The Baker Street Irregulars Trust

The 2017 BSI Dinner

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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-O23vG1Hlcjg/W_ISMMVX7HI/AAAAAAAAAtU/SJZnHlNWnig2_NmY6GFWzcLzLIkrIl9iACLcBGAs/s1600/bsi-dinner-2017-v1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The 2017 BSI Dinner group photo" border="0" data-original-height="1075" data-original-width="1600" height="430" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-O23vG1Hlcjg/W_ISMMVX7HI/AAAAAAAAAtU/SJZnHlNWnig2_NmY6GFWzcLzLIkrIl9iACLcBGAs/s640/bsi-dinner-2017-v1.jpg" title="Click this 2017 BSI Dinner photo to see a larger version" width="640" /></a></div>
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The fact that the 163rd Birthday Dinner actually took place on January 6, the Master’s birthday, could not but enhance the atmosphere throughout the gala weekend.<br />
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The pre-dinner cocktails in the Roof Dining Room of the Yale Club showcased the announcement of Nicole Boote’s honor as <i><a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">The Woman</a></i>.<br />
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After Michael Whelan (BSI’s Wiggins) opened the dinner, Steven Rothman's discussed "Why January 6th?" The toasts opened in fitting style with Robert Stek “o-punning” on the charms of Mrs. Hudson--in his own inimitable way, abetted, if not debated, by Robert Katz.  Clifford Goldfarb had us raise our glasses to Mycroft. Sherry Rose-Bond led the toast to Watson’s Second Wife.  Andrew Fusco toasted Sherlock Holmes.  John Linsenmeyer paid homage “To an Old Irregular,” Edward F. Clark, Jr.  Michael Kean and John Bergquist presented the Editors’ Medals for BSI Publications, the “Eddies,” to the editors of the three BSI volumes that had been completed during 2016 and which would be on sale the next morning in the vendors’ room.<br />
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Bill Dorn presented a montage comparing the same Sherlockian scenes in various films.  Andrew Joffe, Sarah Montague, and Paul Singleton staged a comparison of Canonical text and the first drafts of a female Watson.  Tim Greer applied Holmes’ own investigative methods to the Canon to discern that the true author was…William Shakespeare. Mark Alberstat read the Musgrave Ritual. Thomas Horrocks read the Constitution and Buy Laws.  Henry Boote sang about Sherlock’s Birthday to the tune of “What a Wonderful World,” offering an uncanny Louis Armstrong impression.<br />
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Francine Kitts delivered another customarily wonderful and touching tribute to departed Irregulars in the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">“Standing upon the Terrace”</a> ceremony; for the first time ever, these memorials were accompanied by photographs. This truly underscored the enduring links among generations of Sherlockians, all present in different senses of that word.<br />
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Seven Irregulars received a Shilling. Ben Vizoskie received <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">The Two-Shilling Award</a>—55 years after it was first awarded to Rex Stout. Steven Rothman was honored with an engraved crystal Milestone Award as the longest-serving <i>Baker Street Journal </i>editor who, at the time of the Dinner, had just presided over his 300th (!) BSJ issue. Wiggins presented Andrew Fusco, Michael Dirda, Susan Vizoskie, and Philip Bergem each with a “Tip of the Deerstalker” award in recognition for their contributions to the BSI.  In keeping with the evening’s theme of recognizing extensive service, Wiggins himself was surprised with a gift of a Golden Sovereign from the BSI, in recognition of his two decades of leadership. (Similarly, a Golden Sovereign was presented to Julian Wolff, then head of the BSI, at the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/11/the-1973-bsi-dinner.html">1973 BSI Dinner</a>.)<br />
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The evening concluded with a recording of Vincent Starrett reciting his poem “221B.”<br />
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At the next day’s Sherlockian Cocktail Reception at the Yale Club, Judge Albert Rosenblatt and his daughter, Betsy Rosenblatt, once again performed their masterful and anticipated-year-round poetic rhymed synopsis of the previous year and of the Birthday Weekend.<br />
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Dinner Details: January 6, 2017<br />
The Yale Club, New York<br />
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Dinner Photo Information</h4>
Click on the above photo to see a larger version of it and maximize your browser window to see the most detail.<br />
