The Baker Street Irregulars Trust

The 2007 BSI Dinner

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw3RnopZbbVr5gcRW34kj7hzH7QzHZFKcZtYSfyovTzksw1R-BLN4SZ1K046ZVJXIlc8RvcaIbz4uFKELc-F93YK-3ubWt9o7D7E3Pju-MKzKCVaZ6k2M7xASJ2KK4gIw_LzdbGvODRV5f/s1600/bsi-dinner-2007-v1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The 2007 BSI Dinner group photo" border="0" height="526" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw3RnopZbbVr5gcRW34kj7hzH7QzHZFKcZtYSfyovTzksw1R-BLN4SZ1K046ZVJXIlc8RvcaIbz4uFKELc-F93YK-3ubWt9o7D7E3Pju-MKzKCVaZ6k2M7xASJ2KK4gIw_LzdbGvODRV5f/s640/bsi-dinner-2007-v1.jpg" title="Click this 2007 BSI Dinner photo to see a larger version" width="640" /></a></div>
 
The dinner celebrating Sherlock Holmes's 153rd  birthday saw an impressive array of presentations in various formats, affirming for all the guests that Sherlockians are talented in many arenas. Three of the traditional toasts were offered in verse. Dan Posnansky spoke about Holmes’s reference to “a quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes” in “The Noble Bachelor.”  He also brought a number of treasures, including a copy of Beeton’s Christmas Annual, for audience delectation. 
 
Curtis Armstrong read the Constitution and Buy-Laws.  Jerry Kegley toasted Mrs. Hudson.  Mycroft Holmes was toasted by Regina Stinson.  Richard Olken toasted Watson's second wife.  Sue Vizoskie toasted Sherlock Holmes.  Burt Wolder led the annual recitation of the Musgrave Ritual.  The actor Paxton Whitehead, who appeared as Sherlock Holmes on Broadway in 1978, reminisced about the production of The Crucifer of Blood.  Steven Rothman offered the toast to an Old Irregular—actually the original Irregular—as he honored Christopher Morley. 
 
A bevy of deserving contenders competed in a game called Pericolo in which they had to identify Canonical quotations. “The Veiled Lodgers,” comprised of David Stuart Davies, Susan Diamond, and Al Gregory faced off against "The Cardboard Boxers,” featuring Scott Monty, Susan Rice, and Robert S. Katz. Worthy competitors, all! The Boxers emerged triumphant in the hard-fought game, which was judiciously adjudged by Les Klinger, Judge Andrew Peck, and Judge Albert Rosenblatt. 
 
This dinner also marked Michael Whelan’s 10th year as Wiggins. His opening remarks included an exhortation to Irregulars “to always remember the philosophy of Christopher Morley when playing the Game.” He acknowledged the contributions of <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/06/robert-thomalen-interview-oral-history.html">Bob Thomalen</a> to the leadership of the BSI. He also recalled his vision for the BSI as presented at the first dinner he oversaw, the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/08/the-1998-bsi-dinner.html">1998 BSI Dinner</a>. He emphasized the BSI’s core identity as a literary society. The evening’s chronicler notes: “The publishing accomplishments of the past decade speak to that orientation.” Honored guest Laurie R. King provided a copy of her latest novel The Art of Detection for each attendee. 
 
Wiggins introduced a new award, the Editor’s Medal (or “Eddies”), which was presented to Peter Blau, Steve Doyle, Mitch Higurashi, and Bill Hyder in recognition of their roles as editors for books published by the BSI in the Manuscript and International Series. Continuing the recognition of efforts, Al Rosenblatt received a walking stick in honor of his service to the BSI. 
 
Seven deserving Irregulars received their Shilling this evening. The following week, at the Sherlock Holmes Society of London dinner, Jonathan McCafferty was also invested in the BSI. 
 
Candace Lewis was toasted as <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">The Woman</a>. 
 
Paxton Whitehead concluded the evening’s program with a reading of Vincent Starrett's sonnet "221B." 
 
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. 
 
Dinner Details: January 12, 2007 
Union League Club, New York 
 
<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. 
 
Key to People in the 2007 BSI Dinner photo (not available at this time) 
 
 
<h4>
BSI Honours List</h4>
Investitures: 
Marshall S. Berdan as Henri Murger 
Mattias Boström as The Swedish Pathological Society 
Michael Homer as Enoch J. Drebber 
Elaine McCafferty as Eliza Barrymore 
Jonathan McCafferty as Barrymore * 
Dayna Nuhn as Lady Clara St. Simon 
Warren Randall as Harold Stackhurst 
Maggie Schpak as The Soup Plate Medal 
* received Investiture at another event during the year 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is an Investiture?</a> 
 
 
Two-Shilling Award: 
The Two-Shilling Award was not given in 2007. 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is a Two-Shilling Award?</a> 
 
The Woman: 
Candace (Mrs. Lou) Lewis 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is The Woman honour?</a> 
 
"Stand with me here upon the terrace..." 
(as named at this Dinner, not their year of passing) 
Robert Douty (The Priory School, 1980) 
Ronald Mansbridge (A Case of Identity, 1998) 
Robert Schultz (The Gloria Scott, 2002) 
Maureen Green Van der Flaes (Kitty Winter, 1992) 
Alan Foster (A Commission from the Sultan of Turkey, 1965) 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the origin of “standing on the terrace?”</a> 
 
Morley-Montgomery Award: 
Harold Billings, "The Materia Medica of Sherlock Holmes" 
The Baker Street Journal v56 n3 (Autumn 2006) pp. 37-46 (available in the eBSJ). 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the Morley-Montgomery Award?</a> 
 
The BSI Distinguished Speaker Lecture: 
Laurie R. King, “Meeting Mister Holmes” 
The Baker Street Journal v57 n1 (Spring 2007) pp. 43-51 (available in the eBSJ). 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the BSI Distinguished Speaker Lecture?</a> 
 
 
<h4>
Reports on the Dinner</h4>
The Baker Street Journal v57 n1 (Spring 2007): 6-13 (available in the eBSJ). 
 
Blau, Peter, <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/links.html#news">Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press</a>, (January 2007): 1. 
 
List of 2007 BSI Dinner Attendees (not available at this time) 
 
 
<h4>
Recordings </h4>
A recording of portions of the 2007 BSI Dinner is available at Harvard as part of the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/archive.html">BSI Archive</a>. 
 
 
<h4>
Related Material</h4>
Rosenblatt, Albert M., and Betsy Rosenblatt, “The Sherlockian Year In Verse: 2007,” The Baker Street Journal v57 n1 (Spring 2007): 13-16 (available in the eBSJ). The Rosenblatts’ rhyming retrospective, delivered at the January 13, 2007 Sherlockian Cocktail Reception. 
 
Previous dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/12/the-2006-bsi-dinner.html">2006 BSI Dinner</a> 
 
Next dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2017/01/the-2008-bsi-dinner.html">2008 BSI Dinner</a> 
 
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. 
 
 
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. 
 
Page composed on 12/1/2016 by Tamar Zeffren 
This page last updated 12/14/2016 by Andrew Solberg.

The 2007 BSI Dinner

The dinner celebrating Sherlock Holmes's 153rd birthday saw an impressive array of presentations in various formats, affirming for a...

+ Read more »

The 2006 BSI Dinner

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwKt8E36HOojN__yvH4NDdWol6CTMHTBd-4GtpjJm-3QDE9Qg3V4kPI-6dwJibCl4GBralMkYqVs4UQV0GgSeTDIZGIkG8-DbG7c2b6bNBMFWHxYxFz7w7a1kKHDsDMM1WA7WQYDKWvP9C/s1600/bsi-dinner-2006-v1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The 2006 BSI Dinner group photo" border="0" height="534" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwKt8E36HOojN__yvH4NDdWol6CTMHTBd-4GtpjJm-3QDE9Qg3V4kPI-6dwJibCl4GBralMkYqVs4UQV0GgSeTDIZGIkG8-DbG7c2b6bNBMFWHxYxFz7w7a1kKHDsDMM1WA7WQYDKWvP9C/s640/bsi-dinner-2006-v1.jpg" title="Click this 2006 BSI Dinner photo to see a larger version" width="640" /></a></div>
 
The Baker Street Irregulars and invited guests assembled Friday evening at the Union League Club to celebrate the 152nd birthday of Sherlock Holmes.  Peter Blau, in his report on the weekend in his Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press, noted that attendees at this year’s birthday festivities were greeted with “clear skies and pleasant temperatures.”  After Wiggins (Michael Whelan) opened the proceedings, Bob Coghill read the BSI Constitution and Buy-Laws.  Barbara Roden offered a witty canonical toast to Mrs. Hudson.  Other toasts followed, including ones to Mycroft by Joe Coppola, to Watson's second wife by Francine Kitts, and to Sherlock Holmes by Lou Lewis.   Ken Lanza led the throng in the reading of the Musgrave Ritual. 
 
David Musto led off the program with commentary on the many incidents of atavism in the Canon. Terry Belanger gave his perspective on collecting rare books.  Lloyd Rose analyzed the spate of detectives portrayed on current popular television programs.  For the evening's musical entertainment, pianist Tyke and vocalist Teddie Niver treated Irregulars and guests to song and dance in the style of music hall circa 1900. 
 
Attendees were treated to a fascinating “Tribute to an Era of Old Irregulars” by <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/10/arthur-levine-interview-oral-history.html">Art Levine</a>, who gave an engaging account of the Edgar W. Smith era, rich with detail, from his unique perspective of having been invested fifty years ago. 
 
Norma Hyder was toasted as <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">The Woman</a>. Seven Irregulars received their Shilling at the Dinner. 
 
Roy Pilot concluded the evening’s program with a reading of Vincent Starrett's sonnet "221B." 
 
At the next day’s Sherlockian Cocktail Reception at 24 Fifth Avenue, Judge Albert Rosenblatt and his daughter, Betsy Rosenblatt, once again, performed their remarkable summation of the previous year and of the Festivities in verse. 
 
Dinner Details: January 13, 2006 
Union League Club, New York 
 
<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. 
 
