Oscar Wilde at the time of the historic Lippincott dinner in 1889, though I am not aware of any evidence that they were particular friends after that. Also in 1889, he must have been aware of the Cleveland Street scandal that horrified London, though he was not a member of either social class that was involved (aristocracy on the one hand, post-office messengers on the other). Much later, he got to know Roger Casement, worked with him in the Congo Reform Association, and based a character in <i>The Lost World</i> on him. When Casement's homosexuality became known following his conviction for treason, Doyle described it as a "mania."<br />
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It seems reasonable to think that if Arthur Conan Doyle wanted to make a character appear gay, he would know how to do it — as he did, arguably, with John Scott Eccles and Aloysius Garcia of "Wisteria Lodge." Other authors certainly did, including Wilde, and including Conan Doyle's own brother-in-law, E. W. (Willie) Hornung, whose stories about the gentleman burglar A. J. Raffles and his sidekick "Bunny" Manders began with <i>A Thief in the Night</i> in 1899. That book was dedicated to Conan Doyle.<br />
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Surely he read it, and surely he recognized that the bond between Raffles and Manders was not entirely fraternal. Wouldn't it be illuminating to hear what he thought about it?<br />
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Intrigue Around Victorian Men Living Together

"I should have suspected a mere vulgar intrigue" [REDH] There was an argument on Twitter the other day ( ma nishtana ) ab...

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by Chris Redmond

Baker Street Elementary — Hip Replacement

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"The magnificent spectacle cheered the hearts of the three" [STUD] </h4>
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It's always a daunting task when preparing a paper. Whether it's a grade school theme, a high school research paper, or a presentation to be given before one's peers at an event, it's something that one puts quite a bit effort into.<br />
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Of course, poring over the material from which the paper is derived is another story. We recall the heavy oak card catalogs at our town's library that contained the descriptions and Dewey Decimal numbers of countless books lining the shelves that led us to adventure after adventure, like 3 x 5 treasure maps, encoded with the coordinates of our loot.<br />
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Then again, collecting material from classroom lectures didn't always hold the same level of intrigue...<br />
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<b style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><i>Baker Street Elementary</i></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> follows the original adventures of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, as they and their friends work through the issues of elementary school in Victorian London. An archive of all previous episodes can be viewed at </span><a href="http://www.bakerstreetelementary.org/" style="background-color: white; color: #006f85; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold;">www.bakerstreetelementary.org</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">.</span></div>
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Baker Street Elementary — Hip Replacement

"The magnificent spectacle cheered the hearts of the three" [STUD] It's always a daunting task when preparing a paper....