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Key to People in the 2017 BSI Dinner photo (not available at this time, but see the <a href="http://files.bsitrust.org/pdf/dinner/bsi-dinner-2017-attendees.pdf">2017 Table Seat Assignments</a>.<br />
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<h4>
BSI Honours List</h4>
<b>Investitures:</b><br />
Charles Blanksteen as Cavendish Square<br />
Ross Davies as The Temple<br />
Bonnie MacBird as Art in the Blood<br />
Michael J. Quigley as A Large Brass Bound Safe<br />
Charles Prepolec as The Man with the Twisted Lip<br />
Tamar Zeffren as The London Library<br />
Christopher Zordan as Bunsen Burner<br />
* received Investiture at another event during the year<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is an Investiture?</a><br />
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<b>Two-Shilling Award:</b><br />
Ben Vizoskie.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is a Two-Shilling Award?</a><br />
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<b><i>The </i>Woman:</b><br />
Nicole (Mrs. Henry) Boote.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is <i>The</i> Woman honour?</a><br />
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<b>"Stand with me here upon the terrace..."</b><br />
(as named at this Dinner, not their year of passing)<br />
Theodore Friedman (The Commonplace Book, 1995)<br />
Mo Lebowitz (Arthur H. Staunton, the Forger, 1970)<br />
Donald<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A. Yates (The Greek Interpreter, 1972)<br />
Ted Bergman (The Honourable Philip Green, 1978)<br />
Robert A.Moss (The Case of Fairdale Hobbs, 1980)<br />
Barry Hapner (Inspector Forrester, 1983)<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the origin of “standing on the terrace?”</a><br />
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<b>Morley-Montgomery Award:</b><br />
Bill Mason, "Looking to Latin America: Canonical Notions from South of the Border”<br />
<i>The Baker Street Journal</i>, Vol. 66, No. 1 (Spring 2016), pp. 6-14.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the Morley-Montgomery Award?</a><br />
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<b>The BSI Distinguished Speaker Lecture:</b><br />
Sara Paretsky, “Sherlock Holmes and the Woman Question”<br />
<i>The Baker Street Journal</i> 67.1 (Spring 2017): 18-23.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the BSI Distinguished Speaker Lecture?</a><br />
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Reports on the Dinner</h4>
<i>The Baker Street Journal</i> 67.1 (Spring 2017): 46-58.<br />
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Blau, Peter, <i><a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/links.html#news">Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press</a></i>, (January 2017): 1-2.<br />
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<a href="http://files.bsitrust.org/pdf/dinner/bsi-dinner-2017-attendees.pdf">List of 2017 BSI Dinner Attendees</a> (PDF)<br />
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<h4>
Recordings</h4>
A recording of portions of the 2017 BSI Dinner will be available at the Lilly Library as part of the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/archive.html">BSI Archive</a>.<br />
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<h4>
Related Material</h4>
Rosenblatt, Albert M., and Betsy Rosenblatt, “BSI Poem 2017,” <i>The Baker Street Journal</i> 67.1 (Spring 2017): 59-61. The Rosenblatts’ rhyming retrospective, delivered at the January 7, 2017 Sherlockian Cocktail Reception.<br />
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Previous dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2017/06/the-2016-bsi-dinner.html">2016 BSI Dinner</a><br />
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Next dinner: the 2018 BSI Dinner<br />
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For an index to all BSI Dinners and photos, see our <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/dinner-summary.html">BSI Dinner Summary</a> list.<br />
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The BSI Archive is located at the Lilly Library of the Indiana University Libraries, Bloomington. Archival material may be used by any qualified scholar, subject to the normal rules and regulations of the Library. For links to a detailed finding aid and related information, see our <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/archive.html">BSI Archive</a> page.<br />
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Page composed on 2/26/2018 by Tamar Zeffren<br />
This page last updated 9/25/2018 by Andrew Solberg.<br />
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The 2017 BSI Dinner

