LION Quiz continued

10. Is SH's preferred morning drink his usual in the Canon?

11. What was the enlarged photo SH showed Inspector Bardle? Where did it come from?

12. Did anyone not get the culprit after the words of Bardle: If a red-hot net of wire had been laid across the back, then these better-marked points would represent where the meshes crossed each other?

13. Was it apparent to you what the swimwear was at this popular swimming hole?

14. If you have been a victim of a jellyfish, does the description by J.G. Wood fit?

LION QUIZ Answers --pop up page--

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2003,
a very good year!


We take this opportunity to raise a cheer for the pennant-winning Chicago Cubs and our Sherlockian friends,
Allan Devitt and Susan Diamond!
Hip Hip, Hurrah (and twice more!!!)

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ABC
Essential and Nonessential Facts about
His Last Bow
By Scriber Kay Blocker

LAST was first published in the Sept 1917 Strand and had three illustrations by A. Gilbert. The first American publication was in the Sept 22 1917 issue of Collier's Weekly Magazine with illustrations and cover by Frederick Dorr Steele. It was subtitled as The War Service of Sherlock Holmes and An Epilogue of Sherlock Holmes. The Strand version differs greatly from British and American collected editions and it is thought that it was revised for the Strand after the collection His Last Bow: Some Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes had been sent to the printer. This collection would be published later in 1917. The story is written in the third person and concerns the taking of the German spymaster Von Bork upon the evening of August 2, 1914 after two years of Holmes' work in counterespionage in America, Ireland, and England. It is in His Last Bow that Watson says to Holmes,

"But you had retired, Holmes. We heard of you as living the life of a hermit among your bees and your books in a small farm upon the South Downs."

BG, JT, Oxford

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SHINWELL
Is taking a break this month. He should be back in November, yet another reason to give thanks!

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ODDS AND ENDS
Davice Sharpe

From the latest edition of "The District Messenger," the newsletter of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London, edited by Roger Johnson:

The Singular Adventures of Mr. Sherlock Holmes (UPSO Ltd, 5 Sterling Road, Castleham Business Park, St. Leonard's-on-Sea, Sussex TN38 9NW £7.99) is a very enjoyable collection of fifteen stories by an author new to me, Alan Stockwell. The style is an acceptable simulacrum of Dr. Watson's, and Mr. Stockwell clearly knows his period and his Canon. He also has an engagingly inventive imagination. I particularly like his explanation of the case of Mr. James Pillimore, who, stepping back into his own house to get his umbrella, was never more seen in this world. The Singular Adventures of Mr. Sherlock Holmes can be bought direct from the author for £9.99, including postage, at Vesper Cottage, Smarden, Ashford, Kent TN27 8PU.

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next column, please...

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Another title to look for is Sit-Down Comedy, a collection of short stories by stand-up comedians, edited by Malcolm Hardee and John Fleming (Ebury Press, £7.99). One critic says: 'The gem of the collection is Simon Munnery's "The True Confessions of Sherlock Holmes", in which the revered detective's coke habit is his defining feature and he only solves crimes by accident.'

The summer issue of The Crier, the newsletter of the Criterion Bar Association of Winnetka, IL, contains the following:

Beguiling 'Sign of the Four'
Sharp writing, acting in Apple Tree staging
By Chris Jones, Tribune arts reporter

One of the many fascinating things about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famously dysfunctional Baker Street sleuth and sidekick is that Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson exchange theatrical personalities as often as they solve crimes.
The duo - accompanied by their attendant rigmarole of Baker Street irregulars, elemental catchphrases, crabby housekeeper, distinctive headgear and gently sado-masochistic interpersonal dynamic - have spawned scores of plays over the years: . . . .
But when you compare the myriad attempts to bring Holmes and Watson to the theater, the same guys never seem to show up. In Charles Marowitz's 'Sherlock's Last Case,' Watson is a sad decrepit figure. Then in 'The Incredible Murder of Cardinal Tosca,' he's both genial and earnest. The same morphing goes on with Holmes himself. Most adaptations paint him as a genial and brilliant king of detectives. But in Steve Pickering's production of 'The Sign of the Four,' the sleuth . . . is distant and mean-spirited - a cocaine-loving obsevving who's just this side of egomania. Watson . . ., meanwhile, is a lovelorn pup.
As fans of Conan Doyle would point out, that's not so much a matter of the inconsistency of adapters as the original complexity of character that the inventor of this pair built into the stars of his stories. And even though some audience members probably will focus on the mystery yarns in each tale, true fans of this genre are fascinated by the personalities of the sleuths themselves. . . . The Chicago Tribune, Thurs. June 26, 2003

I've read two interesting mysteries this month. The first is Shaman's Pass by Sam Wood. There's no particular Sherlockian connection but he writes well, the plot is intriguing. The protagonist is half Inuit and the crime takes place in and involves many natives of the far North. It probably would be best read on one of our 95° days rather than during our recent cool spell, but it was very enjoyable. This was the second in the series. I'll find the first, hoping it's as good.

The second is The Vanished Man by Jeffrey Deaver. There's a definite connection here: The villain is a master illusionist, escape artist, and magician - almost as though Houdini had gone bad. Of course Houdini and The Literary Editor were good friends for a quite a while. (Their friendship ended when Houdini questioned the authenticity of a spirit letter produced by Lady Conan Doyle, supposedly from Houdini's mother.) The evildoer in The Vanished Man took his first name as Erick - after Houdini's real first name, Erich. And he first went on the stage as "The Young Houdini," much as the real Houdini went on stage echoing Robert Houdin, a well-known French magician. Kara, drafted to assist the detective, is an illusionist in training. She provides explanations for many of the very sophisticated tricks used by the villain in the course of his murders. Since these are based on acts really performed by Houdini and others, I found them of more than passing interest. Deaver has written other books. I'll check to see if they have any magical connection.
...Davice

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