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by Scott Monty

Episode 124: Replay - To Keep the Memory Green

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"seared into my memory" [SPEC] </h4>
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Richard Lancelyn Green, BSI ("The Three Gables"), who died in March 2004, was the world's leading expert on the life and works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. He amassed one of the finest collections of Conan Doyle, and specifically, Sherlock Holmes material in private hands and had intended to produce a three-volume biography on Conan Doyle.<br />
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He was not yet 30 when he co-edited the towering <i>A Bibliography of A. Conan Doyle</i> in 1983. He served a term as Chairman of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London. His tragically early death was mourned by both friends and those who knew of him only by reputation, and it was decided that a collection of essays should be brought out in his honor and memory.<br />
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We interview co-editors Nicholas Utechin, BSI ("The Ancient British Barrow") and Steven Rothman, BSI ("<i>The Valley of Fear</i>") on the resulting volume, <i>To Keep the Memory Green</i>. While this is a previously released episode, there are a few more interesting tidbits of information, including a July sale being held by the BSI Press. Listen in for details on how to get this volume for half price.<br />
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<b>Please nominate I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere and/or Trifles on <a href="http://podcastawards.com/">Podcast Awards</a> in the Arts category. It's quick and easy.</b><br />
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<li><i><a href="http://www.baskervilleproductions.com/books" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes and the Cryptic Clues: A Grave Undertaking</a></i> by Michael McClure. You should buy it. We're deadly serious.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.wessexpress.com/" style="font-style: normal;" target="_blank">Wessex Press</a>, publishers of <i><a href="http://wessexpress.com/html/newspaper3.html" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes and Conan Doyle in the Newspapers: Volume 3</a></i>. </li>
<li style="font-style: normal;"><a href="http://ihose.co/bsijuly50" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">The Baker Street Journal</a>, where you can find the <a href="http://ihose.co/bsijuly50" target="_blank">July Half-Off Sale</a> on four titles:<i> A Remarkable Mixture; To Keep The Memory Green; The Grand Game, Volume Two; The Remarkable Characters of Arthur Conan Doyle.</i></li>
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4:30 Nick & Steve give some perspective on their editorial experiences<br />
14:29 A bit about Richard Lancelyn Green<br />
17:20 The genesis of To Keep the Memory Green<br />
21:12Steve recalls memories of Richard, a bus station and plastic carrier bags<br />
23:17 Nick harkens back to the early 1970s and an Oxford connection<br />
24:57 The Baker Street Irregulars and the Sherlock Holmes Society of London join forces<br />
27:00 Quartering together – the fruits of labor<br />
30:35 The impetus behind the project – capturing the essence of a “one-off”<br />
40:14 Editor’s Gas Lamp<br />
49:24 Final thoughts on Richard’s contribution<br />
52:08 Burt springs a question on Scott<br />
54:32 Hunting through old bookshops<br />
56:10 Scott’s inspiration for collecting – from a movie<br />
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Links</h3>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><a href="http://www.bakerstreetjournal.com/thequarteringpress.html">To Keep the Memory Green</a></i></li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><a href="http://www.sherlock-holmes.org.uk/journal.php"><i>The Sherlock Holmes Journal</i></a></li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><a href="http://www.bakerstreetjournal.com/"><i>The Baker Street Journal</i></a></li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0192123297?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0192123297"><i>The Oxford Sherlock Holmes</i>: 9 volume set</a></li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><a href="http://www.conandoylecollection.co.uk/">The Portsmouth Central Library exhibit</a></li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005JKHF?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00005JKHF"><i>The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes</i></a></li>
</ul>
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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 4,200 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>, and <a href="http://twitter.com/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">Twitter</a>.</div>
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Episode 124: Replay - To Keep the Memory Green

"seared into my memory" [SPEC] Richard Lancelyn Green, BSI ("The Three Gables"), who died in March 2004, ...

