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The Early Days: 1979 - 1987
Nashville Scholars of the Three Pipe Problem will
be 30 years old on 02/16/09. We came into existance Feb. 19, 1979 and took off quickly due to the enthusiam
of our founder, John Shanks. On Jan. 4, an article with Sherlockian art work by Bob Turner appeared in the Nashville Tennessean
that noted that things were happening all across the nation that week starting with New York to celebrate the 125th birthday
of Sherlock Holmes on Jan. 6.
At the first meeting on Feb. 19, 26 Sherlockians gathered among the pewter and leather
of the Cumberland Club and its Old London atmosphere. They'd been drawn by a three-inch announcement in the same newspaper.
We put our preferred noms (canonical names) and addresses on the register, paid our dues, and recieved the first
newsletter in March.
The second meeting was May 28 at the Showboat Restaurant and Lounge. By that time
contacts and recognition had been received from the Baker Street Irregulars (Julian Wolff), the Giant Rats of Sumatra
(Judge Robert Lanier and lawyer Walter Armstrong, BSI), and the Red Circle of Washington, DC (presumably Peter Blau).
A resolution was passed by Tennessee House of Representatives to commemorate the 125th birthday of Holmes.
Before the August 27 meeting, we received a larger than life publication with superior
cover art work by Bob Turner. One article noted that Sherlock Holmes had visited Nashville in 1956. He came on Oct. 15,
said it was "Ghastly!" that the theater he was opening in Paris (Tennessee) on Monday was 100 miles away. Watson was
not with him. It is not known what Basil Rathbone and his lady friend did on their free Sunday in Nashville.
Other articles included "I Keep a Bull Pup" and "You Have Been to University, I Perceive."
The latter was long, well referenced, and confident (Holmes went to Oxford in 1872, said John Shanks). Dr. Nunnally discussed
the possiblity of smoking three pipe fulls in three minutes.
Thanks to the paperwork and other records that Shanks' kept and thanks to the fine newsletters
produced by Co-editors Kay Blocker and Vicki
Overstreet, we have a fairly good picture of those early years. The existence
today of the Nashville Scholars is due mainly to the early efforts of these two ladies who worked tirelessly to keep
the newsletter alive which was the lifeblood of the group in those early years.
Good thing because two weeks after the first meeting, I and my wife Susan left for
Europe and was gone for 26 months. In absentia, we received the newsletters and kept up our interest in the Higher Criticism.
When we
returned, I eventually got in contact with the editors and learned that the meetings of the Scholars
had gotten rarer and finally went into remission, especially after Shanks moved away to pursue university studies.
(written
by Gael Stahl in 1987)
What it means to be Sherlockian, in the words of Jody Baker.
Jody Baker, Chattanooga lawyer, Sherlockian and member of the Nashville Scholars, has written perhaps the best essay
on what it means to be Sherlockian. Here's the beginning of Baker's most informative piece. (Numbered footnote links will
be found on the complete essay. See below)
In the beginning was Ronald KnoxIt
all started with Knox's (1) lecture on "Studies in the Literature of Sherlock Holmes." Interestingly, that lecture
was not so much a scholarly exposition upon Sherlock Holmes as it was a pseudo-scholarly satire upon a ponderous, exegetical
style of scholastic writing.
On the second day of creation there was Christopher Morley (2).
He recognized Father Knox's work for what it was -- a tongue-in-cheek, spoof-n-poof on labored scholarship.
It captured his interest in Sherlock Holmes, and the Grand Game was begun.
That seed germinated during the well-lubricated, three-hour lunches of the literary and intellectual
elite of New York. From there it has flowered forth into all that we Sherlockians are today. It began in sophisticated fun
and play, and it thrived in the collegiality which the founders enjoyed together."
Click here to read the complete essay found on Chris Redmond's excellent Sherlockian.net site.
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