Jun 08 #1 Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press Mike Whelan reports that The Baker Street Irregulars' 'A Study in Scarlet Expedition' to Salt Lake City on Aug. 30, 31, and Sept. 1 (with a Welcome Reception on Friday evening, Aug. 29) promises to be a very special event. It's open to all Sherlockians, and "participation in this conference will be a singular experience in scholarship and fellowship in the historic at- mosphere of Utah, a backdrop for Holmes' first published case." It's open to all Sherlockians, and there are a few places available for the confer- ence. Additional information is available from Mary Ann Bradley (317-514- 8566); if you leave a message, please tell her your e-mail address. Ken Lanza spotted an interesting article posted by Jem Bloomfield on May 20 at the web-site of the California Literary Review at ; "The Right Side of the Tracks" discusses railways in the classic whodunnit, with due attention to the Canon, and an interesting photograph of a train leaving Paddington Station in 1892. Amnon Kabatchnik has long been interested in drama, and he has written two book due to be published by Scarecrow Press: BLOOD ON THE STAGE: MILESTONE PLAYS OF CRIME, MYSTERY AND DETECTION: AN ANNOTATED REPERTOIRE, 1900-1925 (384 pp., $90.00) and SHERLOCK HOLMES ON THE STAGE: A CHRONOLOGICAL ENCYC- LOPEDIA OF PLAYS FEATURING THE GREAT DETECTIVE (208 pp., $55.00). Harvey Korman died on May 29. He was a dedicated comedian whose first ma- jor television appearance was in skits in "The Danny Kaye Show" from 1964 to 1967, and when that series was cancelled he went to work on "The Carol Burnett Show" (for which he won four Emmys), and he starred in many films, including "Blazing Saddles" (1974). It was on "The Carol Burnett Show" in 1972 that he played Watson in a skit in which Anthony Newley was Holmes. The latest issue of Carolyn and Joel Senter's The Sherlockian E-Times will be found at ; there's a report on the 4th Annual Gathering of Southern Sherlockians with lots of photographs (with captions, so that you can tell who's who), and offers of Sherlockian books and other items of interest. I still have extra copies of the new Italian stamp honoring Dorando Pietri (Mar 08 #3), who didn't win the marathon in the 1908 Olympics (and wasn't assisted by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle); if you would like to have one of the stamps, just let me know. And if you would like to know more about those Olympics, Jon Lellenberg has noted THE FIRST LONDON OLYMPICS 1908, by Re- becca Jenkins (London: Piatkus Books, 2008; 288 pp., L16.99). Also avail- able is THE 1908 OLYMPICS: THE FIRST LONDON GAMES, by Keith Baker (Chelten- ham: Sportsbooks, 2008; 224 pp., L7.99). "Buckminster Fuller: Starting with the Universe" is the title of an exhibi- tion at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York (through Sept. 21) . Bucky Fuller was a protege and good friend of Christo- pher Morley in the 1930s, and a member of the Three Hours for Lunch Club, the Grillparzer Sittenpolizeiverein, and The Baker Street Irregulars, and he installed one of his Dymaxion bathrooms in Morley's "Knothole" writing studio, now on display in Christopher Morley Park in Roslyn on Long Island. Jun 08 #2 WHAT'S YOUR STORY? WATERSTONE'S EXCLUSIVE COLLECTABLE POSTCARD BOOK will be published in a limited edition in July, to benefit the National Year of Reading. Each postcard contains a (very) short story, including a Harry Potter prequel by J. K. Rowling, and a Sherlockian pas- tiche by Neil Gaiman. You can read about (and pre-order) the book (L5.00 plus shipping) at , and you can read all of the stor- ies at . The manuscript for Rowling's story sold for L25,000 at a charity auction at Waterstone's this month. Mel Ferrer died on June 2. He was an actor, director, and producer who was involved in more than 100 films, including "Lili" (1953), "War and Peace" (1956), and "Wait Until Dark" (1967); he played Moriarty (with Peter Law- ford as Holmes and Donald O'Connor as Watson) in the "Save Sherlock Holmes" episode of "Fantasy Island" (1982). Something for collectors of Sherlockian comic books to pursue: there were three issues of Classics Illustrated Giants, the second one being "An Il- lustrated Library of Exciting Mystery Stories", published in 1949; it con- tained "Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", "3 Famous Mysteries", "The Moonstone", and Edgar Allan Poe's "Mysteries", and "3 Famous Mysteries" included "The Sign of the Four". It was described as "probably the scarcest comic book to feature Sherlock Holmes" when a copy (in "fantastic condition") was off- ered at Heritage Auctions this month with a "buy it now" price of $3405.75 (it wasn't sold). Reported by Tom Huntington: Bruce Wexler's THE MYSTERIOUS WORLD OF SHERLOCK HOLMES (Philadelphia: Running Press, 2008; 192 pp., $14.98); "the illustra- ted guide to the famous cases, infamous adversaries, and ingenious methods of the great detective". John Baesch spotted an imaginative "stacked books accent table" ($169.00) in a recent catalog from Charles Keath (Box 2789, Cedar Rapids, IA 52406) (888-918-4000) ; the second book from the bottom has a silhouette of Sherlock Holmes on the spine. The manuscript of "Lady Frances Carfax" was offered by Mark Hime (Biblioc- topus) at the Antiquarian Book Fair in London this month for L250,000 (ess- entially the same as the $500,000 he has priced it in his catalogs in re- cent years), but it did not sell; according to the Calcutta Telegraph (June 15), Hime said he believes the manuscript will find a buyer eventually: "if you want to play, you have to pay." The incomplete manuscript of "His Last Bow" (which Hime has been advertising for $375,000) was at auction at Soth- eby's in New York on June 19 (estimated at $150,000-200,000), and also went unsold. THE CASE OF THE LEFT-HANDED LADY (New York: Sleuth/Philomel, 2007; 234 pp., $12.99) is the second of the three novels in Nancy Springer's series about Enola Holmes, who is the younger sister of Mycroft and Sherlock, and hiding from them in London and solving mysteries on her own; the stories are well written and interesting, and the books are for children aged 9 to 12. THE CASE OF THE PECULIAR PINK FAN and THE CASE OF THE CRYPTIC CRINOLINE will be the fourth and fifth titles in the series. Springer describes herself as a writer/organic word farmer at her web-site www.nancyspringer.net>. Jun 08 #3 DEATH IN THE AIR, by Shane Peacock (Toronto: Tundra, 2008; 254 pp., $19.95) is the second in his series about "the boy Sher- lock Holmes" (who is on his own in London and trying to learn how to be a detective); the characters are interesting and the mystery intriguing. The first novel in the series, EYE OF THE CROW, won the Crime Writers of Cana- da's Arthur Ellis Award for best young adult crime novel; the Arthur Ellis Awards are imaginatively named after the "nom de travail" of Canada's offi- cial hangman. The author's web-site is at . Kula Shaker is a British psychodelic rock band that has a Sherlockian promo video for its single "Second Sight" (2007) at YouTube, Mattias Bostr”m has reported; the URL is . Jon Lellenberg spotted a story in the Salisbury (N.C.) Post (June 19) about a new band called Resident Patient (which takes its name from the Sherlock Holmes story); they say that "this delightful quartet has travelled far and wide to assemble the most unique equipment for creating sound, everything ranging from exotic instruments to hand-made circuitry. Their web-site is at , and you can hear four of their songs at . The U.S. Postal Service has issued a sheetlet of stamps honoring the hus- band-and-wife team Charles and Ray Eames, who were famous for their Eames chair and other modern designs; four of the stamps are shown below. They also produced "The Singular Case of the Plural Green Mustache" for the IBM Pavilion at the N.Y. World's Fair (1964-1965); this mechanized puppet show that had Holmes and Watson explained what was then called "2-valued" logic. An early version of the script (as "The Case of the Purloined Train") was published in Esquire (Oct. 1963) and a later version ("The Case of the Elu- sive Train") in The Baker Street Journal (Dec. 1964). Karen Murdock spotted a report in the Lancaster New Era (June 11) that Jer- emy Sherlock Holmes, 34, was arrested for possession of controlled substan- ces and possession of drug paraphernalia after a vehicle stop in Lancaster County, Pa. And a report in the Evening Standard (June 17) by their "City Spy" columnist, who wrote that new PR companies find it hard to resist giv- ing themselves new names, but he "quite likes Threepipe, so called