Key to People in the 2006 BSI Dinner photo (not available at this time) 
 
 
<h4>
BSI Honours List</h4>
Investitures: 
Curtis Armstrong as An Actor and a Rare One 
Paul G. Churchill as Corot 
Jerry Kegley as Nathan Garrideb 
Richard M. Olken as Bob Carruthers 
Jennie C. Paton as Laura Lyons 
Trevor S. Raymond as Horace Harker 
Regina Stinson as A Little Ribston Pippin 
* received Investiture at another event during the year 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is an Investiture?</a> 
 
 
Two-Shilling Award: 
The Two-Shilling Award was not given in 2006. 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is a Two-Shilling Award?</a> 
 
The Woman: 
Norma (Mrs. William) Hyder 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is The Woman honour?</a> 
 
"Stand with me here upon the terrace..." 
(as named at this Dinner, not their year of passing) 
Not named in the 2006 BSJ report of the Dinner. 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the origin of “standing on the terrace?”</a> 
 
Morley-Montgomery Award: 
Catherine Cooke, "Mrs. Hudson: A Legend in Her Own Lodging-House" 
The Baker Street Journal v55 n2 (Summer 2005) pp. 13-23 (available in the eBSJ). 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the Morley-Montgomery Award?</a> 
 
The BSI Distinguished Speaker Lecture: 
Leroy Lad Panek, “Sherlock Holmes and the Emergence of the American Detective Story” 
The Baker Street Journal v56 n2 (Summer 2006) pp. 17-24 (available in the eBSJ). 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the BSI Distinguished Speaker Lecture?</a> 
 
 
<h4>
Reports on the Dinner</h4>
The Baker Street Journal v56 n1 (Spring 2006) pp. 6-13 (available in the eBSJ). 
 
Blau, Peter, <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/links.html#news">Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press</a>, (January 2006): 1. 
 
List of 2006 BSI Dinner Attendees (not available at this time) 
 
 
<h4>
Recordings</h4>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWyJDqtCVIQSQYzuCkLk01g4UGWacx4dAdwgvdf0VqqtEK9NaclmXLBc14zIFaax9ZBX4l4wxEi1UWq5i7Q9Rf_bYRGlpz6gbLJYDszX3zNzoIYeQ_KOfgTD7nebtqtdV06ARN9pZHeuox/s1600/bsi-the-woman-2006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWyJDqtCVIQSQYzuCkLk01g4UGWacx4dAdwgvdf0VqqtEK9NaclmXLBc14zIFaax9ZBX4l4wxEi1UWq5i7Q9Rf_bYRGlpz6gbLJYDszX3zNzoIYeQ_KOfgTD7nebtqtdV06ARN9pZHeuox/s200/bsi-the-woman-2006.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Michael Whelan, Norma Hyder, William Hyder, and Peter Blau</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The Woman Ceremony, 2006</div>
 
Immediately prior to the BSI Dinner, a reception is held for BSI members and guests, at which the attendees honor that year’s <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">The Woman</a>.   In 2006, the honoree was Norma Hyder, wife of the dean of the Baltimore Sherlockian community, William Hyder, and a constant supporter of Sherlockian activities in Baltimore.  James Saunders presented Norma with a corsage, as he has to The Woman for the past 31 years.  Following the ceremony, The Woman is escorted to a gala dinner at which prior honorees are in attendance, and The Woman from the previous year serves as hostess.  You can hear this ceremony in this 5 minute vignette from the 2006 BSI festivities. 
 
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" height="45" mozallowfullscreen="" msallowfullscreen="" oallowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/4866862/height/45/width/250/theme/standard/autonext/no/thumbnail/no/autoplay/no/preload/no/no_addthis/no/direction/backward/no-cache/true/" style="border: none;" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="250"></iframe>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Click to play this recording</div>
 
A recording of portions of the 2006 BSI Dinner is available at Harvard as part of the<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/archive.html"> BSI Archive</a>. 
 
 
<h4>
Related Material</h4>
Rosenblatt, Albert M., and Betsy Rosenblatt, “The Sherlockian Year In Verse: 2006,” The Baker Street Journal v56 n1 (Spring 2006): 14-16 (available in the eBSJ). The Rosenblatts’ rhyming retrospective, delivered at the January 14, 2006 Sherlockian Cocktail Reception. 
 
Previous dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/11/the-2005-bsi-dinner.html">2005 BSI Dinner</a> 
 
Next dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/12/the-2007-bsi-dinner.html">2007 BSI Dinner</a> 
 
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. 
 
 
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. 
 
Page composed on 11/29/2016 by Tamar Zeffren 
This page last updated 12/2/2016 by Andrew Solberg.

The 2006 BSI Dinner

The Baker Street Irregulars and invited guests assembled Friday evening at the Union League Club to celebrate the 152nd birthday of Sherl...

+ Read more »

The 2005 BSI Dinner

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhflN5F14vGbhINhpTZBurAICy7uPo4XEm-BMaRMh2Ie119c5twuqz0fdEiZEi6PFAXdgJX0P_QOM1asKeVXo93IUnllKNWDHN3DAs3tD1JnBGKTTCS9fhu1X249COSc4iX27AdbqsElGGM/s1600/bsi-dinner-2005-v1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The 2005 BSI Dinner group photo" border="0" height="530" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhflN5F14vGbhINhpTZBurAICy7uPo4XEm-BMaRMh2Ie119c5twuqz0fdEiZEi6PFAXdgJX0P_QOM1asKeVXo93IUnllKNWDHN3DAs3tD1JnBGKTTCS9fhu1X249COSc4iX27AdbqsElGGM/s640/bsi-dinner-2005-v1.jpg" title="Click this 2005 BSI Dinner photo to see a larger version" width="640" /></a></div>
 
More than 170 BSI and invitees gathered to celebrate Sherlock Holmes’s 151st birthday.  Great applause greeted Michael Whelan’s announcement of Glen Miranker's generous donation to the BSI Archives.  David Weiss, who has attended 50 annual dinners, read the Constitution and Buy-Laws. Toasts were offered by Gideon Hill to Mrs. Hudson, Costa Rossakis to Mycroft Holmes, Ralph Hall to Dr. Watson's second wife, and Charles Meyer to Sherlock Holmes.  Francine Kitts led the assemblage in reciting the Musgrave Ritual. 
 
Nicholas Meyer revealed the contents of some of the letters found in a tin box recently acquired by a wealthy sultan.  David Stuart Davies and Kathryn White presented a hilarious radio-play of the story “The Musgrave Ritual.”  Steven Doyle revealed that he is related to the noted author, including family photos showing him with his Uncle Arthur, as well as with other luminaries, such as Rathbone, Brett, and Morley. 
 
The assembled were informed that, for the first time in the Birthday Dinner’s history, Irene Adler herself would be serenaded with “We Never Mention Aunt Clara.”  Inga Swenson, of the musical Baker Street, emerged and was duly serenaded.  The Toast to an Old Irregular was replaced this year by a Centenary Tribute to Julian Wolff, with tributes from Peter Blau, Andrew Fusco, Andrew Jay Peck, and Wiggins to the long-time Commissionaire, whose involvement with the BSI spanned a quarter of a century. 
 
Debbie Hall was toasted as <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">The Woman</a>. Six Irregulars received their Shilling at the Dinner.  Les Klinger, Julie Rosenblatt, and Steve Rothman were each honored with <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">The Two-Shilling Award</a> "for extraordinary devotion to the cause beyond the call of duty.” 
 
Susan Vizoskie concluded the evening’s program with a reading of Vincent Starrett's sonnet "221B." 
 
At the next day’s Sherlockian Cocktail Reception at the National Arts Club, Judge Albert Rosenblatt and his daughter, Betsy Rosenblatt, once again, performed their remarkable summation of the previous year and of the Festivities in verse. 
 
Dinner Details: January 7, 2005 
Union League Club, New York 
 
<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. 
 
Key to People in the 2005 BSI Dinner photo (not available at this time) 
 
 
<h4>
BSI Honours List</h4>
Investitures: 
John Bergquist as The King of Scandinavia 
Peter Calamai as The Leeds Mercury 
Neil Gaiman as The Devil's Foot 
Art Renkwitz as The Bar of Gold 
Barbara Roden as Beryl Stapleton 
Gianluca Salvatori as The Dacre Hotel 
Donald J. Terras as The Politician, the Lighthouse, and the Trained Cormorant* 
* received Investiture at another event during the year 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is an Investiture?</a> 
 
 
Two-Shilling Award: 
Leslie S. Klinger 
Julia C. Rosenblatt 
Steven Rothman 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is a Two-Shilling Award?</a> 
 
The Woman: 
Debbie (Mrs. Ralph) Hall 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is The Woman honour?</a> 
 
"Stand with me here upon the terrace..." 
(as named at this Dinner, not their year of passing) 
Richard Lancelyn Green (The Three Gables, 1985) 
Others were not named in the 2005 BSJ report of the Dinner. 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the origin of “standing on the terrace?”</a> 
 
Morley-Montgomery Award: 
Constantine Rossakis, “Thaddeus Sholto: (Mis)Diagnosed” 
The Baker Street Journal v54 n1 (Spring 2004) pp. 51-53 (available in the eBSJ). 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the Morley-Montgomery Award?</a> 
 
The BSI Distinguished Speaker Lecture: 
Gahan Wilson, “Sherlock Holmes of Howard Street” 
The Baker Street Journal v55 n1 (Spring 2005) pp. 32-37 (available in the eBSJ). 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the BSI Distinguished Speaker Lecture?</a> 
 
<h4>
 Reports on the Dinner</h4>
The Baker Street Journal v55 n1 (Spring 2005) pp. 6-12 (available in the eBSJ). 
 
Blau, Peter, <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/links.html#news">Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press</a>, (January 2005): 1. 
 
List of 2005 BSI Dinner Attendees (not available at this time) 
 
 
<h4>
Recordings</h4>
A recording of portions of the 2005 BSI Dinner is available at Harvard as part of the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/archive.html">BSI Archive</a>. 
 
 
<h4>
Related Material</h4>
Meyer, Nicholas, “A Sherlockian Miscellany,” The Baker Street Journal v55 n2 (Summer 2005) pp. 6-12 (available in the eBSJ).  A version of his presentation at the 2005 BSI Dinner. 
 
Rosenblatt, Albert M., and Betsy Rosenblatt, “The Sherlockian Year In Verse: 2005,” The Baker Street Journal v55 n1 (Spring 2005): 13-14 (available in the eBSJ). The Rosenblatts’ rhyming retrospective, delivered at the January 8, 2005 Sherlockian Cocktail Reception. 
 
Previous dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/10/the-2004-bsi-dinner.html">2004 BSI Dinner</a> 
 
Next dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/12/the-2006-bsi-dinner.html">2006 BSI Dinner</a> 
 
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. 
 
 
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</a> at Harvard page. 
 
Page composed on 10/31/2016 by Tamar Zeffren 
This page last updated 11/12/2016 by Andrew Solberg.

The 2005 BSI Dinner

More than 170 BSI and invitees gathered to celebrate Sherlock Holmes’s 151st birthday. Great applause greeted Michael Whelan’s announcem...