The fact that the 163rd Birthday Dinner actually took place on January 6, the Master’s birthday, could not but enhance the atmosphere thr...

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"She Was Certainly Much Moved."

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The BSI Trust is happy to announce that the BSI archives have successfully moved from Houghton Library at Harvard to the Lilly Library of the Indiana University Libraries, Bloomington. <br />
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As announced by Michael Whelan, Wiggins of the BSI, in July 2017, our society and the Houghton Library at Harvard University had reached a mutual conclusion that, due to several factors, a change of venue would be appropriate.  The Trust established a committee to handle the relocation, developed a Request for Proposals, reviewed those that it received, and chose the Lilly as our new home. <br />
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The Trust wants to thank the Houghton Library for its years of support and collaboration.  It has been a great repository for the Irregular Memories.<br />
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The archives have been physically transferred to the Lilly.  It will take some time for the Lilly to integrate the archives into its system.  The Lilly estimates that the integration should be complete some time between November 2018 and January 2019, including providing a Finding Aid and making the already digitized material available on its website. <br />
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While Houghton has removed its Finding Aid from its website (which is appropriate, as it no longer has the physical material), it is graciously maintaining the digitized material online so that the links to individual items on the Trust website still work (excepting the Finding Aid, of course). <br />
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Until the archives are integrated into the Lilly system, the Trust will maintain all references to the digitized material at Harvard.  Once integration has been completed, we will begin the arduous task of changing all of the links and references on the Trust website.<br />
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The Trust would like to thank the other entities which showed an interest in being our new home, the individual Board members who helped organize and implement the change, and the Staff of both the Houghton Library and the Lilly Library who collaborated in moving the material.<br />
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We look forward to many years of working with the Lilly Library to make the BSI's archives available to researchers, BSI Members, other Sherlockians, and the rest of the world.<br />
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The BSI Archive is located at the Lilly Library of the Indiana University Libraries, Bloomington, Indiana. Archival material may be used by any qualified scholar, subject to the normal rules and regulations of the Library.<br />
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Page composed on 9/25/2018 by Andrew Solberg<br />
This page last updated 9/26/2018 by Andrew Solberg.<br />
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"She Was Certainly Much Moved."