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by Scott Monty

Specific and Universal

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  "If we could <span class="highlight">fly</span> out of that window hand in hand" [IDEN] </h4>
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<br />
Arthur Conan Doyle had the good fortune to be a working author in the one time and place where Sherlock Holmes and John Watson could achieve, not literary immortality but, historical reality and create the fandom movements of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Historical reality. People believed in the reality of Holmes and Watson.<br />
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Like all human beliefs, the reality of Holmes and Watson ran on a spectrum. Some believed that the pair were as real as the family members and neighbors they lived and interacted with every day. Some believed the pair were as real as Queen Victoria and the politicians whose names they read in the paper and who they might have seen in the distance but had never met in person. Some believed the pair were as real as Timbuktu and the mines of Ballarat, places they had never been to and never would go to, but knew existed because, well, that was common knowledge. Others believed that Holmes and Watson existed if not exactly as presented in the pages of <i>The Strand Magazine</i> then in some form close to it. Some believed that if they weren’t real, they should be. While the <i>The X-Files</i> may have popularized the “I Want To Believe” meme, that desire has always been a part of the human experience.<br />
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As the Industrial Age got underway, the need for an educated and literate workforce grew. Schools where reading, writing and mathematical skills were supplemented to religious indoctrination increased. Mass production costs decreased. Early in the eighteenth century all but the poorest could afford a newspaper and all but the poorest could read it and as the century went on the ratio of “poorest” decreased. The papers served the entertainment function of radio and television of later ages and carried a mix of fact and fiction; the line between the two could be broad and blurred. Serialized novels ran in the papers as a way to guarantee a constant circulation and the lengthy tomes that bore in today’s English class were the breathless “find out what happens next” to Edmond Dantès or Samuel Pickwick in the must-buy next issue.<br />
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Wilkie Collins, Alexandre Dumas, Charles Dickens, Herman Melville, Gustave Flaubert, Henry James, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Leo Tolstoy and many others had their novels first serialized in newspapers and magazines, but it was <i>The Strand Magazine </i>and Doyle who first serialized a character in a self-contained story in the 1890s that gave the public real-life fictional people.<br />
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The end of the nineteenth century was the apex of Newtonian certainty. Humanity was on the brink of looking behind the veil of stars to see the clockwork mechanics of the universe. Science and technology were filling in the untidy gap on the bookshelf of knowledge and it was men like Sherlock Holmes (and, generally unsung, women) who were penning those new tomes.<br />
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The self-contained unit of the short story combined with continuing adventures of two realistic men in a real city, in a current time period (“One night - it was on the 20th of March, 1888,” [SCAN] “I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the autumn of last year,” [REDH] “When I glance over my notes and records of the Sherlock Holmes cases between the years ‘82 and ‘90 …. The year ‘87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater or less interest …. It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales had set in with exceptional violence.” [FIVE]), using cutting edge, but real, knowledge and technology that let the reader believe, if they were so inclined, that Holmes and Watson were real or very well could be.<br />
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It was Doyle’s talent, the short story format and the tools of the popular magazine memoirist that gave the fictional pair the verisimilitude of life. They existed outside of Doyle’s stories almost as soon as they appeared in the <i>Strand</i>. Ann K. McClellan in "<a href="http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/issue/view/27/showToc"><i>Tit-Bits</i>, New Journalism, and early Sherlock Holmes fandom</a>" wrote:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“For instance, just a year after Sherlock Holmes first appeared in the <i>Strand</i>’s ‘A Scandal in Bohemia,’ <i>Tit-Bits</i> published an inquiry regarding the character’s real-life existence: ‘Buttons wishes to know whether Sherlock Holmes, the detective genius…is or is not an actual person. We cannot positively say. As a matter of fact, we have not made the personal acquaintance of Mr. Sherlock Holmes…If…we should find that no such person is in existence we shall then be very much disappointed indeed’ (<i>Tit-Bits</i>, January 23, 1892).” </blockquote>
A modern media whose attributes have remained constant over the last 150 years added to that plausibility by reporting Holmes’s presence in advertisements, plays, musicals and song. The immediate popularity of the twenty-four short stories between 1891-1893 inspired other series characters, which flourished in the slicks and pulps until the Great Depression of 1929 winnowed the market.<br />
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<i>The Hound of the Baskervilles</i> was serialized in <i>The Strand Magazine</i> in 1901-1902. During that run, an open letter to Dr. Watson—not Doyle mind you—appeared in the January 23, 1902 issue of the <i>Cambridge Review</i> and took the doctor to task for the inconsistencies present in the tale. Published in book form in 1902, it became one of the first best-sellers in the modern sense and the latter half of Holmes’s literary career gave rise to the Golden Age of mystery fiction staring in the 1920s when many of the rules of the genre were codified. While short stories still had a market from the 1930s to the 1960s, the money for publishers and authors shifted to the novel series character. <br />
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With this move from the transient immediacy of monthly publication to library-shelf permanence of the novel came the Peter Pan-ing of the series character.<br />
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<i>In A Visit to Three Fronts: Glimpses of the British, Italian and French Lines</i>, published in August 1916, Doyle wrote<br />
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“[French General Georges] Humbert is a Lord Robert’s figure, small, wiry, quick-stepping, all steel and elastic, with a short, sharp upturned moustache, which one could imagine as crackling with electricity in moments of excitement like a cat’s fur. What he does or says is quick, abrupt, and to the point. He fires his remarks like pistol shots at this man or that. Once to my horror he fixed me with his hard little eyes and demanded <i>‘Sherlock Holmes, est ce qu’il est un soldat dans l’armée Anglaise?’</i> [Is Sherlock Holmes a soldier in the British Army?] The whole table waited in an awful hush. <i>‘Mais, mon general,’</i> I stammered, <i>‘il est trop vieux pour service.’</i> [But, general, he is too old to serve.] There was general laughter, and I felt that I had scrambled out of an awkward place.” </blockquote>