+ Read more »

Arthur Levine Interview: Oral History Project

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh09o-Ijj0vhYNBciUGgLfzaET0LPw6T7xhUSwuzZP8TJ_WqbkK4FQYaggjBKkP_CzR2Fbl5lWAGbMAfXyj0_-vXQJAdxg55TxLyZQT7_3Y8LO511hytqqp-5ARNYMJ2Wu7MAh8-NIFAv9m/s1600/ArtLevine2000b.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Arthur Levine, BSI" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh09o-Ijj0vhYNBciUGgLfzaET0LPw6T7xhUSwuzZP8TJ_WqbkK4FQYaggjBKkP_CzR2Fbl5lWAGbMAfXyj0_-vXQJAdxg55TxLyZQT7_3Y8LO511hytqqp-5ARNYMJ2Wu7MAh8-NIFAv9m/w180-h200/ArtLevine2000b.jpg" title="Arthur Levine, BSI" width="180" /></a></div>
 
Arthur L. Levine (The Cutter Alicia, 1955) had seen Basil Rathbone’s Sherlock Holmes movies as a child. But at the age of 14, he discovered Vincent Starrett’s The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes and Ellery Queen’s The Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes.  In The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, he discovered The Baker Street Irregulars and wrote to Christopher Morley asking how to get involved.  That led to a life of Sherlockian study, activity, and camaraderie. 
 
Art was born in Cleveland, Ohio on November 23, 1929. He received his BA from Case Western Reserve and his Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University. He worked for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics in Cleveland, the agency that in 1958 became NASA. One of his tasks was recruiting astronauts, and he hired Neil Armstrong and John Glenn. In 1961, he and his family relocated to New York, where he became the first administrative head of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. He recruited the physicists whose job it was to get man to the moon. After his successful career in NASA, he left to become a full professor of Public Administration at Baruch College of the City University of New York. Having attended his first BSI Dinner in the early 1950s, he was, for many years, the BSI member with the longest institutional memory.  Art passed away in 2015. 
 
In this interview, Art recounted the past under Michael Whelan’s expert questioning, sharing wonderful memories about Edgar Smith, Rex Stout, and many others. 
 
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Interviewee: Arthur Levine 
Interviewer: Michael Whelan 
Date: January 12, 2007 
Location: New York City 
Description: MP3, 47.4 MB, 104kbps, 1 hour 
<a href="http://files.bsitrust.org/pdf/transcript/arthur-levine-interview-2007.pdf">Transcript of Arthur Levine Interview </a>(PDF) 
 
<h4>
Interview Topics</h4>
Biographical Information 
Discovery of The BSI 
Clifton R. Andrew 
Attending the Scandalous Bohemians 
Attending His First BSI Dinner 
Rex Stout 
Fletcher Pratt 
Edgar Smith 
BSI Reaction to Edgar Smith’s Passing 
Julian Wolff 
Memories of Other BSI 
Allen Robertson with a Harpoon in his Chest 
A Memorable Dispute 
Silver Blaze Races 
Isaac Asimov 
Publications in the Baker Street Journal 
Sherlockian Travels 
What The BSI Has Meant to Him 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html"> </a>
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">Explanation of BSI Honours & Other Terms</a> 
 
<h4>
Related Materials </h4><div><a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/05/the-1955-bsi-dinner.html">The 1955 BSI Dinner</a></div>Arthur Levine  received his Investiture at this BSI Dinner.<div> </div><div>Levine, Arthur L., “A Man of ‘Formidable Resourcefulness’ - An Essay in the Manner of a Footnote to History,” Baker Street Journal v4 n3 (July 1954) 169-173 (available in the eBSJ). 
 
Levine, Arthur L., “Lowenstein’s Other Creeper,” Baker Street Journal v6 n1 (January 1956) 30-34 (available in the eBSJ). 
 
Levine, Arthur L., “The Books Are In Need Of An Audit,” Baker Street Journal v8 n1 (January 1958) 36-40 (available in the eBSJ). 
 
 
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. 
 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/search/label/Audio+Oral%20History">Interviews recently added online</a> (sorted by when recording was posted online) 
 
 Material in the BSI Archive 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" style="text-align: center;">BSI Archive</a> page. 
 
Page composed on 8/14/16 by Andrew Solberg. Page updated 10/15/16 by Andrew Solberg.</div><div>This page last updated 6/16/21 by Randall Stock. 
 
 </div>

Arthur Levine Interview: Oral History Project

Arthur L. Levine (The Cutter Alicia, 1955) had seen Basil Rathbone’s Sherlock Holmes movies as a child. But at the age of 14, he discover...

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The 2004 BSI Dinner

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO7kclYERcSJ1oM4izf5YIsB5l7b19I9obRfXaNZC946E59BbY4Fd4BJCI1jlkw089kMjm7dscKBs5dWpZG8axntWLKMGd-TC2vs-UqMGhBNQ8KEHTh5g1mZhOHpTx1VE6oDBJa6AwfKTH/s1600/bsi-dinner-2004-v1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The 2004 BSI Dinner group photo" border="0" height="534" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO7kclYERcSJ1oM4izf5YIsB5l7b19I9obRfXaNZC946E59BbY4Fd4BJCI1jlkw089kMjm7dscKBs5dWpZG8axntWLKMGd-TC2vs-UqMGhBNQ8KEHTh5g1mZhOHpTx1VE6oDBJa6AwfKTH/s640/bsi-dinner-2004-v1.jpg" title="Click this 2004 BSI Dinner photo to see a larger version" width="640" /></a></div>
 
At Sherlock Holmes’s birthday sesquicentennial, “all was cocktails and conviviality as the Irregulars and their guests made merry.”  Wiggins announced the creation of The Baker Street Irregulars Archives at the Houghton Library at Harvard University and of its governing body, The BSI Trust. 
 
The Buy-Laws were read by William Vande Water.  Thomas Dandrew gave the toast to Mrs. Hudson. Susan Z. Diamond toasted Mycroft.  William Dorn led the attendees to raise our glasses to Watson's second wife. Dr. Gerald Wachs toasted Sherlock Holmes.  Andrew Solberg led the responsive reading of the Musgrave Ritual. 
 
Post-prandial speeches included Michael Dirda’s observation that, owing to the relatively few facts in circulation outside the Canon about Holmes’s life, some folks go so far as to question his existence. Dirda took solace from the evening's gathering. "The presence of those here tonight is proof of Sherlock Holmes's existence.”  Paul Singleton and Sarah Montague Joffe portrayed Sherlock's long-suffering parents, with Andrew Joffe as their perplexed physician (Dr. Sacker), offering a glimpse into the unusual family life with baby Sherlock.  Also featured were Thierry Saint-Joanis as a gift-giving Grandmère Vernet, and John Baesch, who proved that Mycroft could be a jealous big brother. 
 
William Hyder offered a preview of the latest BSI publication. A musical birthday tribute came from Henry Boote and Bruce Montgomery, who sang: "We Always Mention Old Sherlock.” Ray Betzner offered a toast to Old Irregular Edward J. Van Liere. 
 
Martha McCormack was toasted as <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">The Woman</a>. Seven Irregulars received their Shilling.  Paul D. Herbert was honored with <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">The Two-Shilling Award</a>.  Peter Blau was gifted a most amazing relic: Dr. Watson's campaign writing desk! Restored from hard usage in Afghanistan, it bears a new plaque which reads, in part: "With Grateful Appreciation of The Many Contributions As Society Secretary, Sherlockian Ambassador, And Record Keeper Extraordinaire." 
 
Sherry Rose-Bond closed the evening with Beverly Wolov's poem, "The Woman." 
 
At the next day’s Sherlockian Cocktail Reception at the National Arts Club, Judge Albert Rosenblatt and his daughter, Betsy Rosenblatt, once again performed their remarkable summation in verse of the previous year and of the Festivities. 
 
Dinner Details: January 16, 2004 
Union League Club, New York 
 
<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. 
 
Key to People in the 2004 BSI Dinner photo (not available at this time) 
 
 
<h4>
BSI Honours List</h4>
Investitures: 
Gideon D. Hill as Jack Prendergast 
Francine Kitts as Lady Hilda Trelawney Hope 
Nicholas Meyer as A Fine Morocco Case 
Bernard Oudin as Our French Gold 
Michael Ross as Von Bork 
Constantine Rossakis as St. Bartholomew's Hospital 
Doug Wrigglesworth as The Retired Colourman 
* received Investiture at another event during the year 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is an Investiture?</a> 
 
 
Two-Shilling Award: 
Paul D. Herbert 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is a Two-Shilling Award?</a> 
 
The Woman: 
Martha (Mrs. George) McCormack 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is The Woman honour?</a> 
 
"Stand with me here upon the terrace..." 
(as named at this Dinner, not their year of passing) 
Not named in the 2004 BSJ report of the Dinner. 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the origin of “standing on the terrace?”</a> 
 
Morley-Montgomery Award: 
Donald K. Pollock & Andrew Solberg, writing under the pseudonym Dr. D K Andrews, M.D, “‘The Case of ‘J’: A Psychoanalytic Case Study with Particular Attention to ‘Marriage Neurosis’” 
The Baker Street Journal v53 n3 (Autumn 2003): 25-34 (available in the eBSJ). 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the Morley-Montgomery Award?</a> 
 
The BSI Distinguished Speaker Lecture: 
John Berendt, “Sherlock Holmes Does Venice” 
The Baker Street Journal v54 n2 (Summer 2004): 6-14 (available in the eBSJ). 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the BSI Distinguished Speaker Lecture?</a> 
 
 
<h4>
Reports on the Dinner</h4>
The Baker Street Journal v54 n1 (Spring 2004) pp. 6-11 (available in the eBSJ). 
 
Blau, Peter, <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/links.html#news">Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press</a>, (January 2004): 1. 
 
List of 2004 BSI Dinner Attendees (not available at this time) 
 
 
<h4>
Recordings</h4>
The <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/archive.html">BSI Archive</a> does not have a recording of the 2004 BSI Dinner at this time.  If you have one or know where one exists, please contact the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/contact.html">Chair of the Trust</a>. 
 
 
<h4>
Related Material</h4>
Rosenblatt, Albert M., and Betsy Rosenblatt, “The Sherlockian Year In Verse: 2004,” The Baker Street Journal v54 n1 (Spring 2004): 11-13 (available in the eBSJ). The Rosenblatts’ rhyming retrospective, delivered at the January 17, 2004 Sherlockian Cocktail Reception. 
 
Previous dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/10/the-2003-bsi-dinner.html">2003 BSI Dinner</a> 
 
Next dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/11/the-2005-bsi-dinner.html">2005 BSI Dinner</a> 
 
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. 
 
 
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. 
 
Page composed on 10/13/2016 by Tamar Zeffren 
This page last updated 10/15/2016 by Andrew Solberg. 
 
<div>
 </div>

The 2004 BSI Dinner

At Sherlock Holmes’s birthday sesquicentennial, “all was cocktails and conviviality as the Irregulars and their guests made merry.” Wigg...