The BSI Trust is happy to announce that the BSI archives have successfully moved from Houghton Library at Harvard to the Lilly Library of...

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Evelyn Herzog Interview: Oral History Project

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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5MUpk_pMIb8/WW_fPV_5w0I/AAAAAAAAAso/vZbY--Dud8AWZmsP0LdaCSz-Mt6lTtdowCLcBGAs/s1600/evelyn-herzog-1992-bsi-dinner-v1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="747" data-original-width="455" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5MUpk_pMIb8/WW_fPV_5w0I/AAAAAAAAAso/vZbY--Dud8AWZmsP0LdaCSz-Mt6lTtdowCLcBGAs/s320/evelyn-herzog-1992-bsi-dinner-v1.jpg" width="193" /></a></div>
Evelyn Herzog (The Daintiest Thing Under a Bonnet, 1991) saved her tooth fairy money to obtain a copy of  <i>The</i> <i>Complete Sherlock Holmes</i>.  That book became the foundation upon which she attracted a group of other college students at Albertus Magnus College to meet and discuss the Sherlock Holmes stories. Precocious young women, they wrote to William S. Baring-Gould, John Bennett Shaw, <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/10/peter-blau-interview-oral-history.html">Peter Blau</a>, Ted Schulz, and others and developed ongoing correspondence with them.  While still in high school, Evy learned that (at that time) the Baker Street Irregulars did not admit women to its dinners.  While in college, she and her cohorts still considered it an injustice, and, being the 1960s, they picketed the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/09/the-1968-bsi-dinner.html">1968 BSI Dinner</a>.<br />
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That eventually led to the founding of the Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes, of which she is still “The Principal Unprincipled Adventuress.”  Evy was invested in the BSI among the six women (including Susan Rice) whom Tom Stix invested at the memorable <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/04/the-1991-bsi-dinner.html">1991 BSI Cocktail Party</a> which finally fully opened the BSI to women.  She has been a notable Sherlockian and an important figure in American Sherlockian history.<br />
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Along the way, she has met many memorable Sherlockians.  She is expertly interviewed by Susan Rice, and she talks about the many people she has known and the events she not only witnessed, but participated in, and, sometimes, initiated.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" height="45" mozallowfullscreen="" msallowfullscreen="" oallowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/5544147/height/45/width/250/theme/standard/autonext/no/thumbnail/no/autoplay/no/preload/no/no_addthis/no/direction/backward/" style="border: none;" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="250"></iframe>

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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Click to play this interview</span></div>
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Interviewee: Evelyn Herzog</div>
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Interviewer: Susan Rice</div>
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Date: March 9, 2015</div>
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Location: New York, NY</div>
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Description:  MP3, 44.1 MB, 68kbps, 1 hour 30 minutes</div>
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Transcript of Evelyn Herzog Interview (PDF) (Not available at this time.)</div>
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Interview Topics</h4>
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Childhood</div>
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John Baesch</div>
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The Tooth Fairy and <i>The Complete Sherlock Holmes</i></div>
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Discovering the Sherlockian Community</div>
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Albertus Magnus College</div>
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Starting Her First Scion Society</div>
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Linda Patterson</div>
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Pat Moran</div>
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Marykay Mulligan</div>
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Carol Muschler</div>
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Chris Steinbrunner</div>
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William S. Baring-Gould</div>
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Mary Ellen Couchon (Rich)</div>
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John Bennett Shaw</div>
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Ted Schulz</div>
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Picketing the 1968 BSI Dinner (Evy, Linda Patterson, Pat Moran, Lisa Jones, Mary Ellen Couchon (Rich), Mary Ellen Ebeling)</div>
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The William Gillette Luncheon</div>
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<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/04/the-1990-bsi-dinner.html">Lisa McGaw</a></div>
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Cliff Andrew</div>
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Edith Meiser</div>
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<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/10/peter-blau-interview-oral-history.html">Peter Blau</a></div>
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“Get your damn girls out of here!”</div>
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Julian Wolff</div>
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The Founding of the Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes</div>
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Investitures</div>
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Thomas Stix</div>
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Jack Tracy</div>
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Other Sherlockian Events</div>
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Dinner with Tom Stix</div>
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The ASH Dinner</div>
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The First Dinner (Kate Karlson, Angela Mitchell, Nancy Maczulak, Mary Ellen Couchon (Rich), Pat Moran, Linda Patterson, and Evy)</div>
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Funny Memories</div>
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Writings</div>
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Meeting Other Sherlockians</div>
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Richard Miller</div>
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<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/06/robert-thomalen-interview-oral-history.html">William Schweickert</a></div>
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Chris Steinbrunner’s Radio Plays</div>
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George Fletcher</div>
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The Pshaw Bowl</div>
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Born to Boogie</div>
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<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">Explanation of BSI Honours & Other Terms</a></div>
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Related Material</h4>
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Rice, Susan, <i>Dubious and Questionable Memories: A History of the Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes </i></div>
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<i>The Baker Street Journal Christmas Annual</i> (Christmas 2004). (available<a href="http://www.bakerstreetjournal.com/christmasannuals.html"> in print</a> and in the eBSJ)</div>
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<a href="https://ash-nyc.com/">The Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes </a>website</div>
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<a href="https://soundcloud.com/ihearofsherlock/episode-89-the-adventuresses#t=57:44">Audio interview about admittance of women in the BSI</a></div>
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Evelyn Herzog and Susan Rice discuss events leading up to this 1991 event.  The link goes directly to the 57-minute mark in the I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere Episode 89 podcast.</div>
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For an index to all OHP interviews, see our <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/oral-history.html">Oral History Project Summary</a> list.</div>
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<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/search/label/Audio+Oral%20History">Interviews recently added online</a> (sorted by when recording was posted online)</div>
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The BSI Archive is located at the Houghton Library at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Archival material may be used by any qualified scholar, subject to the normal rules and regulations of the Library. For links to a detailed finding aid and related information, see our <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/archive.html">BSI Archive at Harvard</a> page.</div>
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Page composed on 7/16/17 by Andrew Solberg</div>
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This page last updated 7/17/17 by Randall Stock</div>
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Evelyn Herzog Interview: Oral History Project