because founder Jim Hawker is a Sherlock Holmes fan." Jun 08 #4 Further to the report (Mar 07 #2) about the Warner Bros. film that will "re-imagine Holmes as an action-adventure sleuth," the Hollywood Reporter noted (June 3) that Guy Ritchie has been hired to write and direct the film, now tentatively planned for 2010. Ritchie, at the moment, is best known as the husband of Madonna (who has not been men- tioned as Irene Adler or Mrs. Hudson). Nicole Sperling reported in Enter- tainment Weekly's "Hollywood Insider" blog that Robert Downey Jr. (who is in theaters now in "Iron Man") "has had his eye on" the project. Illyria is a British open-air touring company that will be performing their own dramatization of "The Hound of the Baskervilles" from July 20 through Sept. 7 (with a stop at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Aug. 5-16). Their schedule is available at their web-site at . Tina Rhea spotted a report on a new exhibition on "Jack the Ripper and the East End" at the London Museum's new Docklands branch (through Nov. 2); it is a comprehensive display of photographs, police reports, and curios, and of course the East End was part of Sherlock Holmes' London. The web-site is at , and the publisher is at 2034 17th Street, San Francisco, CA 94116 . Holmes and Watson appeared in Andy Lane's "Doctor Who" novel ALL-CONSUMING FIRE (Jul 94 #4) and Conan Doyle in John Peel's EVOLUTION (Feb 95 #6); if you missed them, copies are available ($6.00 and $8.00) from the Alien En- tertainment Co. (888-734-7386) . Jay Pearlman has his computer up and running again, and the spring issue of the Tonga Times is well worth the wait. Published by the Mini-Tonga Scion Society, the newsletter has colorfully-illustrated articles about the mini- ature sitting rooms constructed by Yves Charles Fercoq in France and by Per Engelson in Sweden, and other news from the wide world of Sherlockian mini- atures. A membership covering three issues costs $11.00 ($12.00 to Canada/ $14.00 elsewhere) from Jay Pearlman (1656 East 19th Street #2-E, Brooklyn, NY, 11229), and visitors are welcome at the society's excellent web-site at . Randall Stock notes a report on a "Sherlock Holmes" five-reel, 25-payline progressive video slot with bonus free spins; there's a review and a "free spins preview" at . One- arm bandits sure are a lot fancier now than when I last played one. Jun 08 #5 "Found: The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes" was the headline on a story in the Glasgow Daily Record (June 27) about the records of noted pathologist Sir Bernard Spilsbury, unearthed by one of his heirs and to be sold at auction at Sotheby's in London on July 17 (estimated at L7,000-9,000). Spilsbury was described as "Britain's living successor to mythical Sherlock Holmes" in a story in Time magazine (July 2, 1934) and is considered the father of professional forensic pathology. Tina Rhea spotted Vic Lee's "Pardon My Plan- et" in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (June 20). The pun's an old one, but of course a good puns never die. ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE: A LIFE IN LETTERS, edited by Jon L. Lellenberg, Daniel Stashower, and Charles Foley, has been nominated for an An- thony (best critical work) at Bouchercon to be held in Baltimore in October), and for a Macavity (for best mystery non-fiction) from Mystery Readers International (also presented at Bouchercon); MRI is "the largest mystery fan/reader organization in the world." The book already has won an Agatha at Malice Do- mestic (best non-fiction), and an Edgar from the Mystery Writers of America (for best cri- tical/biographical). Another Anthony nomination (best short story) went to Steve Hockensmith's "Dear Dr. Watson"; it appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine (in the Feb. 2007 issue), and you can read it on-line at Hockensmith's web-site at (look for Archives at the right, click on Big Red's Blog, and scroll down to Aug. 15, 2007). Films that were never made (unfortunately) include a Warner Bros. version of "The Speckled Band" (Conan Doyle's play); there was a copy of the Samuel French script (apparently a 1930 printing) in their research library (it's now owned by a collector). It is possible, and perhaps even likely, that the British film "The Speckled Band" (1931) that