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The 2003 BSI Dinner

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA3ErMv9RMBMIjf98bjGxf28rnkkMihEn7pe05T72Z2fXsuxxmx_E8kAjY8cXNTpdTHa9muz1sTGCjgsuITz9R8qtqASnM5CWkO7G5VfGL_Yfs6RzUIGGe_IVnJsJlNqWyEMP1As6kqle4/s1600/bsi-dinner-2003-v1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The 2003 BSI Dinner group photo" border="0" height="526" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA3ErMv9RMBMIjf98bjGxf28rnkkMihEn7pe05T72Z2fXsuxxmx_E8kAjY8cXNTpdTHa9muz1sTGCjgsuITz9R8qtqASnM5CWkO7G5VfGL_Yfs6RzUIGGe_IVnJsJlNqWyEMP1As6kqle4/s640/bsi-dinner-2003-v1.jpg" title="Click this 2003 BSI Dinner photo to see a larger version" width="640" /></a></div>
 
At the beginning of the celebration of the 149th birthday of Sherlock Holmes, Wiggins welcomed several noteworthy attendees to the dinner, including Janet Hutchings, editor of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. 
 
The Buy-Laws were read by Joseph Coppola.  Mark Gagen gave the toast to Mrs. Hudson.  Richard Sveum had us "stand or sit and salute Sherlock's sibling," Mycroft.  Julie McKuras raised her glass to Watson's second wife. Bill Vande Water toasted Howard Haycraft, who, among his many accomplishments, holds the distinction as the only Irregular to have a work appear in a Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce feature. Haycraft’s book Murder for Pleasure: The Life and Times of the Detective Story is visible on the shelves in The House of Fear (1945). 
 
W. Scott Monty toasted Sherlock Holmes, surprising all with his singing of a rewritten Frank Sinatra tune, renamed "What Sherlock Holmes Means to Me," accompanied by Henry Boote. Ely Liebow recited the Musgrave Ritual—in Yiddish! 
 
Bill Hyder chose to believe that Holmes did travel to Tibet and Mecca, and he reported on what everyone else was doing while Holmes was away. Philip Shreffler and Mary Ellen Rich enacted Holmes' dealings with a thoroughly confused travel agent arranging his itinerary for the Great Hiatus.  Marilynne McKay explained the Great Hiatus through the contents of diaries and letters of women, most likely Adventuresses.  Though Dorothy L. Sayers was the first to use the term "the game" for the study of Sherlock Holmes, Marina Stajic and Paul Singleton showed us what would have happened if Christopher Morley had called a game manufacturer.  Iry Kamil resumed the difficult job of Standing upon the Terrace and remembering those whom we have lost. 
 
Janice Fisher was fêted as <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">The Woman</a>. Six stalwart Irregulars received their Shillings. <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">The Two-Shilling Award</a> was presented to Donald E. Novorsky. 
 
Bob Thomalen delivered Bill Schwiekert's poem <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/06/robert-thomalen-interview-oral-history.html">"A Long Evening with Holmes,"</a> with corrected verses, at the evening’s close. 
 
At the next day’s Sherlockian Cocktail Reception, Janice Fisher introduced <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">The Women</a>, her predecessors who were in attendance.  Judge Albert Rosenblatt and his daughter Betsy Rosenblatt, once again, performed their remarkable summation of the previous year and of the Festivities in verse. 
 
Dinner Details: January 10, 2003 
Union League Club, New York 
 
<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. 
 
Key to People in the 2003 BSI Dinner photo (not available at this time) 
 
 
<h4>
BSI Honours List</h4>
Investitures: 
Ed Christenson as Antonio 
Joseph A. Coppola as The Stranger's Room 
David Greeney as Uncle Ned 
Alexian A. Gregory as The Grimpen Postmaster 
Mia Stampe Lagergaard as The Dynamics of an Asteroid 
Susan Vizoskie as Mrs. Saunders 
* received Investiture at another event during the year 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is an Investiture?</a> 
 
 
Two-Shilling Award: 
Donald E. Novorsky 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is a Two-Shilling Award?</a> 
 
The Woman: 
Janice Fisher 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is The Woman honour?</a> 
 
"Stand with me here upon the terrace..." 
(as named at this Dinner, not their year of passing) 
Kenton A. Johnson (A Remarkable Invention, 1981) 
Frederick C. Page (The Arcadia Mixture, 1990) 
Geoffrey S. Stavert (The Shingle of Southsea, 1994) 
Eve Titus (Young Master Rucastle, 1993) 
Don Werby (Old Abrahams, 1986) 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the origin of “standing on the terrace?”</a> 
 
Morley-Montgomery Award: 
Robert S. Schultz, "Upon the Dating of Blood Stains" 
The Baker Street Journal v52 n4 (Winter 2002): 34-40 (available in the eBSJ) 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the Morley-Montgomery Award?</a> 
 
The BSI Distinguished Speaker Lecture: 
Douglas G. Greene, “The Only Women: The Female Sleuth in Fiction” 
The Baker Street Journal v53 n2 (Summer 2003): 6-13 (available in the eBSJ). 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the BSI Distinguished Speaker Lecture?</a> 
 
 
<h4>
Reports on the Dinner</h4>
The Baker Street Journal v53 n1 (Spring 2003): 5-10 (available in the eBSJ). 
 
Blau, Peter, <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/links.html#news">Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press</a>, (January 2003): 1. 
 
List of 2003 BSI Dinner Attendees (not available at this time) 
 
 
<h4>
Recordings</h4>
The <a href="https://www.blogger.com/">BSI Archive </a>does not have a recording of the 2003 BSI Dinner at this time.  If you have one or know where one exists, please contact the<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/contact.html"> Chair of the Trust</a>. 
 
 
<h4>
Related Material</h4>
Rosenblatt, Albert M., and Betsy Rosenblatt, “The Sherlockian Year In Verse: 2003,” The Baker Street Journal v53 n1 (Spring 2003): 11-12 (available in the eBSJ). The Rosenblatts’ rhyming retrospective, delivered at the January 11, 2003 Sherlockian Cocktail Reception. 
 
Previous dinner: the<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/10/the-2002-bsi-dinner.html"> 2002 BSI Dinner</a> 
 
Next dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/10/the-2004-bsi-dinner.html">2004 BSI Dinner</a> 
 
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. 
 
 
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. 
 
Page composed on 10/5/2016 by Tamar Zeffren 
This page last updated 10/8/2016 by Andrew Solberg.

The 2003 BSI Dinner

At the beginning of the celebration of the 149th birthday of Sherlock Holmes, Wiggins welcomed several noteworthy attendees to the dinner...

+ Read more »

The 2002 BSI Dinner

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh83hwtjdkATv8lHCLIXZLGUT8tXNvMfiBa3M54UogLMQGsAQ2kF8tx0t6KoxgShCGFA_FHFRHDZ58g6VQNURqg-PWsBWH6SKNvWLCYlkp13gfQ-BXhN9hCGJIQk4568KCDmOlsYZP69Xy/s1600/bsi-dinner-2002-v1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The 2002 BSI Dinner group photo" border="0" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh83hwtjdkATv8lHCLIXZLGUT8tXNvMfiBa3M54UogLMQGsAQ2kF8tx0t6KoxgShCGFA_FHFRHDZ58g6VQNURqg-PWsBWH6SKNvWLCYlkp13gfQ-BXhN9hCGJIQk4568KCDmOlsYZP69Xy/s640/bsi-dinner-2002-v1.jpg" title="Click this 2002 BSI Dinner photo to see a larger version" width="640" /></a></div>
 
An inescapable guest at the 148th anniversary of the Master’s birth in New York was the somber memory and resonance of the September 11, 2001 attacks. The BSJ’s account movingly notes: 
 
The Baker Street Irregulars reaffirmed the ties of Sherlockians around the globe, a welcome opportunity in the wake of the tragic events of the past few months. At the start of the program, Mike Whelan pointed out a symbol of this shared sense of unity—a small stand adorned with the flags of the nations represented in the room that night. 
 
The dinner’s theme, a celebration of international Sherlockians, could not be more fitting. Such attendees were well-represented in the various rituals and rites, from the rendition of the Buy-Laws by Mia Stampe from Copenhagen, the toast to Dr. Watson's Second Wife by Jean Upton of England, the delivery of the Musgrave Ritual, in Italian(!) by Enrico Solito of Italy, a toast to old Irregular Lord Donegall by Catherine Cooke of England, the toast to Mrs. Hudson by Douglas Elliott of Australia, the toast to Mycroft Holmes by Yuichi Hirayama of Japan, and the toast to Sherlock Holmes by David Stuart Davies of England. Michael Ross reported on the history of Holmesian activity in Germany. Hartley Nathan spoke of the Bootmakers of Toronto. The history of Sherlock Holmes in Japan was given by Masamichi Higurashi. Roger 
Johnson spoke of Anthony Howlett, the Festival of Britain, and the advent of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London. 
 
Jon Lellenberg was honored with the “Silver Penguin Award”—an engraved silver-plated penguin shaped cocktail shaker, its origins shrouded, perhaps, in myth—in appreciation of his editorship of the BSI’s History Series. 
 
Joyce (Mrs. James B.) Saunders was heralded as <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">The Woman</a>. A sizable class of ten Irregulars received a Shilling. The <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">Two-Shilling Award</a> was presented to Susan Rice. 
 
The evening ended with Philip Brogdon's moving recitation of Vincent Starrett's "221B." 
 
At the next day’s Sherlockian Cocktail Reception, Donald Yates presented a paper offering a closely reasoned alternative reading of The Hound of the Baskervilles in honor of what has come to be known as the Year of the Hound.  Judge Albert Rosenblatt and his daughter Betsy Rosenblatt, once again performed their remarkable summation of the previous year and of the Festivities in verse. 
 
Dinner Details: January 11, 2002 
Union League Club, New York 
 
<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. 
 
