Up Coming Events

February Meeting: February 19th
Meeting Location: Vanderbilt University Club
January Story: "The Illustrious Client"
Quizmaster: David Hayes

Tentative Schedule
Gather: 3:30 p.m.
Dinner: 4:00 p.m.
Program: 4:45 p.m.
Auction: 5:30 p.m.
Adjourn: 6:00 p.m.
(Cost: approx $20/each)

Following the discussion, we will have our second annual auction. Last year, this successfully padded our bank account as well as helping to support the Nashville Scholars web site.

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Editor's Note
By Kay Blocker, Invested January 6, 1979 as Matilda Briggs

There is much going on about us as we start the new year. Our first meeting was held January 15 at the Pub where Dean filled in as Scribner as I was unable to attend. Work does get in the way. You will find his notes below as well as the toasts presented by Billy, Gael, and Jerome. Unfortunately, Marino's toast is not available at this time. Several of our Scholars were at the NY birthday meeting. We will be looking forward to our Chief Inspector's report next month. The 2005 meeting schedule and reading list were presented at the January meeting; those details are above. As you can see, we continue with last year's scheme of switching between the Canonical and non-Canonical Watson (alias ACD) stories. Shinwell makes an always welcome appearance in this month's newsletter also.

next column, please...

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One of the many videos of Holmes now available

Editor's note continued...

We are excited about the upcoming meeting with the Atlanta Confederates of Wisteria scion on April 16. Confederates Kent Ross and John Howard Oxley were able to come to our January meeting to present their proposals for this joint venture. Look for their flyer at the end of newsletter. Dean's meeting minutes will give you the details. This will be an informal meeting to "play the game" and enjoy the fellowship of like scholars. Indeed Scholars will find several opportunities for mingling with other Sherlockians: our meeting, the Chicago S.T.U.D., the Dayton Symposium, and the St. Louis "Holmes Under the Arch." It does seem that we hear of Holmes everywhere from CSI to review after review of Klinger's Annotated; a review even showed up in our local Nashville Scene paper.

Our next meeting will be February 19th. Please start pilfering your Sherlockian and assorted collectables for items to donate. Remember, it's all for a good cause and you can always buy it back if you change your mind. And if you're tired of what you bought last year, bring it back for a second go around. I know there were several items I would like to get my hands on.
-Editor Kay Blocker

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Minutes of the January Meeting

Present but unaccounted for: Ken Gordon, Billy Fields, John Howard Oxley, Jerome Boynton, Kent Ross, Tom & Anita Feller, Doug Fulmer, Gael Stahl, Mary Margarette Jordan, Bill Baker, Marino & Vickie Alvarez, Al Thomason, and Dean Richardson.

Chief Instigator Investigator Fields began the meeting by greeting our guests from Atlanta, Kent Ross and John Howard Oxley, and first-time local visitor Doug Fulmer. We proceeded to "Show and Tell." Dean proudly displayed his favorite Christmas present, the Sherlock Holmes Action Figure (as seen in the Senters' catalog, The Sherlockian Times), with a magnifying glass that really works (but whose action is limited to raising the hand holding the glass to roughly a 90-degree angle from the body)! He also mentioned a new used bookstore, Mega Used Books and DVDs, that opened nearby last month.

Mary Margarette brought a copy of 2107 Curious Word Origins and Expressions, which includes several Victorian words and phrases we've encountered in the Canon.

Ken Gordon shared photocopies of the fascinating New Yorker (Dec. 13, 2004) article "Mysterious Circumstances: The Strange Death of a Sherlock Holmes Fanatic" by David Grann, which details the case of Richard Lancelyn Green. (Thanks very much, Ken.)

Marino, Vickie, and Billy reported on the Birthday Bash, which they attended the previous weekend in New York. The event included several dinners, a trip to the Mysterious Bookshop, an auction, and a visit to the Algonquin Hotel lobby. Once again Billy served as auctioneer, this year in the guise of a Southern evangelist. (Too bad that wasn't taped.) They observed that Sherlockian items have increased sharply in price over the last few years. They especially enjoyed the Gillette luncheon. The speaker was Jerome Coopersmith, who wrote the musical Baker Street, as well as some 39 episodes of Hawaii 5-O ("Book 'em, Lestrado").

Billy presented the proposed schedule for the coming year, including meeting times and reading selections (as you saw in the first column of this page). The group discussed and approved the schedule.

The group then discussed the upcoming gathering "Holmes Under the Arch" in St. Louis, May 20-22. Kent passed around a brochure. Gael said you always get your money's worth at that event.

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