Evelyn Herzog (The Daintiest Thing Under a Bonnet, 1991) saved her tooth fairy money to obtain a copy of The Complete Sherlock Holmes ...

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The Queen Victoria Medal

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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A3ro4ss-TZY/WVaB8Qh3zRI/AAAAAAAAAsM/XFGpm5Zo444r9bt7gOIAlYbkwf10XijzQCLcBGAs/s1600/victoria-medal-front-v1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The BSI Queen Victoria Medal (front)" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="993" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A3ro4ss-TZY/WVaB8Qh3zRI/AAAAAAAAAsM/XFGpm5Zo444r9bt7gOIAlYbkwf10XijzQCLcBGAs/s400/victoria-medal-front-v1.jpg" title="Click this photo to see a larger version" width="246" /></a></div>
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The Winter issue of the 1967 <i>Baker Street Journal</i> included an item on page 250 that said:<br />
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“A giant stride toward the quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes occurred in October when Colin Prestige (“Captain Crocker” - or “Croker” as it is in the English editions), Hon. Secretary of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London, paid an eventful visit to this country. In New York he was honoured at two small gatherings, a cocktail party and a luncheon, and he was presented with a newly-created Irregular award, the Victoria Medal, for his contributions to the quartering referred to at the beginning of this paragraph. The medal is silver and was produced by the Royal Mint in 1897 to commemorate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.”<br />
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Thus, Julian Wolff gave to Colin Prestige the very first Queen Victoria Medal awarded by the BSI. Others would receive it through the years.  Two of them would receive it twice!  The Medal was not only awarded for promoting British-American relations, but was also given to both men and women who deserved it for devotion to duty.  The recipients have been:<br />
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Colin G. Prestige, 1967<br />
Baron Gore-Booth, 1968<br />
Lord Donegall, 1969<br />
Lew D. Feldman, 1969<br />
Dorothy Stix, 1981 and 1986<br />
Eleanor Baker O'Connor, 1984 and 1994<br />
John Bennett Shaw, 1985<br />
Eleanor Wolff, 1987<br />
Albert M. and Julia C. Rosenblatt (jointly), 1987<br />
Edith Meiser, 1989<br />
Katherine McMahon, 1990<br />
Dorothy Beverly [West], 1990<br />
Fritz Sonnenschmidt, 1991<br />
Theresa Thomalen, 1992<br />
Philip A. Shreffler, 1993<br />
Dorothy R. Shaw, 1995<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/06/robert-thomalen-interview-oral-history.html">Robert E. Thomalen</a>, 1996<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EFR68o6hMAw/WVaCGNe2HuI/AAAAAAAAAsQ/m9lX9VDc1nEuXfRpBFf72NPgnWfLPh5mQCLcBGAs/s1600/victoria-medal-back-v1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The BSI Queen Victoria Medal (back)" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1124" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EFR68o6hMAw/WVaCGNe2HuI/AAAAAAAAAsQ/m9lX9VDc1nEuXfRpBFf72NPgnWfLPh5mQCLcBGAs/s400/victoria-medal-back-v1.jpg" title="Click this photo to see a larger version" width="280" /></a></div>
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The Medals were not usually awarded at the BSI Dinner, but, rather, at other events, including the Saturday Cocktail Reception during the BSI Weekend, Silver Blaze Race in New York, Sherlockian Dinners at the Culinary Institute of America, John Bennett Shaw’s workshop, and other venues.<br />
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Dorothy Stix relates that the reason she received her second Medal was because Julian Wolff forgot that he had given her the first one.  Of course, both were well deserved.<br />
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The BSI Trust is grateful to Dorothy Stix who donated her Queen Victoria Medals (including the one shown in the photos above) to the Trust in 2017.<br />
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Thanks to <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/10/peter-blau-interview-oral-history.html">Peter E. Blau</a>, the keeper of all records, who supplied his list of recipients to the Trust for this web page.<br />
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Click on the above photos to see larger versions, and maximize your browser window to see the most detail.<br />
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<h4>
Reports on the Award</h4>
<br />
In true irregular fashion, not all of the announcements of the awarding of the Queen Victoria Medal were published in <i>The Baker Street Journal</i> at the time that they occurred.  Some were mentioned in later issues. Others were not mentioned at all.<br />
<br />
Awarded to Colin G. Prestige, <i>The Baker Street Journal</i> 17.4 (December 1967): 250 (available in the eBSJ)<br />
<br />
Awarded to Lord Gore-Booth, <i>The Baker Street Journal</i> 35.3 (September 1985): 157 (available in the eBSJ)<br />
<br />
Awarded to Lord Donegall and Lew D. Feldman, <i>The Baker Street Journal</i> 19.1 (March 1969): 50 (available in the eBSJ)<br />
<br />
Awarded to Dorothy Stix, <i>The Baker Street Journal </i>31.4 (December 1981): 251 (available in the eBSJ)<br />
<br />
Awarded to Eleanor Baker O'Connor, <i>The Baker Street Journal</i> 36.2 (June 1986): 107 (available in the eBSJ)<br />
<br />
Awarded to John Bennett Shaw, <i>The Baker Street Journal </i>36.1 (March 1986): 42 (available in the eBSJ)<br />
<br />
Awarded to Dorothy Stix, <i>The Baker Street Journal</i> 36.4 (December 1986): 235 (available in the eBSJ)<br />
<br />
Awarded to Eleanor Wolff, <i>The Baker Street Journal</i> 37.1 (March 1987): 47 (available in the eBSJ)<br />
<br />
Awarded to Albert M. and Julia C. Rosenblatt (jointly), <i>The Baker Street Journal</i> 37.4 (December 1987): 242 (available in the eBSJ)<br />
<br />
Awarded to Edith Meiser, <i>The Baker Street Journal </i>39.1 (March 1989): 55 (available in the eBSJ)<br />
<br />
Awarded to Katherine McMahon and Dorothy Beverly [West], <i>The Baker Street Journal</i> 40.1 (March 1990): 44 (available in the eBSJ)<br />
<br />
Awarded to Fritz Sonnenschmidt, <i>The Baker Street Journal</i> 41.3 (September 1991): 156 (available in the eBSJ)<br />
<br />
Awarded to Theresa Thomalen, <i>The Baker Street Journal</i> 42.1 (March 1992): 50 (available in the eBSJ)<br />
<br />
Awarded to Philip A. Shreffler, The Baker Street Journal 43.1 (March 1993): 47 (available in the eBSJ)<br />
<br />
Awarded to <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/06/robert-thomalen-interview-oral-history.html">Robert E. Thomalen</a>, <i>The Baker Street Journal</i> 46.1 (March 1996): 14 (available in the eBSJ)<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Related Material</h4>
<br />
<a href="http://fourthgarrideb.com/2017/06/queen-victorias-diamond-jubilee-medal/">Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee Medal</a>, History of the Medal from The Fourth Garrideb - Numismatics of Sherlock Holmes.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">Explanation of BSI Honours & Terms</a><br />
<br />
See all the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/search/label/Memorabilia">BSI Memorabilia</a> on our website<br />
<br />
The BSI Archive is located at the Houghton Library at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Archival material may be used by any qualified scholar, subject to the normal rules and regulations of the Library. For links to a detailed finding aid and related information, see our <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/archive.html">BSI Archive at Harvard</a> page.<br />
<br />
Page composed on 6/24/2017 by Andrew Solberg<br />
This page last updated 6/30/2017 by Andrew Solberg.<br />
<br />
<br />

The Queen Victoria Medal

The Winter issue of the 1967 Baker Street Journal included an item on page 250 that said: “A giant stride toward the quartering of the...