Key to People in the 2002 BSI Dinner photo (not available at this time) 
 
 
<h4>
BSI Honours List</h4>
Investitures: 
Pasquale Accardo as Gorgiano of the Red Circle 
Henry W. Boote as Meyers, Toronto 
Mary Campbell as Brenda Tregennis 
Michael Dirda as Langdale Pike 
Mark Gagen as Sir James Damery 
Marilynne McKay as Violet de Merville 
Christopher Roden as Sir Henry Baskerville 
Robert S. Schultz as The Gloria Scott 
Enrico Solito as Gennaro Lucca 
Richard J. Sveum as Dr. Hill Barton 
* received Investiture at another event during the year 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is an Investiture?</a> 
 
 
Two-Shilling Award: 
Susan Rice 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is a Two-Shilling Award?</a> 
 
The Woman: 
Joyce Saunders 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is The Woman honour?</a> 
 
"Stand with me here upon the terrace..." 
(as named at this Dinner, not their year of passing) 
Dee Alexander, the second of Edgar Smith's secretaries at GM, and the first Secretary General of the BSI, Inc. 
Poul Anderson (The Dreadful Abernetty Business, 1960) 
Wayne B. Swift (The Giant Rat of Sumatra, 1978) 
Bill Ward (Major Prendergast, 1984) 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the origin of “standing on the terrace?”</a> 
 
Morley-Montgomery Award: 
Thomas Cynkin, "James Watson, M.D." 
The Baker Street Journal v51 n4 (Winter 2001) pp. 25-29 (available in the eBSJ). 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the Morley-Montgomery Award?</a> 
 
The BSI Distinguished Speaker Lecture: 
Bert Coules, “Making a Drama Out of a Canon” 
The Baker Street Journal v52 n3 (Autumn 2002) pp. 5-14 (available in the eBSJ). 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the BSI Distinguished Speaker Lecture?</a> 
 
 
<h4>
Reports on the Dinner</h4>
The Baker Street Journal v52 n1 (Spring 2002): 5-10 (available in the eBSJ). 
 
Blau, Peter, <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/links.html#news">Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press</a>, (January 2002): 1. 
 
List of 2002 BSI Dinner Attendees (not available at this time) 
 
 
<h4>
Recordings</h4>
A recording of portions of the 2002 BSI Dinner is available at Harvard as part of the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/archive.html">BSI Archive</a>. 
 
 
<h4>
Related Material</h4>
Rosenblatt, Albert M., and Betsy Rosenblatt, “The Sherlockian Year In Verse: 2002,” The Baker Street Journal v52 n1 (Spring 2002): 11-13 (available in the eBSJ)  The Rosenblatts’ rhyming retrospective, delivered at the January 12, 2002 Sherlockian Cocktail Reception. 
 
Previous dinner: the<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/09/the-2001-bsi-dinner.html"> 2001 BSI Dinner</a> 
 
Next dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/10/the-2003-bsi-dinner.html">2003 BSI Dinner</a> 
 
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. 
 
 
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. 
 
Page composed on 9/26/2016 by Tamar Zeffren 
This page last updated 10/1/2016 by Andrew Solberg.

The 2002 BSI Dinner

An inescapable guest at the 148th anniversary of the Master’s birth in New York was the somber memory and resonance of the September 11, ...

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The 2001 BSI Dinner

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtkNwvQR_Q9cYd1n7ufChQbf4ThHzPQC-ROvJ5BmOXnhWiQrjvxTvO5RVuEc799yDWelTi9Gt04d6XJ2NRw16c0uuSF55_jt9LGco29qKRFjq6F9najyb3933WanhUBkStmeZePVGxnvpP/s1600/bsi-dinner-2001-v1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The 2001 BSI Dinner group photo" border="0" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtkNwvQR_Q9cYd1n7ufChQbf4ThHzPQC-ROvJ5BmOXnhWiQrjvxTvO5RVuEc799yDWelTi9Gt04d6XJ2NRw16c0uuSF55_jt9LGco29qKRFjq6F9najyb3933WanhUBkStmeZePVGxnvpP/s640/bsi-dinner-2001-v1.jpg" title="Click this 2001 BSI Dinner photo to see a larger version" width="640" /></a></div>
 
“Were we celebrating the arrival of 1901 or 2001?” So opens the Baker Street Journal’s recap of the festivities commemorating Sherlock Holmes’ 147th Birthday, where “the last gasps of the Victorian and Clintonian eras merged.” 
 
Steven Doyle read our Constitution and Buy-Laws.  The evening’s toasts included a homage to Old Irregular Elmer Davis, ably proffered by Jon Lellenberg. This accolade included a radio broadcast by Davis describing Hitler’s invasion of Poland.  Jerry Margolin toasted Mrs. Hudson, while Don Curtis toasted Mycroft Holmes. Peter Crupe toasted Watson's Second Wife's willingness to allow her husband to continue his adventures with Holmes. George McCormick spoke of other seconds in the Canon. (George was recognized for attending his 43rd consecutive annual dinner.)  William Hyder offered a valuable admonition to those who dare to claim that Holmes was not real.  Andrew Fusco reminded us of the qualities that made Irregulars like Nathan Bengis so memorable. 
 
Tributes continued throughout the evening, with Andrew Joffe, Mary Ellen Rich, and Paul Singleton, ably accompanied by Henry Boote, praising the Three Irregulars (Eddy the Button, Julie the Wolf, and Tommy the Stick) in music hall-like songs.  The presentations ended with Shirley Purvis defending the Hound of the Baskervilles as an innocent dog.  Irving Kamil performed the annual "<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">On the Terrace</a>" ceremony (recognizing those who passed beyond the Reichenbach the previous year) which he had been doing since 1997 and would continue to do through 2009. 
 
Sharon (Mrs. Donald E.) Novorsky was heralded as <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">The Woman</a>. Seven Irregulars received their Shillings. The <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">Two-Shilling Award </a>was presented to Donald K. Pollock for his tireless efforts as former editor of the esteemed BSJ. 
 
At the next day’s Sherlockian Cocktail Reception, Judge Albert Rosenblatt, for the first time, enlisted the collaboration of his daughter Betsy Rosenblatt, and, together, they performed their remarkable summation of the previous year and of the Festivities in verse. 
 
Dinner Details January 5, 2001 
Union League Club, New York 
 
<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. 
 
Key to People in the 2001 BSI Dinner photo (not available at this time) 
 
 
<h4>
BSI Honours List</h4>
Investitures: 
Charles Foley as Marlow Bates 
Marcus Geisser as Rosenlaui 
Julie A. McKuras as The Duchess of Devonshire 
W. Scott Monty II as Corporal Henry Wood 
Lloyd Rose as George Sand 
Andrew L. Solberg as Professor Coram 
Daniel Stashower as Thurston 
* received Investiture at another event during the year 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is an Investiture?</a> 
 
 
Two-Shilling Award: 
Donald K. Pollock 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is a Two-Shilling Award?</a> 
 
The Woman:  
Sharon Novorsky 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is The Woman honour?</a> 
 
"Stand with me here upon the terrace..." 
(as named at this Dinner, not their year of passing) 
Alan Addlestone (The Addleton Tragedy, 1985) 
Katherine McMahon (Lucy Ferrier, 1991) 
William R. Michell (The Rock of Gibraltar, 1985) 
E. W. McDiarmid (The Bruce-Partington Plans, 1957) 
Cameron Hollyer (The Three Students, 1978) 
Don Hardenbrook (Huret, the Boulevard Assassin, 1955) 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the origin of “standing on the terrace?”</a> 
 
Morley-Montgomery Award: 
Vizoskie, Ben, "Who Wrote the American Chapters of A Study In Scarlet?" 
The Baker Street Journal v50 n2 (Summer 2000): 29-36 (available in the eBSJ) 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the Morley-Montgomery Award?</a> 
 
The BSI Distinguished Speaker Lecture: 
Madeleine Stern, "Sherlock Holmes, Bibliophile: Reconstructing Sherlock Holmes’s Library" 
The Baker Street Journal v51 n2 (Summer 2001): 5-12 (available in the eBSJ). 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the BSI Distinguished Speaker Lecture?</a> 
 
 
<h4>
Reports on the Dinner</h4>
The Baker Street Journal v51 n1 (Spring 2001): 5-10 (available in the eBSJ). 
 
Blau, Peter, <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/links.html#news">Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press</a>, (January 2001): 1-2. 
 
List of 2001 BSI Dinner Attendees (not available at this time) 
 
<h4>
 Recordings</h4>
A recording of portions of the 2001 BSI Dinner is available at Harvard as part of the<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/archive.html"> BSI Archive</a>. 
 
 
<h4>
Related Material</h4>
Rosenblatt, Albert M., and Betsy Rosenblatt, “The Sherlockian Year In Verse: 2001,” The Baker Street Journal v51 n1 (Spring 2001): 11-13 (available in the eBSJ)  The Rosenblatts’ rhyming retrospective, delivered at the January 6, 2001 Sherlockian Cocktail Reception. 
 
Previous dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/08/the-2000-bsi-dinner.html">2000 BSI Dinner</a> 
 
Next dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/10/the-2002-bsi-dinner.html">2002 BSI Dinner</a> 
 
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. 
 
 
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. 
 
Page composed on 9/8/2016 by Tamar Zeffren 
This page last updated 9/17/2016 by Andrew Solberg.

The 2001 BSI Dinner

“Were we celebrating the arrival of 1901 or 2001?” So opens the Baker Street Journal’s recap of the festivities commemorating Sherlock H...

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The 2000 BSI Dinner

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd_hI277g8JsZQ1ybwVTCQ8NZGzC_9Yk1ae-RJlTNLcO1Ffe-gOYda1hNclWZAmjAcjYS_GOS1veaXH9LCEjU7hji7cWuzewMmrNPfWenEv14P0c5fLSbY3wFsONy28agyuHoBxOaLA4_e/s1600/bsi-dinner-2000-v1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The 2000 BSI Dinner group photo" border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd_hI277g8JsZQ1ybwVTCQ8NZGzC_9Yk1ae-RJlTNLcO1Ffe-gOYda1hNclWZAmjAcjYS_GOS1veaXH9LCEjU7hji7cWuzewMmrNPfWenEv14P0c5fLSbY3wFsONy28agyuHoBxOaLA4_e/s640/bsi-dinner-2000-v1.jpg" title="Click this 2000 BSI Dinner photo to see a larger version" width="640" /></a></div>
 
Sherlock Holmes’s 146th Birthday and the BSI’s 66th anniversary were commemorated in “thoroughly enjoyable” fashion. Wiggins (Michael Whelan) noted that, to honor of this BSI milestone, the evening’s menu was the same(!) as at the inaugural 1934 dinner. He then thanked the many on whom he relies, especially Don Pollock for his stewardship of the Baker Street Journal, and announced that Steven Rothman would be succeeding Don as Editor. 
 
Wiggins gave special acknowledgment to the two Sherlock Holmeses in attendance that evening - <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/05/douglas-wilmer-interview-oral-history.html">Douglas Wilmer</a> (the portrayer of Holmes on BBC television in the 1960s) and Roger Llewellyn, who was to impersonate the Master on stage the next evening.  The esteemed attendees also included four people who have been Irregulars for forty years or more—Poul Anderson (40), Peter Blau (41), David Weiss (42), and Art Levine (44). At the dinner were representatives from the United States, Canada, England, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Japan, and Australia. 
 