In the late spring of 1916, when this incident took place, Doyle knew Holmes’s approximate age. In “His Last Bow,” the stated age of the Altamont-disguised Holmes was 60, which in fact fits very well with the then-published corpus. But the demands of publishers, with stays on best-seller lists for months, library lending for years and, in 1935, the rise of paperbacks, called for the existence of ageless characters inhabiting an ever-present now of novels, preventing literary characters from achieving a historical reality.<br />
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Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe ages only nine years in the fourteen years that transpire between <i>The Big Sleep</i> and <i>The Long Goodbye</i>. From <i>Raymond Chandler: A Literary Reference </i>edited by Robert F Moss:<br />
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“In answer to a letter, receive in 1951 from a D.J. Ibberson of London, Chandler wrote a long account of ‘the facts of Philip Marlowe’s life.’ The date of Marlowe’s birth, he said, was uncertain, but he was about thirty-eight, and remained the same age.”</blockquote>
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In <i>The Mysterious Affair at Styles</i> (published in 1920, written in 1916), Hercule Poirot was already an old man and retired from police work in Belgium. In the novels <i>Third Girl</i> (1966), <i>Hallowe’en Party</i> (1969), and <i>Elephants Can Remember</i> (1972) the setting is clearly the 1960s (or “the present”). Even if Poirot retired at a canonical 49, he’d be 99 in 1966. Agatha Christie was well aware of the ridiculousness of the situation and wrote Poirot’s last case, <i>Curtain</i>, about 1940, although it wasn’t published until 1975, shortly before Christie’s own death.<br />
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Earl Stanley Gardner’s Perry Mason was in over eighty novels and short story collections from 1933’s <i>The Case of the Velvet Claws</i> to 1973’s T<i>he Case of the Postponed Murder</i>. Mason, Della Street and Paul Drake not only remain ageless in their ever-present now, but have very little backstory. They exist to serve the function of the mystery and are seemly stored in amber between cases.<br />
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It is impossible to play The Game in such an unhistorical vacuum, where the age of the characters cannot be matched to the date of their adventures; where indeed the adventures have no dates. As Watson wrote in "The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger,"<br />
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“When one considers that Mr Sherlock Holmes was in active practice for twenty-three years, and that during seventeen of these I was allowed to co-operate with him and to keep notes of his doings, it will be clear that I have a mass of material at my command.” </blockquote>
Holmes and Watson are dimensional; they lived in a space and time that could be plotted by the contemporary and future reader and had existence outside of the current memoir being read; Holmes’s college years and travels during the Great Hiatus, Watson’s marriage and military experience, the many other cases they worked on—hinted at but unchronicled. While the end of the nineteenth century was the apex of the Newtonian worldview, the twentieth century unveiled a quantum microcosm where Heisenberg is uncertain of both the exact speed and exact position of an object, where Schrödinger’s cat is alive or dead whether you observe it or not, where spooky action at a distance can entangle the untouched. Peter Pan becomes the norm, never aging because he refuses to. Time happens to Holmes and Watson as it does to other mortals; Marlowe, Mason and Poirot pass through time but don’t partake of it. They are Lost Boys will-o’-wisps in a Neverland, not solid points in a fixed age. They may have a shelf life, but they don’t have life.<br />
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Doyle wrote in that brief period when the contemporary and historical could coexist without being shunted into the Historical Mystery category and cast in bronze like Ellis Peters’ Brother Cadfael, Lindsey Davis’ Marcus Didius Falco or even Walter Mosley’s Easy Rawlins. Holmes and Watson went to see Sarasate and Norman-Neruda with the readers of the <i>Strand</i> (or the readers <b><i>might </i></b>have sat with the pair at any rate) and aged with the faithful audience. In the late 1880s, Holmes and Watson are “two middle-aged gentlemen … flying westward at fifty miles an hour” [BOSC]; in 1914, Watson is “a heavily-built, elderly man with a gray moustache” [LAST] and in "The Adventure of the Creeping Man," we the reader are greeted like old friends:<br />
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“Mr Sherlock Holmes was always of opinion that I should publish the singular facts connected with Professor Presbury, if only to dispel once for all the ugly rumours which some twenty years ago agitated the University and were echoed in the learned societies of London. There were, however, certain obstacles in the way, and the true history of this curious case remained entombed in the tin box which contains so many records of my friend’s adventures. Now we have at last obtained permission to ventilate the facts which formed one of the very last cases handled by Holmes before his retirement from practice. Even now a certain reticence and discretion have to be observed in laying the matter before the public. It was one Sunday evening early in September of the year 1903 ….” </blockquote>
One can almost feel the crackling hearth, smell the leather chairs and taste the proffered tea (or Petri wine) of our host.<br />
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Such realities have disappeared from our serial fiction. Publishing demands to keep contemporary series characters timeless and ever-green in novels pumped out yearly decade after decade have made them lifeless and never-being. The fandom that grew around Sherlock Holmes can only exist around science fiction and TV shows, of which the best of them have their own reality and chronology that can approximate the experience of its consumer.<br />
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Within that fandom of The Game we explore the history Holmes and Watson lived, a Victorian world that is very relevant to our own, peopled with being just like the ones with whom we interact daily. By the specificity of time and place we find universality. Through the contingencies of history, Doyle created the only serialized characters with the reality of living, with which The Game could be played as “solemnly as a county cricket match at Lord’s”; where we can open the pages of the Canon and believe.<br />
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A lesser author couldn’t have done it.<br />
<br />
--<br />
<br />