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The 2016 BSI Dinner

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6en_DgR1720/WTSSn7MRxvI/AAAAAAAAAr0/zSU5bWC6c-oOSDyRXjW_kwVQW9BCRwTtgCLcB/s1600/bsi-dinner-2016-v1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The 2016 BSI Dinner group photo" border="0" data-original-height="1160" data-original-width="1600" height="464" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6en_DgR1720/WTSSn7MRxvI/AAAAAAAAAr0/zSU5bWC6c-oOSDyRXjW_kwVQW9BCRwTtgCLcB/s640/bsi-dinner-2016-v1.jpg" title="Click this 2016 BSI Dinner photo to see a larger version" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Sherlock Holmes’s 162nd birthday was feted by an enthusiastic group, also celebrating the 25th anniversary of the<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/04/the-1991-bsi-dinner.html"> opening of the BSI to women</a>. <br />
<br />
Mike Whelan (the BSI's "Wiggins") honored Tony Montag for his more than fifty years as an Irregular. He also recognized others in attendance with Irregular longevity, including <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/10/peter-blau-interview-oral-history.html">Peter Blau</a>, Albert Silverstein, <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/04/russell-merritt-interview-oral-history.html">Russell Merritt</a>, George McCormack, Chris Redmond, and James Saunders.<br />
<br />
Julia Rosenblatt toasted Mrs. Hudson.  Marilynne McKay gave the toast to Mycroft Holmes.  Sally Sugarman had us raise our glasses to Watson's second wife, and Catherine Cooke toasted Sherlock Holmes.   Marino Alvarez led the responsive reading of the Musgrave Ritual.  Bob Coghill gave a toast to an Old Irregular, Maureen Green Van der Flaes.  Tony Montag read the Constitution and Buy-Laws.<br />
<br />
Bert Coules gave an account of Holmes on the radio in the 1930s, a tribute to Edith Meiser.   Peter Blau and Evelyn Herzog gave a "Duet: With an Occasional Chorus" account of the role of women in the BSI from 1934 to the present (which concluded with the singing - for the first time at an annual Dinner of the BSI - of the Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes' "Reindeer Song").  Susan Rice gave a presentation on the rational roots of Holmes's feelings about women. As usual, Henry Boote, at the piano, led the musical entertainment.  Susan Dahlinger provided a marvelous rendition of a song from The Seven Per-Cent Solution film, as Nicholas Meyer was in attendance.  Betsy Rosenblatt did a great job singing "At Last," and Henry Boote charmed us with the singing of his own original composition, both celebrating women in the BSI. Francine Kitts, once again, performed a moving <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">“Standing upon the Terrace”</a> ceremony, remembering those whom we have lost. <br />
<br />
Seven deserving Irregulars received their Shilling.  Nancy Browning was toasted as <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html"><i>The</i> Woman</a>.  Tom Francis (former Chairman of the BSI Trust) received the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">Two-Shilling Award</a> for extraordinary devotion to the cause beyond the call of duty.  Mike Whelan also appointed two more officers of the BSI: Michael Kean (as "Cartwright") and Bob Katz (as "Billy the Page").<br />
<br />
The evening concluded with Peter Crupe reciting Vincent Starrett’s poem “221B.”<br />
<br />
At the next day’s Sherlockian Cocktail Reception at the New York City Bar Association, Judge Albert Rosenblatt and his daughter, Betsy Rosenblatt, once again performed their remarkable rhyming summation of the previous year and of the Festivities. <br />
<br />
Dinner Details: January 15, 2016<br />
The Yale Club, New York<br />
<br />
<h4>
Dinner Photo Information</h4>
Click on the above photo to see a larger version of it, and maximize your browser window to see the most detail.<br />
<br />
Key to People in the 2016 BSI Dinner photo (not available at this time, but see the <a href="http://files.bsitrust.org/pdf/dinner/bsi-dinner-2016-attendees.pdf">2016 Table Seat Assignments </a>(PDF)<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