Wayne Swift read the BSI Constitution and Buy-Laws. An excellent range of toasts followed, including Leslie Klinger’s toast to Holmes’ individuality, his single-mindedness, and drive to do the right thing. Paul Smedegaard’s toast to Mrs. Hudson, Kate Karlson’s toast to Mycroft, Gordon Speck’s toast to Watson’s Second Wife, and Bob Coghill’s toast to the great Sherlockian Tupper Bigelow.  Ralph Hall read the Musgrave Ritual.  “The Master Over Three Centuries” began with Bernard Davies speaking of the 1800s and how the century changed. Julie Rosenblatt described the 20th century as the century of Sherlock Holmes. Poul Anderson spoke of the future, saying that Holmes will endure. 
 
Other presentations were in the form of a medical panel, chaired by Robert Katz, MD, who talked about Professor Moriarty.  Richard Caplan, M.D., stated that “The Adventure of the Creeping Man” boiled down to sex. Marina Stajic, M.D., discussed the death of Enoch Drebber.  Paul Martin, M.D., discussed the aneurysm from which Jefferson Hope suffered.  Then, Evelyn Herzog and Ray Betzner proposed a new Constitution for the BSI.  However, Andrew Fusco replied that the existing Constitution has no provisions for amendment; therefore, a convention of the original drafters would be required to change it. Paul Herbert read the Vincent Starrett poem “221B.” 
 
Eleanor O’Connor was heralded as <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">The Woman</a> and received, in due tribute, a Golden Door inscribed with “221B.” Eight Irregulars received their Shillings. The Two Shilling Award was presented to Scott Bond. 
 
At the next day’s Sherlockian Cocktail Reception, Certificates were distributed to those Sherlockians who had attended this year’s trifecta of dinners of the Sherlock Holmes Society of Denmark, the Sherlock Holmes Society of London, and the BSI. Judge Albert Rosenblatt performed his annually remarkable summation of the Festivities in verse. 
 
Dinner Details January 14, 2000 
Union League Club, New York 
 
<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. 
 
Key to People in the 2000 BSI Dinner photo (not available at this time) 
 
 
<h4>
BSI Honours List </h4>
Investitures: 
Karen Anderson as Emilia Lucca 
Donald E. Curtis as Jabez Wilson 
Douglas Elliott as Canadian Pacific Railway 
Anders Hammarqvist as Jacob Shafter 
C. Frederick Kittle as Jack Stapleton 
Michael A. Meer as The Englischer Hof 
Jean Upton as Elsie Cubitt 
Ben Vizoskie as Alexander Hamilton Garrideb 
Douglas Wilmer as The Lyceum Theatre 
* received Investiture at another event during the year 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is an Investiture?</a> 
 
 
Two-Shilling Award: 
Scott Bond 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is a Two-Shilling Award?</a> 
 
The Woman: 
Eleanor O’Connor 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is The Woman honour?</a> 
 
"Stand with me here upon the terrace..." 
(as named at this Dinner, not their year of passing) 
John D. Clark (The Politician, the Lighthouse, and the Trained Cormorant, 1965) 
Herman Herst (Colonel Emsworth, V.C., 1968) 
Ezra A. Wolff (Sir James Damery, 1971) 
Robert W. Hahn  (Colonel Ross, 1963) 
Alvin E. Rodin (Palmer, 1989) 
Rex Pinson (Inspector G. Lestrade, 1973) 
Richard B. Shull (An Actor and a Rare One, 1986) 
Alan Addlestone (The Addleton Tragedy, 1985) 
Norman S. Nolan (Godfrey Norton, 1972) 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the origin of “standing on the terrace?”</a> 
 
Morley-Montgomery Award: 
S.E. Dahlinger, "The Sherlock Holmes We Never Knew" 
The Baker Street Journal v49 n3 (September 1999) pp.7-27 (available in the eBSJ) 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the Morley-Montgomery Award?</a> 
 
The BSI Distinguished Speaker Lecture: 
Michael Dirda, "On Glancing Over My Notes: Some Reflections on Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars" 
The Baker Street Journal v50 n2 (Summer 2000) pp. 6-17 (available in the eBSJ) 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the BSI Distinguished Speaker Lecture?</a> 
 
 
<h4>
Reports on the Dinner</h4>
The Baker Street Journal v50 n1 (Spring 2000) pp. 6-14 (available in the eBSJ). 
 
Blau, Peter, <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/links.html#news">Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press</a>, (January 2000), 1. 
 
List of 2000 BSI Dinner Attendees (not available at this time) 
 
 
<h4>
Recordings</h4>
A recording of portions of the 2000 BSI Dinner is available at Harvard as part of the<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/archive.html"> BSI Archive</a>. 
 
 
<h4>
Related Material</h4>
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:16162476?n=194">2000 BSI Dinner Menu</a> (digitized images at Harvard) 
Two pages. Cover and interior. Sequence 194-195. 
 
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:16162476?n=196">The Musgrave Ritual and We Never Mention Aunt Clara </a>(digitized images at Harvard) 
The Musgrave Ritual in both English and Italian. Also, the words to the song “We Never Mention Aunt Clara.” Distributed at the 2000 BSI Dinner. 
Two pages. Cover and interior. Sequence 196-197. 
 
Karlson, Kate. <a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:16162476?n=198">“BSI Toast to Mycroft”</a> (digitized images at Harvard) 
One page. Sequence 198. 
 
Rosenblatt, Albert M., “The Sherlockian Year (And Millennium) In Verse: Baker Street Irregulars, January 15, 2000,” The Baker Street Journal v50 n1 (Spring 2000) pp. 9-11 (available in the eBSJ)  Judge Rosenblatt’s rhyming retrospective, delivered at the January 15, 2000 Sherlockian Cocktail Reception. 
 
Dirda, Michael, “<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPcap/2000-02/06/037r-020600-idx.html">Excursions</a>,” The Washington Post (February 6, 2000): P. X15 
Michael Dirda, Pulitzer Prize winning Literary Critic at the Washington Post, wrote about his experience at the 2000 BSI Weekend. 
<div>
 </div>
Previous dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/08/the-1999-bsi-dinner.html">1999 BSI Dinner</a> 
 
Next dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/09/the-2001-bsi-dinner.html">2001 BSI Dinner</a> 
 
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 list</a>. 
 
 
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. 
 
Page composed on 8/14/2016 by Tamar Zeffren Page updated 8/29/2016 by Andrew Solberg.<div>This page last updated 5/1/24 by Randall Stock. 
 
 </div>

The 2000 BSI Dinner

Sherlock Holmes’s 146th Birthday and the BSI’s 66th anniversary were commemorated in “thoroughly enjoyable” fashion. Wiggins (Michael Whe...

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The 1999 BSI Dinner

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFgLUG0AJUXcDdyPrfLrmIaRKp1YDVGv88NAQTmcFtKeMrqx0TAmEaTF4FP0Suw9LG6CG99DBsAJHaTJWgNpHLROTxc6PvrQp47pUe04zw3xldMtGFh00UGn-QZQnuVz2_LZC57FbDWKlc/s1600/bsi-dinner-1999-v1.jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The 1999 BSI Dinner group photo" border="0" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFgLUG0AJUXcDdyPrfLrmIaRKp1YDVGv88NAQTmcFtKeMrqx0TAmEaTF4FP0Suw9LG6CG99DBsAJHaTJWgNpHLROTxc6PvrQp47pUe04zw3xldMtGFh00UGn-QZQnuVz2_LZC57FbDWKlc/s640/bsi-dinner-1999-v1.jpg.jpg" title="Click this 1999 BSI Dinner photo to see a larger version" width="640" /></a></div>
 
The Dinner celebrating the 145th anniversary of the Master’s birth began with the “surprise presence of New York Governor George Pataki,” who was greeted with effusive applause. He had recently appointed Albert Rosenblatt to the Court of Appeals and had presided over Judge Rosenblatt’s swearing-in ceremony. Governor Pataki was the first state governor to attend a BSI annual dinner, though it was noted that New York Governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt had been a Sherlockian and had gone on to serve as President of the United States. Peter Blau’s account of the Dinner (see Reports on the Dinner) notes that “the governor did not seize the opportunity to announce his future plans.” 
 
The Buy-Laws were read by Kenneth Lanza. Toasts: to Mrs. Hudson by Harold Niver; to Mycroft by Tom Francis; to Watson’s Second Wife by Steven Rothman; and to Sherlock Holmes by Michael Kean.  Daniel Posnansky toasted two Old Irregulars James Keddie (both père et fils). Shirley Purves led the recitation of the Musgrave Ritual. George Fletcher and Jon Lellenberg traced the history of BSI dinner venues; John Linsenmeyer offered a new supposition on Charles Augustus Milverton as “victim” of unfortunate ladies who caught his attention. 
 
A lively debate on the favorite and least favored stories in the Canon was moderated by Judge Albert Rosenblatt.  The debaters included George McCormick, Susan Rice, David Stuart Davies, and Andrew Fusco. Robert Katz gave a stirring remembrance of Tom Stix, who had passed away the previous year.  Tom had led the BSI for eleven years, taking over from Julian Wolff just after the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/03/the-1986-bsi-dinner.html">1986 BSI Dinner</a> and announcing his retirement at the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/07/the-1997-bsi-dinner.html">1997 BSI Dinner</a>. 
 
Deborah Fusco was honored as <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">The Woman</a>. Five Irregulars received their Shilling. 
 
At the next day’s Sherlockian Cocktail Reception, Jon Lellenberg received the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">Morley-Montgomery Award</a> for his Baker Street Journal Christmas Annual on “’Entertainment and Fantasy': The 1940 BSI Dinner.”  Beverly Wolov read a poem in honor of “The Woman.” Jay and Trish Pearlman displayed their miniature reproduction of the sitting room at 221B.  Judge Albert Rosenblatt presented his now traditional and always creative poetic account of the BSI Dinner, the Sherlockian Weekend, and the Sherlockian Year. 
 
Dinner Details: January 8, 1999 
Union League Club, New York 
 
<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. 
 