Specific and Universal

"If we could fly out of that window hand in hand" [IDEN] Arthur Conan Doyle had the good fortune to be a working auth...

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by James C. O'Leary

Trifling Issues in June

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"collection of strange episodes" [WIST] </h4>
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<br />
Regular subscribers here are likely familiar with our audio program which shares the name of our site: <a href="http://ihose.co/ihoseshows" target="_blank">I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere</a>. On it, you'll hear interviews with guests who are authors, entertainers, or interesting Sherlockians. We like to think of it as <i>Fresh Air</i> for Sherlock Holmes fans.<br />
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You might know about our parallel show, <a href="http://sherlockholmespodcast.com/" target="_blank">Trifles</a>, in which we spend 15 minutes at a time talking about something in the Sherlock Holmes stories. We've got the latest shows to share with you below. But first, something else.<br />
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We Need Your Help</h4>
I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere and Trifles have been entered as eligible podcasts in the <a href="http://www.podcastawards.com/" target="_blank">2017 Podcast Awards</a>.<br />
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Here's how you can help: please head over to the site, register (it's free), and <a href="https://www.podcastawards.com/app/nominations" target="_blank">nominate either show</a> in the <b>People's Choice Award</b> or the <b>Arts</b> category.<br />
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On our shows, we ask you for ratings and reviews, and we ask for monetary support; but this would go above and beyond that. Please consider nominating us and encouraging your fellow Sherlockians to do the same.<br />
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">I nominated @ihearofsherlock for the @PodcastAwards. You can too: http://podcastawards.com #pca17 [<a href="http://ctt.ec/5GV85" target="_blank">Click to tweet this!</a>]</span></i></b></div>
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June Update</h4>
We wrapped up our June production with four episodes hitting the airwaves during the month.<br />
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<a href="http://ihose.co/trifles23" target="_blank">Married Life with Dr. Watson</a> gave us a glimpse into what Mrs. Watson had to deal with, specifically with the urgent telegram from Sherlock Holmes in "The Boscombe Valley Mystery." We also feature a musical tribute to the recently deceased Peter Sallis.<br />
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<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/326923924&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe><br />
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With Father's Day approaching, we published <a href="http://ihose.co/trifles24" target="_blank">Heads of Household</a> to explore some of the nontraditional authority figures in the Canon. While some of them weren't parents themselves, they served in some sort of parental or guardian role.<br />
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<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/328006256&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe><br />
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If your stepfather was dating you, you'd probably know it was him, right? Well, we considered Mary Sutherland's situation and determined it was <a href="http://ihose.co/trifles25" target="_blank">An Unbelievable Case of Identity</a>. Perhaps you'll agree.<br />
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<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/329329637&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe><br />
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And finally, we thought that <a href="http://ihose.co/trifles26" target="_blank">The Plot Device of the Three Garridebs</a> seemed familiar. Familiar as in a variation of it had been used not once but twice before in the Sherlock Holmes stories. So which one comes out on top?<br />
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<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/330486679&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe><br />
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<br />
So that does it for June. Please sign up to receive regular updates on Trifles using the podcast platform of your choice.<br />
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Did you know that each introduction is just <i>slightly</i> different than the last? If you listen closely, you may be able to hear. Collect them all! And each show ends with a familiar phrase or two from a certain production of Sherlock Holmes on television.<br />
<br />
--<br />
<br />