BSI Honours List</h4>
<b>Investitures:</b><br />
Timothy Greer as The Ragged Shaw<br />
Dana Cameron as The Giant Rat of Sumatra<br />
Bert Coules as The Whole Art of Detection<br />
Jenn Eaker as Mary Sutherland<br />
John Durein as Wilson, the Notorious Canary Trainer<br />
Jayantika Ganguly as The Great Agra Treasure<br />
William Walsh as Godfrey Norton<br />
* received Investiture at another event during the year<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is an Investiture?</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Two-Shilling Award:</b><br />
Tom Francis.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is a Two-Shilling Award?</a><br />
<br />
<b><i>The </i>Woman:</b><br />
Nancy Browning.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is <i>The</i> Woman honour?</a><br />
<br />
<b>"Stand with me here upon the terrace..."</b><br />
(as named at this Dinner, not their year of passing)<br />
John Devereux de Gozzaldi (The Speckled Band, 1980)<br />
William Dudley (The Papers of Ex-President Murillo, 1976)<br />
Barton Eberman (The Hound of the Baskervilles, 1986)<br />
John Farrell (The Tiger of San Pedro, 1981)<br />
Matthew Fox (Vigor, the Hammersmith Wonder, 1972)<br />
George Hough (The Duke of Balmoral, 1983)<br />
C. Frederick Kittle (Jack Stapleton, 2000)<br />
Jack Key (Pritchard, 1989)<br />
Art Levine (The Cutter Alicia, 1955)<br />
Austin McLean (The London Library, 1990)<br />
David Pearce (The Khalifa at Khartoum, 1977)<br />
Mel Ruiz (Jack Douglas, 1988)<br />
Ralph Wroblewski (Captain Teddy Marvin, 1976)<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the origin of “standing on the terrace?”</a><br />
<br />
<b>Morley-Montgomery Award:</b><br />
Chris Redmond, "Dr. Hill Barton Pays a Call"<br />
<i>The Baker Street Journal</i> 65.2 (Summer 2015): 18-26.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the Morley-Montgomery Award?</a><br />
<br />
<b>The BSI Distinguished Speaker Lecture:</b><br />
Jeffrey Hatcher, “Casting Holmes”<br />
<i>The Baker Street Journal </i>66.1 (Spring 2016): 21-31.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the BSI Distinguished Speaker Lecture?</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Reports on the Dinner</h4>
<i>The Baker Street Journal</i> 66.1 (Spring 2016): 49-59.<br />
<br />
Blau, Peter, <i><a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/links.html#news">Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press</a></i>, (January 2016): 1-2.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://files.bsitrust.org/pdf/dinner/bsi-dinner-2016-attendees.pdf">List of 2016 BSI Dinner Attendees</a> (PDF)<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Recordings</h4>
A recording of portions of the 2016 BSI Dinner is available at Harvard as part of the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/archive.html">BSI Archive</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Related Material</h4>
Rosenblatt, Albert M., and Betsy Rosenblatt, “BSI Poem 2016,” <i>The Baker Street Journal</i> 66.1 (Spring 2016): 59-62. The Rosenblatts’ rhyming retrospective, delivered at the January 16, 2016 Sherlockian Cocktail Reception.<br />
<br />
Previous dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2017/05/the-2015-bsi-dinner.html">2015 BSI Dinner</a><br />
<br />
Next dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2018/11/the-2017-bsi-dinner.html">2017 BSI Dinner</a><br />
<br />
For an index to all BSI Dinners and photos, see our <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/dinner-summary.html">BSI Dinner Summary</a> list.<br />
<br />
<br />
The BSI Archive is located at the Houghton Library at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Archival material may be used by any qualified scholar, subject to the normal rules and regulations of the Library. For links to a detailed finding aid and related information, see our <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/archive.html">BSI Archive at Harvard </a>page.<br />
<br />
Page composed on 5/28/2017 by Tamar Zeffren<br />
This page last updated 5/29/2017 by Andrew Solberg.<br />
<br />
<br />