Key to People in the 1999 BSI Dinner photo (not available at this time) 
 
<h4>
 BSI Honours List</h4>
Investitures: 
William Dorn as The Newgate Calendar 
H. Paul Jeffers as Wilson Hargreave 
June L. Kinnee as Miss Hatty Doran 
Leslie S. Klinger as The Abbey Grange 
Marilyn MacGregor as V.V. 341 
* received Investiture at another event during the year 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is an Investiture?</a> 
 
 
Two-Shilling Award: 
The Two-Shilling Award was not given in 1999. 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is a Two-Shilling Award?</a> 
 
The Woman: 
Deborah Fusco 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is The Woman honour?</a> 
 
"Stand with me here upon the terrace..." 
(as named at this Dinner, not their year of passing) 
William Berner (Aloysius Doran, Esq., of San Francisco, Cal., 1983) 
Elic Denbo (The Ferrers Documents, 1974) 
Henry W. Enberg (John Garrideb, 1991) 
Robert B. Frier (Colonel Upwood, 1960) 
Thomas F. Grady (Mr. Hilton Soames, of the College of St. Luke's, 1962) 
George Kreuzberger (Archie Stamford, the Forger, 1956) 
Robert A. W. Lowndes (Langdale Pike, 1973) 
Thomas L. Stix (The Norwood Builder, 1961) 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the origin of “standing on the terrace?”</a> 
 
Morley-Montgomery Award: 
Jon Lellenberg, "'Entertainment and Fantasy': The 1940 BSI Dinner" 
The Baker Street Journal 1998 Christmas Annual (available in the eBSJ) 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the Morley-Montgomery Award?</a> 
 
The BSI Distinguished Speaker Lecture: 
Owen Dudley Edwards, “Dr. Watson: Portrait of a Genius,” 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the BSI Distinguished Speaker Lecture?</a> 
 
 
<h4>
Reports on the Dinner</h4>
The Baker Street Journal v49 n1 (March 1999) 7-16 (available in the eBSJ). 
 
Blau, Peter, <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/links.html#news">Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press</a>, (January 1999), 1. 
 
List of 1999 BSI Dinner Attendees (not available at this time) 
 
 
<h4>
Recordings</h4>
A recording of portions of the 1999 BSI Dinner is available at Harvard as part of the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/archive.html">BSI Archive</a>. 
 
<h4>
 Related Material</h4>
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:16162476?n=182">1999 BSI Dinner Menu </a>(digitized images at Harvard) 
Two pages. Cover and interior. Sequence 182-183. 
 
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:16162476?n=184">The Musgrave Ritual </a>(digitized images at Harvard) 
Distributed to attendees at the 1999 BSI Dinner. Recited at the 1999 Dinner by Shirley Purves. 
One Page. Sequence 184. 
 
Niver, Harold, <a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:16162476?n=185">“Toast to Mrs. Hudson.”</a> (digitized images at Harvard) 
Two pages. Sequence 185-186. 
 
Francis, Thomas J., <a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:16162476?n=187">“A Toast to Mycroft Holmes.</a>” (digitized images at Harvard) 
Three pages. Cover note and toast (two copies). Sequence 187-189. 
 
Kean, Michael, <a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:16162476?n=190">“A Toast to Sherlock Holmes.” </a>(digitized images at Harvard) 
Four pages. Sequence 190-193. 
 
Rosenblatt, Albert M., “The Sherlockian Year in Review 1998,” The Baker Street Journal v49 n1 (March 1999) pp. 8-11 (available in the eBSJ). Judge Rosenblatt’s rhyming retrospective, delivered at the January 9, 1999 Sherlockian Cocktail Reception. 
 
Previous dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/08/the-1998-bsi-dinner.html">1998 BSI Dinner</a> 
 
Next dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/08/the-2000-bsi-dinner.html">2000 BSI Dinner</a> 
 
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. 
 
 
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. 
 
Page composed on 8/4/2016 by Tamar Zeffren 
This page last updated 8/13/2016 by Andrew Solberg.

The 1999 BSI Dinner

The Dinner celebrating the 145th anniversary of the Master’s birth began with the “surprise presence of New York Governor George Pataki,”...

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The 1998 BSI Dinner

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7kJ2TCYcHXnzmOsCWb6XAFoTSLu10pot_2y2qxLElQxFuMq9v2J5yMmmSucD-qaFjN3mZtmN4dCv2LhVXP5i4q766Y4n-jl1GPJqySmk0iPo4at_2SJQiJxo7RAxEpJJrKUZO9-eGIOGu/s1600/bsi-dinner-1998-v1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The 1998 BSI Dinner group photo" border="0" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7kJ2TCYcHXnzmOsCWb6XAFoTSLu10pot_2y2qxLElQxFuMq9v2J5yMmmSucD-qaFjN3mZtmN4dCv2LhVXP5i4q766Y4n-jl1GPJqySmk0iPo4at_2SJQiJxo7RAxEpJJrKUZO9-eGIOGu/s640/bsi-dinner-1998-v1.jpg" title="Click this 1998 BSI Dinner photo to see a larger version" width="640" /></a></div>
 
The Dinner celebrating the 144th anniversary of the Master’s birth featured a wealth of diverse presentations and toasts. Among the array of familiar names in the latter, were Mrs. Hudson (by Marsha Pollak), Mycroft Holmes (by Donald Izban) (see Related Material), Watson’s Second Wife (by Steven Rothman), and Sherlock Holmes (by Donald Yates). 
 
Mike Whelan, presiding over his first BSI Dinner as Wiggins, resurrected the old tradition of including a toast to “An Old Irregular,” this year given touchingly by Judge Andrew Peck to William S. Baring-Gould (see Related Material). Bruce Montgomery and members of the Penn Glee Club performed selections from the late Harvey Officer's Sherlockian songbook.  Fritz Sonnenschmidt provided a demonstration of just how a master chef prepares pheasant livers with orange on toast points. 
 
Mary Schulz was toasted as “<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">The Woman</a>.” Five Irregulars received their Shilling at the Dinner. Wiggins also announced two new BSI office holders. Peter E. Blau was dubbed “Simpson,” as befits the BSI’s official secretary, and Jon Lellenberg was named “Thucydides” as the BSI’s official historian. Lellenberg also offered a moving tribute to the late Dame Jean Conan Doyle. 
 
At the next day’s Sherlockian Cocktail Reception, Susan Rice received the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">Morley-Montgomery</a> Award for her piece entitled “Watson’s Hidden Addiction.”  Judge Albert Rosenblatt presented his now traditional and always creative poetic account of the BSI Dinner, the Sherlockian Weekend, and the Sherlockian Year. 
 
The BSJ’s report ends by affirming: “This was Mike Whelan’s first BSI dinner as “Wiggins” and it was judged by all to be a magnificent success. Congratulations to Mike; we look forward to many more.” 
 
Dinner Details: January 9, 1998 
24 Fifth Avenue, New York 
 
<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. 
 
Key to People in the 1998 BSI Dinner photo (not available at this time) 
 
 
<h4>
BSI Honours List</h4>
Investitures: 
John F. Baesch as State and Merton County Railroad 
Pamela Bruxner as The British Government* 
Susan Z. Diamond as The Great Mogul 
Masamichi Higurashi as Baron Adelbert Gruner* 
Lou Lewis as William Whyte 
Ronald Mansbridge as A Case of Identity 
Thierry Saint-Joanis as Monsieur Bertillon 
James E. Smith II as Winner of the Jackson Prize 
* received Investiture at another event during the year 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is an Investiture?</a> 
 
 
Two-Shilling Award: 
The Two-Shilling Award was not given in 1998. 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is a Two-Shilling Award?</a> 
 
The Woman: 
Mary Schulz 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is The Woman honour?</a> 
 
"Stand with me here upon the terrace..." 
(as named at this Dinner, not their year of passing) 
Stafford G. Davis (Horace Harker, 1980) 
Dame Jean Conan Doyle (A Certain Gracious Lady, 1991) 
Orval C. Graves (Whitaker's Almanack, 1982) 
Robert G. Harris (The Creeping Man, 1952) 
Constance Montgomery (The Woman, 1961, Wife of James Montgomery) 
Donald P. Musgrave (Reginald Musgrave, 1976) 
Eleanor Wolff (The Woman, 1965, Wife of Julian Wolff) 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the origin of “standing on the terrace?”</a> 
 
Morley-Montgomery Award: 
Susan Rice, "Watson's Hidden Addiction" 
The Baker Street Journal v47 n2 (June 1997) pp. 30-36 (available in the eBSJ) 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the Morley-Montgomery Award?</a> 
 
The BSI Distinguished Speaker Lecture: 
Nicholas Meyer, "Sherlock Holmes, Wine Bottles, and the Catholic Mass" 
The Baker Street Journal v48 n1 (March 1998) pp. 20-25 (available in the eBSJ). 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the BSI Distinguished Speaker Lecture?</a> 
 
 
<h4>
Reports on the Dinner</h4>
The Baker Street Journal v48 n1 (March 1998) pp. 7-14 (available in the eBSJ). 
 
Blau, Peter, <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/links.html#news">Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press</a>, (January 1998), 1. 
 
List of 1998 BSI Dinner Attendees (not available at this time) 
 
 
<h4>
Recordings</h4>
A recording of portions of the 1998 BSI Dinner is available at Harvard as part of the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/archive.html">BSI Archive</a>. 
 
 
<h4>
Related Material</h4>
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:16162476?n=169">1998 BSI Dinner Menu</a> (digitized images at Harvard) 
Two pages. Cover and interior. Sequence 169-170. 
 
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:16162476?n=171">The Musgrave Ritual</a> (digitized images at Harvard) 
Distributed to attendees at the 1998 BSI Dinner. Recited at the 1998 Dinner by Paul Singleton. 
One Page. Sequence 171. 
 
Peck, Andrew J., <a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:16162476?n=172">“Toast to William S. Baring-Gould.”</a> (digitized images at Harvard) 
Presented at the 1998 BSI Dinner. 
Eight pages. Sequence 172-179. 
 
Izban, Donald S., “<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:16162476?n=180">A Toast to Mycroft Holmes</a>.” (digitized images at Harvard) 
Presented at the 1998 BSI Dinner. 
Two pages. Sequence 180-181. 
 
Rosenblatt, Albert M., “1997: The Sherlockian Year in Verse,” The Baker Street Journal v48 n1 (March 1998) pp. 14-19 (available in the eBSJ). Judge Rosenblatt’s rhyming retrospective, delivered at the January 10, 1998 Sherlockian Cocktail Reception. 
 
Previous dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/07/the-1997-bsi-dinner.html">1997 BSI Dinner</a> 
 
Next dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/08/the-1999-bsi-dinner.html">1999 BSI Dinner</a> 
 
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. 
 
 
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. 
 
Page composed on 7/31/2016 by Tamar Zeffren 
This page last updated 8/6/2016 by Andrew Solberg. 
 
<div>
 </div>

The 1998 BSI Dinner

The Dinner celebrating the 144th anniversary of the Master’s birth featured a wealth of diverse presentations and toasts. Among the array...