Trifling Issues in June

"collection of strange episodes" [WIST] Regular subscribers here are likely familiar with our audio program which shares the...

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by Scott Monty

Baker Street Elementary — Corridors of Uncertainty

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"it was all trodden into mire" [GOLD] </h4>
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While the games and rules of play may vary from continent to continent, sport is prevalent throughout the world, and has been for millennia. In fact, your editor can recall a course in his days as a classics major: Sport in the Ancient World.<br />
<br />
But cricket itself is one of the more complex and nuanced games. For those interested, there's an entire <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_cricket_terms" target="_blank">glossary of cricket terms</a> to help familiarize yourself with the sport.<br />
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And while sport contains legions of admirers and fans worldwide, the game of making puns is another thing entirely...<br />
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<b style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><i>Baker Street Elementary</i></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> follows the original adventures of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, as they and their friends work through the issues of elementary school in Victorian London. An archive of all previous episodes can be viewed at </span><a href="http://www.bakerstreetelementary.org/" style="background-color: white; color: #006f85; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold;">www.bakerstreetelementary.org</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">.</span></div>
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Baker Street Elementary — Corridors of Uncertainty

"it was all trodden into mire" [GOLD] While the games and rules of play may vary from continent to continent, sport is pre...

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by Scott Monty

Episode 123: Scott and Burt

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"a pair of professional beauties" [STUD] </h4>
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We like to interview people who are doing interesting things related to Sherlock Holmes. <a href="http://ihose.co/ihoseshows" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Our interview subjects</a> have included authors, publishers, society leaders, entertainers and more.<br />
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But there's one show that some listeners requested that we historically ignored. And that is a show in which we talk about ourselves. We thought that rather than simply running off at the mouth at random, it might be more in line with what you've come to expect if we interviewed each other.<br />
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And with that, Scott and Burt sat down to reveal each other's backgrounds, first meetings with Sherlock Holmes and general interest or specialty when it comes to interacting with other Sherlockians and collecting.<br />
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We hope you enjoy this behind-the-scenes look at the hosts of I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere. It's everything you didn't want to know, and more.<br />
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<b>Notes</b></h3>
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Links</h3>
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<li><a href="http://ihose.co/trifles10" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Trifles Episode 10: The Dressing Gown of Many Colors</a></li>
<li>I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose77" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 77: The Speckled Band</a></li>
<li>I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose87" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 87: Otto Penzler</a></li>
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<b>Transcript</b></h3>
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Episode 123: Scott and Burt

"a pair of professional beauties" [STUD] We like to interview people who are doing interesting things related to Sher...

