Author: Fran Martin

Fran Martin became a member of The Bootmakers of Toronto in 1987 and The Stormy Petrels of B.C. in 1988. She has attended several Sherlockian conferences including: In 1992 "Aspects of Holmes" in Bradford, England (hosted by The Northern Musgraves); In 2006 "ACD at 35" in Toronto (hosted by The Bootmakers of Toronto); 2013 "Sherlock Holmes Through Time & and Place" in Minneapolis (hosted by The Norwegian Explorers); 2014 "Gillette to Brett IV" in Bloomington (hosted by Wessex Press); 2015 SherlockCon in Seattle; 2015 "A Scintillation of Scions VIII" in Baltimore (hosted by Watson's Tin Box); 2016 "The Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes" (hosted by The Norwegian Explorers); in 2018 in Dayton, Ohio for the "Holmes, Doyle & Friends" conference (hosted by the Agra Treasurers). Fran has held several positions with The Stormy Petrels of B.C. including secretary, vice-president, special events coordinator and is currently president and editor of the "Petrel Flyer". She was honoured with being awarded the title of "Master Bootmaker" in 2014. She was very pleased to present a paper to a meeting of Sir Hugo's Companions in Chicago in 2017. Fran has contributed articles to Canadian Holmes magazine, the Watsonian and Chris Redmond's "About Sixty" and "Sherlock Holmes is Like...". In May, 2018 she attended the 78th annual Speckled Band of Boston dinner. She was very honoured to have been one of the first women invited.

News from London

Thanks to information received by Roger Johnson (Sherlock Holmes Society of London) via his “District Messenger”, your Consulting Detective can report on the following:

1. Sotheby’s auction of one of the only two known inscribed copies of the very first Sherlock Holmes Story “A Study In Scarlet” The auction will take place on July 15th. For more info, please contact Peter Selley at peter.selley@sothebys.com

2. A new Sherlock Holmes play “The Secret of Sherlock Holmes” at the Duchess Theatre begining July 20th. Peter Egan as Sherlock Holmes and Robert Daws as Dr. Watson.

3. On July 16th at Marylebone Library, author Laurie King will talk about her new book, “The God of the Hive”

4. The Northern Sherlock Holmes Society is hosting a Forensic Science Day at the University of Huddersfield on September 11th. The University was established in 1825 and is a leading site for training forensic scientists. For more info, contact the Stormy Petrel’s Consulting Detective.

5. A brand new edition of “Bending The Willow” by David Stuart Davies is now available from Calabash Press (ashtrree@ash-tree.bc.ca)

“Before his untimely death in 1995, Jeremy Brett had made the part his own, all the time battling against the manic depression which had plauged him for many years. “Bending The Willow” examines how this brilliant actor channelled the demons of his debilitating illness into his iridescent portrayal of Sherlock Holmes”.

“This new edition includes a new afterword by the author, a reminiscence of Jeremy Brett by David Burke, and a number of photographs not included in earlier editions”.

For more information on any of the abvove, please contact your Consulting Detective.

0

“The Long Vacation”

There are no regular meetings or special events planned for the month of July, however, a very significant event took place in July (one of the summers between 1872 and 1876)

It was a case “The Gloria Scott” which took place during the long vacation when Sherlock Holmes was at college. Later, Holmes was to tell Watson: “…it was the first in which I was ever engaged.”

Having been invited to the home of his friend, Victor Trevor, Holmes had the opportunity to display his powers of observation and deduction. This had impressed old Mr. Trevor so much, the old man fainted. Afterwords, he told Holmes: “…it seems to me that all the detectives of fact and of fancy would be children in your hands. That’s your line in life, sir…”

Sherlock Holmes, many years later, told Watson: “And that recommendation…was the first thing which ever made me feel that a profession might be made out of what had up to that time been the merest hobby.”

What does your July hold in store for you? Come tell us at our annual barbecue and croquet on Saturday, August 14th, on the borders of Surrey. More details will follow.

0

ONE BOOK ONE VANCOUVER

Thanks to several sources (Roy Schindell and Jean Kavanagh, through Petrel Pal Miss604) I will relay the following information:

“This is the ninth year of Vancouver Public Library’s One Book, One Vancouver program which encourages everyone to read the same book and attend and participate in some great programs.”

They have retruned this year to a public contest and are asking Vancouver and area residents to tell them which of three short-listed books they would like to read this year. The three books represent the past, the present and the future. They are:

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams; and
The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie.

People can vote online at http://www.vpl.vancouver.bc.ca/obov/index.html
or at any VPL location.

Please vote – Contest closes on Friday, June 24th
Thank you,
Your Consulting Detective

0

“The Falls of Reichenbach”

“The torrent, swollen by the melting snow, plunges into a tremendous abyss, from which the spray rolls up like smoke from a burning house.”

The Stormy Petrels will meet at our own Reichenbach Falls aka Shannon Falls on Saturday, June 26th at 10:00 a.m.

Our annual memorial wreath-tossing will take place at this time, to commemorate the memory of …”the best and wisest man I had ever known” followed by a picnic lunch.

According to “Teller of Tales” by Daniel Stashower, 20,000 people canceled their subscriptions to The Strand Magazine after reading, in horror, that Sherlock Holmes has met his end. “Members of the Royal family were said to have been distraught.”

After completing “The Final Problem” Conan Doyle entered a two-word phrase into his diary: “…… ……” The fist person to give me the correct answer when we meet at the Falls on June 26th will receive a prize.

For more info and directions, please contact your Consulting Detective.

0

Website Powered by WordPress.com.

Up ↑