The 2016 BSI Dinner

Sherlock Holmes’s 162nd birthday was feted by an enthusiastic group, also celebrating the 25th anniversary of the opening of the BSI to ...

+ Read more »

The 2015 BSI Dinner

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GKXCa-WMjz0/WSD4VSKfQaI/AAAAAAAAArY/LaBaSbyV37kvRqAaLLQ4fTUEL1GQHaz4wCLcB/s1600/bsi-dinner-2015-v1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The 2015 BSI Dinner group photo" border="0" height="242" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GKXCa-WMjz0/WSD4VSKfQaI/AAAAAAAAArY/LaBaSbyV37kvRqAaLLQ4fTUEL1GQHaz4wCLcB/s640/bsi-dinner-2015-v1.jpg" title="Click this 2015 BSI Dinner photo to see a larger version" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Sherlock Holmes’s 161st birthday was celebrated with great mirth, scholarly presentations, toasts, and memorable moments. <br />
<br />
Burt Wolder toasted Mrs. Hudson.  Jacquelynn Morris gave the toast to Mycroft Holmes.  John Baesch had us raise our glasses to Watson's second wife, and Hartley Nathan toasted Sherlock Holmes.   Marsha Pollak led the responsive reading of the Musgrave Ritual.<br />
<br />
Raymond Betzner spoke movingly on the real reason that Holmes returned to London after the hiatus. Michael Dirda spoke on Langdale Pike's participation in the Civil War and other important events. Harrison Hunt celebrated the quasquicentennial anniversary of an event, without which, there would be no BSI. David Stuart Davies delivered his one-man play about the four <i>Ms </i>and the poison hedgehog.  Lou Lewis read the BSI’s Constitution and Buy-Laws.  As usual, Henry Boote led the musical entertainment.  Francine Kitts, once again, performed a moving “<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">Standing upon the Terrace</a>” ceremony, remembering those whom we have lost. <br />
<br />
Eight deserving Irregulars received their Shilling.  Inez Bergquist was toasted as <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html"><i>The</i> Woman</a>.  Mary Ann Bradley received the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">Two-Shilling Award</a> for extraordinary devotion to the cause beyond the call of duty. Mike Whelan presented the BSI's “Tip of the Deerstalker Awards” to Marsha Pollak, Ralph Hall, George McCormack, and Jim Saunders.<br />
<br />
The evening concluded with SJ Rozan reciting William Schweickert’s “<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/06/robert-thomalen-interview-oral-history.html">A Long Evening with Holmes</a>.”<br />
<br />
At the next day’s Sherlockian Cocktail Reception at the New York City Bar Association, Judge Albert Rosenblatt and his daughter, Betsy Rosenblatt, once again performed their remarkable rhyming summation of the previous year and of the Festivities. <br />
<br />
Dinner Details: January 9, 2015<br />
The Yale Club, New York<br />
<br />
<h4>
Dinner Photo Information</h4>
Click on the above photo to see a larger version of it, and maximize your browser window to see the most detail.<br />
<br />
Key to People in the 2015 BSI Dinner photo (not available at this time, but see the <a href="http://files.bsitrust.org/pdf/dinner/bsi-dinner-2015-attendees.pdf">2015 Table Seat Assignments</a> (PDF)<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
BSI Honours List</h4>
<b>Investitures:</b><br />
Marino C. Alvarez as Hilton Soames<br />
Kiyoshi Arai as The Shoso-in Near Nara<br />
Jeffory Hart as Henry Baker<br />
Chrys Kegley as Rachel Howells<br />
Kristina Manente as Grace Dunbar<br />
Bill Mason as White Mason<br />
Emily Miranker as Lady Hatty St. Simon<br />
James O’Brien as Knowledge of Chemistry.--Profound<br />
* received Investiture at another event during the year<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is an Investiture?</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Two-Shilling Award:</b><br />
Mary Ann Bradley.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is a Two-Shilling Award?</a><br />
<br />
<b><i>The </i>Woman:</b><br />
Inez (Mrs. John) Bergquist.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is <i>The </i>Woman honour?</a><br />
<br />
<b>"Stand with me here upon the terrace..."</b><br />
(as named at this Dinner, not their year of passing)<br />
Daniel Griffin (General de Merville,1968)<br />
Andrew Page (Lord Saltire, 1974)<br />
Dr. Rodney Mannion (Shoscombe Old Place, 1969)<br />
Samuel Gerber (The Final Problem, 1980)<br />
Joseph Moran (Sir Augustus Moran, C.B., 1991)<br />
Peter Ruber (Camden House, 1964)<br />
Thomas Russo (The Boscombe Valley Mystery, 1983)<br />
Charles Adams (The Winter Assizes at Norwich, 1990)<br />
Dr. Marvin Aronson (Penrose Fisher, 1968)<br />
Irwin Deutsch (The Intricate Matter from Marseilles, 1962)<br />
Donald Redmond (Good Old Index, 1969, Two-Shilling Award, 1994)<br />
George Sturm (Neil Gibson, The Gold King, 1979)<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the origin of “standing on the terrace?”</a><br />
<br />
<b>Morley-Montgomery Award:</b><br />
Timothy S. Greer, "Murger in Baker Street"<br />
<i>The Baker Street Journal</i> 64.3 (Autumn 2014): 14-20.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the Morley-Montgomery Award?</a><br />
<br />
<b>The BSI Distinguished Speaker Lecture:</b><br />
Alan Bradley, “Ha! The Stars Are Out and the Wind Has Fallen”<br />
<i>The Baker Street Journal</i> 65.1 (Spring 2015): 10-20.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the BSI Distinguished Speaker Lecture?</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Reports on the Dinner</h4>
<i>The Baker Street Journal</i> 65.1 (Spring 2015): 54-63.<br />
<br />
Blau, Peter, <i><a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/links.html#news">Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press</a></i>, (January 2015): 1-2.<br />
<br />
List of <a href="http://files.bsitrust.org/pdf/dinner/bsi-dinner-2015-attendees.pdf">2015 BSI Dinner Attendees</a> (PDF)<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Recordings</h4>
A recording of portions of the 2015 BSI Dinner is available at Harvard as part of the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/archive.html">BSI Archive</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Related Material</h4>
Rosenblatt, Albert M., and Betsy Rosenblatt, “BSI Poem 2015,” <i>The Baker Street Journal </i>65.1 (Spring 2015): 64-66. The Rosenblatts’ rhyming retrospective, delivered at the January 10, 2015 Sherlockian Cocktail Reception.<br />
<br />
Betzner, Ray, “A Case of Identity: Sigerson’s Choice,” <i>The Baker Street Journal </i>65.1 (Spring 2015): 6-9. Presented at the 2015 BSI Dinner.<br />
<br />
Previous dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2017/04/the-2014-bsi-dinner.html">2014 BSI Dinner</a><br />
<br />
Next dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2017/06/the-2016-bsi-dinner.html">2016 BSI Dinner</a><br />
<br />
For an index to all BSI Dinners and photos, see our <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/dinner-summary.html">BSI Dinner Summary</a> list.<br />
<br />
<br />
The BSI Archive is located at the Houghton Library at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Archival material may be used by any qualified scholar, subject to the normal rules and regulations of the Library. For links to a detailed finding aid and related information, see our <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/archive.html">BSI Archive at Harvard </a>page.<br />
<br />
Page composed on 4/28/2017 by Tamar Zeffren<br />
This page last updated 4/29/2017 by Andrew Solberg.<br />
<br />
<br />