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by Scott Monty

Grave Matters

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"The adventure was a most grave one" [EMPT] </h4>
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Sherlock Holmes owed much to Edgar Allan Poe's detective, the <b>Chevalier Auguste Dupin</b>, though he didn't like to admit it. "You remind me of Dupin," Watson tells him in <i>A Study in Scarlet</i>, only to receive the arrogant reply that "In my opinion, Dupin was a very inferior fellow." <br />
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Arthur Conan Doyle, creating the bumptious young Holmes as he wrote <i>A Study in Scarlet</i> in 1886, obviously had read Poe's detective tales (the first of them being "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," 1841) and been influenced by them. His most famous acknowledgement of that debt came in 1912 in the snappish verse "To an Undiscerning Critic," where he admitted Holmes's disdain for Dupin but maintained his own admiration for Poe:<br />
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He, the created, would scoff and would sneer,<br />
Where I, the Creator, would bow and revere.</blockquote>
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Conan Doyle had more to say about his debt to Poe in other contexts, particularly his 1907 book <i>Through the Magic Door</i>, where he labels Poe "the supreme original short story writer of all time" and his tales of Dupin the source of all the detective stories that have followed. <i>Through the Magic Door</i> was based on a series of articles about writers that Doyle produced in 1894, under the title "Before My Bookcase," but it is interesting to note that his comments on Poe are entirely new. The 1894 series made no mention of his supposed master at all.<br />
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Those articles were published in May and June of 1894, and a few weeks later Doyle was on his way to America, where he carried out an intensive lecture tour. My book about that tour, and the places and people Doyle encountered, appeared in 1987 under the title <i><a href="https://www.dundurn.com/books/welcome-america-mr-sherlock-holmes" target="_blank">Welcome to America, Mr. Sherlock Holmes</a></i>, and contains a mass of information — much of it, I believe, reasonably accurate.<br />
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I had no reason to think the chapter about the events of November 6, 1894, was any less accurate than the rest of the book, until I received an email message from a Baltimore historian, <b>Fred Shoken</b>, who delicately asked what evidence I had for that part of my narrative, since he hadn't been able to find any in the newspapers where it might have been expected.<br />
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According to my chapter, November 6 — which was also Election Day — was the day Arthur Conan Doyle visited Baltimore, presumably to deliver the same lecture ("Readings and Reminiscences") that he had been giving in cities up and down the eastern United States, including Washington the night before. In addition, I wrote at some length, Doyle paid a visit to the grave of Edgar Allan Poe at the Westminster Burying Ground on West Fayette Street. <br />
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Such events would surely have been mentioned in the papers, as Doyle's doings were publicized wherever he went during that tour. But the <i>Sun</i> (still Baltimore's chief newspaper) and the <i>American </i>(whose successor ceased publication in 1986) made no reference to the distinguished British visitor, as Shoken pointed out to me. Naturally I hoped I had based my chapter on a report in some other newspaper that Shoken had simply overlooked.<br />
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No such luck. I consulted my files from the 1980s, made up mostly of correspondence with newspapers and local historians, and slick, faded prints from microfilm. (You're not familiar with microfilm? Oh, you're from a younger generation of researchers than I am.) For the past decade or more, it would have been hard for me to consult these records, because many of my files have been in a storage unit, but in preparation for the 300-mile move to my new home, I got everything out and organized, so the relevant file was easy to find. And what do you know: no newspaper references at all to a Baltimore visit by Conan Doyle.<br />
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I reread the chapter I had written, and began to realize that it was phrased very vaguely. Clearly I assumed that there had been a Baltimore visit and a Baltimore lecture, but I avoided saying so explicitly because I had no confirmation and certainly no details. As for the pilgrimage to Poe's grave — well, where did I get that idea exactly? <br />
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I still don't know, and there seems to be no evidence of it. It just feels like one of those things I've always known. In fact I turned confidently to Conan Doyle's autobiography, <i>Memories and Adventures</i>, sure that I would find a description of such a visit. Nothing. <i>Our American Adventure</i>, reporting on a later (1922) lecture tour, talks about the Poe cottage in Fordham, New York, but says nothing about Baltimore and the grave. I am beginning to think that Conan Doyle never did visit that crowded, run-down little cemetery where the inventor of the detective story found his last resting place.<br />
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Fred Shoken, who pointed out to me that a good deal of what I wrote in those pages of <i>Welcome to America</i> just isn't true, gets the final word: <br />
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"Doyle may have visited Poe's grave by proxy, 36 years after his alleged visit in 1894. According to (an) article in the <i>Baltimore Sun</i> of January 15, 1930, William Gillette, who had been appearing at Baltimore's Ford's Theater in a revival of his play "Sherlock Holmes," visited Poe's grave on January 14, 1930. The article states that Gillette placed a wreath on the tomb that had ribbons with his name and also that of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The article states Doyle had cabled Gillette and requested that he pay this tribute to Poe. Doyle passed away less than six months later."</blockquote>
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Grave Matters