starred Raymond Massey as Holmes preempted plans by Warner Bros. Or they may just have decided to go with "gangster studio" films such as Edgar Robinson's "Little Caesar" and James Cagney's "Public Enemy" (both released in 1931). Bruce Montgomery ("The Red Circle") died on June 21. He was an excellent and accomplished musician, director the Gilbert & Sullivan Players of Phil- adelphia and director of musical studies and the University of Pennsylvania (including the Penn Glee Club, the Mask and Wig Club, the University Band, and the Penn Singers), and he earned his first paycheck at the age of five when he was cast in "Trial by Jury". Bruce was a second-generation Sher- lockian, the son of James Montgomery (who made the song "We Never Mention Aunt Clara" part of the traditions of the S'ian world). Bruce followed in his father's footsteps with the song "We Always Mention Aunt Clara" (which he once described as "Father's Folly, or Great-Aunt Clara Revisited"), and The Baker Street Irregulars awarded him his father's Investiture in 1994. Jun 08 #6 The graphic novel (well, collection) ROSEBUD GRAPHIC CLASSICS: ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE (Apr 02 #7) is now out of print, but two of the stories are reprinted (along with seven other new stories and poems) in GRAPHIC CLASSICS: ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE (SECOND EDITION); the contents of the new volume include "The Copper Beeches" and "The Engineer's Thumb". And: ADVENTURE CLASSICS [GRAPHIC CLASSICS VOLUME TWELVE includes "The Crime of the Brigadier"; both collections are available in comic-book shops ($11.95) and from the publisher: Eureka Productions (878 Grove Road Horeb, WI 53572) . Their GRAPHIC CLASSICS: SPECIAL EDITION (2008) was distributed on Free Comic Book Day, has "John Barrington Cowles"; the company offers a free copy if you purchase any two of their titles. Phillip Gold (221Books) has bought the Sherlockian collection of the late Jack Kerr (Oct 00 #1), and is offering them for sale at the Advanced Book Exchange . If you have any specific wants you can let him know at 760 East Carlisle Road, Westlake Village, CA 91361 (800-889-2640) "I'm a huge fan of Sherlock Holmes, always was," novel Lee Child told the Chicago Sun-Times (June 22). "In a couple of the books I've put in little Conan Doyle-style tributes to Sherlock Holmes, in the same kind of language Holmes would have used." Child has written 12 books in his "Jack Reacher" series of thriller novels. The latest issue of Clues: A Journal of Detection (v. 26, n. 1, 2008) is a theme issue devoted to Victorian detective fiction, and it has Maria Cair- ney's article on "The Healing Art of Detection: Sherlock Holmes and the Di- sease of Crime in the Strand Magazine". $30.00 (or $40.00 a year for two issues) from McFarland, Box 611, Jefferson, NC 28640 (800-253-2187); Clues' web-site's at . Les Klinger spotted an item in The Hollywood Reporter (June 25) about plans by Central Partnership (described as Russia's largest independent film pro- ducer and distributor) to make a $16 million, 32-episode, "Sherlock Holmes" television series. Shooting will begin in the summer of 2009 and continue through 2010; half of the episodes are to be based on the Livanov/Solomin series (1979-1986), and the other half on new adaptations. Some obituaries for British actors: David Atkins died on Apr. 23; he had a long career as a supporting actor on stage and screen and television, and played Mordecai Smith in Granada's broadcast of "The Sign of Four" (1987). Bernard Archard died on May 1; he had many roles on stage, screen, and tel- vision, often appearing as doctors or policemen. He played the coroner Dr. Davidson (with John Neville as Dr. Thorndyke) in a dramatization of R. Aus- tin Freeman's "A Message from the Deep Sea" in the television series "The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes" (1971). Margot Boyd died on May 20; she was a student at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, appearing in a play directed by George Bernard Shaw; she acted for many years on stage, radio, and tele- vision, and played Frau Mathis in a dramatization of Baroness Orczy's "The Woman in the Big Hat" in the same television series. The Spermaceti Press: Peter E. Blau, 7103 Endicott Court, Bethesda, MD 20817-4401 (301-229-5669)