"The adventure was a most grave one" [EMPT] Sherlock Holmes owed much to Edgar Allan Poe's detective, the Chevalier Aug...

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by Chris Redmond

Scones and Bones on Baker Street

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“…like a dog with its master” [SILV] </h4>
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If you know a young person that you’d like to introduce to Sherlock Holmes, but they aren’t quite ready for murderous hounds stalking the moor, then there's a different dog that they should meet.  Digby, a lovable street dog in Victorian London, is the main character of Brenda Seabrooke’s new novel, <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Scones-Bones-Street-Sherlocks-Dilemma/dp/1537352814" target="_blank">Scones and Bones on Baker Street, Sherlock’s Dog (Maybe!) and the Dirt Dilemma</a></i>.<br />
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Digby is a dog living on the streets in London and looking for something to eat when he crosses paths with Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson.  After helping the famous duo with an exciting adventure at Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum, Digby decides that he wants to become a watchdog and helper for the great detective.  Although Holmes is not interested in having a street dog, or any dog for that matter, living at Baker Street, Doctor Watson and Mrs. Hudson prove to be more welcoming.  Digby soon finds himself following Holmes and Watson through the events of “The Adventure of the Red-Headed League” while striving to change Holmes’ mind about having a dog around.  As Digby would say, the game is apaw.  <br />
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This book follows the familiar tale from the dog’s point of view, an interesting take on a case well known to most of us.  But the target audience for this book is young readers.  By making the main character a lovable dog, young readers are sure to enjoy Digby’s adventures in London.  Digby’s blunders with Holmes and Watson while in a restaurant and a violin concert are sure to please.<br />
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The text is written at an accessible level for second to fourth graders, and most words or phrases that could be confusing to the reader are explained in footnotes on the page.  <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Scones-Bones-Street-Sherlocks-Dilemma/dp/1537352814" target="_blank">Scones and Bones on Baker Street</a></i> is less than 150 pages with over 20 full page illustrations meant to please the young reader.  This would be a welcome addition to the book collection of any budding Sherlockian, dog lover, history fan, or lover of a good story.<br />
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Scones and Bones on Baker Street

“…like a dog with its master” [SILV] If you know a young person that you’d like to introduce to Sherlock Holmes, but they aren’t quite...

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by Rob Nunn

I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere

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Remembering Robert Hardy

Episode 125: Revenge of the Sherlockian Nerd

Baker Street Elementary — Things Are Seldom What They Seem

Sleuth Your Way Through This Sherlock Holmes Corn Maze

Intrigue Around Victorian Men Living Together

Baker Street Elementary — Hip Replacement

Episode 124: Replay - To Keep the Memory Green

Specific and Universal

Trifling Issues in June

Baker Street Elementary — Corridors of Uncertainty

Episode 123: Scott and Burt

Grave Matters

Scones and Bones on Baker Street

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