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The 1997 BSI Dinner

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO_dWISdDIKt2qQnIcVdC-Odwz6diENI8w3nupDm3GpQdNc4eWFMcFsN6dP168YK45Sh7CjqzExBFiUx_tmxRFg1nNkipbd-sdqC2H0fLk_jKNWYW1pHKjNnV3-9YaFRw6zXjV0FkSmRkJ/s1600/bsi-dinner-1997-v1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The 1997 BSI Dinner group photo" border="0" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO_dWISdDIKt2qQnIcVdC-Odwz6diENI8w3nupDm3GpQdNc4eWFMcFsN6dP168YK45Sh7CjqzExBFiUx_tmxRFg1nNkipbd-sdqC2H0fLk_jKNWYW1pHKjNnV3-9YaFRw6zXjV0FkSmRkJ/s640/bsi-dinner-1997-v1.jpg" title="Click this 1997 BSI Dinner photo to see a larger version" width="640" /></a></div>
 
The Dinner celebrating the 143rd anniversary of the Master’s birth was a momentous one.  The usual traditions and toasts were performed, including the Sherlock Holmes Prayer, the reading of the BSI Constitution and Buy-Laws, and the reciting of the Musgrave Ritual. 
 
Robert Katz once again toasted The Second Mrs. Watson, William Hyder toasted Mycroft Holmes, Susan Rice toasted Mrs. Hudson, and Sherry Rose-Bond ended the formal toasts with one to “The Most Dangerous Gang in London.”  Bruce Montgomery regaled the crowd with his father’s “Aunt Clara” and his own set of new verses. 
 
Tom Stix then turned the program over to Mike Whelan, who emceed a riotously funny roast of Tom. Mike Whelan then presented to Tom and his wife Dorothy two beautiful expressions of the BSI’s gratitude for their work on our behalf.  Dorothy received a crystal vase on which was inscribed “Presented with Affection to Dorothy K. Stix, The The Woman, by the BSI, January 10, 1997.”  Tom received a crystal presentation piece, etched with the alternate dust jacket design for the British edition of The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes by Vincent Starrett (published, appropriately enough, in 1934, the year of the founding of the BSI) inscribed “With gratitude to Thomas L. Stix, Jr., Wiggins, for keeping the memory of the Master green, by the BSI, January 10, 1997.” 
 
Tom Stix announced that he was stepping down after eleven years as Wiggins, and was passing the mantle on to Mike Whelan. (Listen to the recording below.) Dante Torrese closed the program with “A Long Evening with Holmes.” 
 
Beverly E. Wolov was honored as “The Woman.” Eight Irregulars received their shillings. 
 
At the next day’s Sherlockian Cocktail Reception, David Stuart Davies performed The Hound of the Baskervilles in a one-man, seven minute performance.  Philip Shreffler was presented with the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">Morley-Montgomery Award</a>.  Judge Albert Rosenblatt presented his annual poetic account of the BSI Dinner, the Sherlockian Weekend, and the Sherlockian Year. 
 
Dinner Details: January 10, 1997 
24 Fifth Avenue, New York 
 
<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. 
 
<a href="http://files.bsitrust.org/pdf/dinner/bsi-dinner-1997-photo-key.pdf">Key to People in the 1997 BSI Dinner photo</a> (PDF) 
 
 
<h4>
BSI Honours List</h4>
Investitures: 
William J. Hyder as A Most Valuable Institution 
Richard J. Kitts as The Battered Tin Dispatch-Box 
Kenneth C. Lanza as His Last Bow 
Theodora Niver as Carina 
Roy E. Pilot as Chemical Laboratory of St. Barts 
Paul G. Singleton as Covent Garden 
Margaret Smedegaard as Criterion Bar 
Dorothy K. Stix as Martha 
* received Investiture at another event during the year 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is an Investiture?</a> 
 
 
Two-Shilling Award: 
Benton Wood* 
 * received the Award at another event during the year 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is a Two-Shilling Award?</a> 
 
The Woman: 
Beverly E. Wolov 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is The Woman honour?</a> 
 
"Stand with me here upon the terrace..." 
(as named at this Dinner, not their year of passing) 
Not listed in the 1997 BSJ report. 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the origin of “standing on the terrace?”</a> 
 
Morley-Montgomery Award: 
Philip Shreffler, "Quintessence of Irregular: The Original Series of The Baker Street Journal" 
The Baker Street Journal v46 n4 (December 1996) pp. 7-12 (available in the eBSJ). 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the Morley-Montgomery Award?</a> 
 
 
<h4>
Reports on the Dinner</h4>
The Baker Street Journal v47 n1 (March 1997) pp. 59-64 (available in the eBSJ). 
 
Hyder, William, “Toast to Mycroft,” The Baker Street Journal v47 n1 (March 1997) p. 61 (available in the eBSJ). Presented at the 1997 BSI Dinner. 
 
Blau, Peter, <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/links.html#news">Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press</a>, (January 1997), 1. 
 
<a href="http://files.bsitrust.org/pdf/dinner/bsi-dinner-1997-photo-key.pdf">Key to People in the 1997 BSI Dinner photo</a> (PDF) 
 
 
<h4>
Recordings</h4>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7YCKJ4V8zgtgBG0k29TTDqXFSKWkARCSmINncB6NHwgjimHm41ql-HMLqwDvNSkDcB6f3p8CK5MddvzMBjnpv2VbzbHM8WJ6-Qo_bHguXoEM1O8Pe-O9tUZSMCyVM7wJQw2z7xHBS1pZW/s1600/thomas-l-stix-BSI-1997.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7YCKJ4V8zgtgBG0k29TTDqXFSKWkARCSmINncB6NHwgjimHm41ql-HMLqwDvNSkDcB6f3p8CK5MddvzMBjnpv2VbzbHM8WJ6-Qo_bHguXoEM1O8Pe-O9tUZSMCyVM7wJQw2z7xHBS1pZW/s200/thomas-l-stix-BSI-1997.JPG" width="198" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Thomas Stix at the 1997 BSI Dinner</div>
 
Thomas L. Stix, Jr. (The Norwood Builder) became the head of the BSI (Wiggins) after the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/03/the-1986-bsi-dinner.html">1986 BSI Dinner</a>.  At the 1997 BSI Dinner, Stix announced that he was stepping down and that Michael Whelan (Vincent Spaulding) would be the new head of the BSI.  You can hear his announcement in this 7 minute vignette from the 1997 BSI Dinner.  Stix (whose father was also a BSI member) was invested at the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/07/the-1961-bsi-dinner.html">1961 BSI Dinner</a>. 
 
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" height="45" mozallowfullscreen="" msallowfullscreen="" oallowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/4546765/height/45/width/250/theme/standard/autonext/no/thumbnail/no/autoplay/no/preload/no/no_addthis/no/direction/backward/no-cache/true/" style="border: none;" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="250"></iframe>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Click to play this recording</div>
 
A recording of portions of the 1997 BSI Dinner is available at Harvard as part of the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/archive.html">BSI Archive</a>. 
 
 
<h4>
Related Material</h4>
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:16162476?n=165">1997 BSI Dinner Menu</a> (digitized images at Harvard) 
Two pages. Cover and interior. Sequence 165-166. 
 
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:16162476?n=167">The Stetaks BSI Dinner Favor </a>(digitized images at Harvard) 
Distributed to attendees at the 1997 BSI Dinner. 
Two pages. Cover and interior. Sequence 167-168 
 
Rosenblatt, Albert M., “Verse for the Baker Street Irregulars on January 11, 1997,” The Baker Street Journal v47 n1 (March 1997) pp. 66-69 (available in the eBSJ). Judge Rosenblatt’s rhyming retrospective, delivered at the January 11, 1997 Sherlockian Cocktail Reception. 
<div>
 </div>
Previous dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/07/the-1996-bsi-dinner.html">1996 BSI Dinner</a> 
 
Next dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/08/the-1998-bsi-dinner.html">1998 BSI Dinner</a> 
 
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. 
 
 
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. 
 
Page composed on 7/29/2016 by Tamar Zeffren 
Page updated 7/30/2016 by Andrew Solberg. 
This page last updated 3/31/20 by Randall Stock.

The 1997 BSI Dinner

The Dinner celebrating the 143rd anniversary of the Master’s birth was a momentous one. The usual traditions and toasts were performed, ...

+ Read more »

The 1996 BSI Dinner

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0xTQ41YqjlNGnk2KoO0oP9QtjUEn0Hi6up5z4strqp3lyKlJld3hjyuYpheaGwGSHA6He5cSJYC6MSWCsARmTxvHti2nq2bTsZHyqNqIE1CSfqhlYF7qcB-WencoMZtVRzKP4OCsKJAG-/s1600/bsi-dinner-1996-v1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The 1996 BSI Dinner group photo" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0xTQ41YqjlNGnk2KoO0oP9QtjUEn0Hi6up5z4strqp3lyKlJld3hjyuYpheaGwGSHA6He5cSJYC6MSWCsARmTxvHti2nq2bTsZHyqNqIE1CSfqhlYF7qcB-WencoMZtVRzKP4OCsKJAG-/s640/bsi-dinner-1996-v1.jpg" title="Click this 1996 BSI Dinner photo to see a larger version" width="640" /></a></div>
 
The Dinner celebrating the 142nd anniversary of the Master’s birth included the usual traditions and imaginative toasts.  Tom Stix was at the podium for the dinner, thankfully looking well after a recent illness. Sherry Rose-Bond toasted Peter Steiler the Elder. Robert Katz’s annual toasts to The Second Mrs. Watson have become legendary, and, once again, he did not fail to outrage the attendees.  The theme of the 1996 BSI Dinner was “My collection of M’s is a fine one,” and this was reflected in presentations by Joseph Moran and Shirley Purves. Evelyn Herzog also celebrated Canonical M’s in verse.  Tom Stix announced that <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/06/robert-thomalen-interview-oral-history.html">Bob Thomalen</a> would be stepping down as Cartwright of the BSI, and Mike Whelan would be filling this position. With the sad loss of the BSI’s secretary, John Bennett Shaw, Tom and Ruthann Stetak will officially take over the title of Simpsons, a role that they had been performing during the past year. 
 
Barbara Herbert was honored as “The Woman.” Eight Irregulars received their shillings. The Queen Victoria Medal was awarded to Robert Thomalen for his work as Cartwright on behalf of the BSI. (See the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/09/the-1969-bsi-dinner.html">1969 BSI Dinner</a> for background on the Medal.) 
 
At the next day’s Sherlockian Cocktail Reception, Margaret Nydell was presented with the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">Morley-Montgomery Award</a>, the first given since 1980.  Judge Albert Rosenblatt presented his now traditional and always creative poetic account of the BSI Dinner, the Sherlockian Weekend, and the Sherlockian Year. 
 
Dinner Details: January 12, 1996 
24 Fifth Avenue, New York 
 
<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. 
 
<a href="http://files.bsitrust.org/pdf/dinner/bsi-dinner-1996-photo-key.pdf">Key to People in the 1996 BSI Dinner photo</a> (PDF) 
 
 
<h4>
BSI Honours List</h4>
Investitures: 
Steven T. Doyle as The Western Morning News 
Ralph Hall as Smack! Smack! Smack! 
Hugh T. Harrington as Wisteria Lodge 
Peter Horrocks as The Inner Temple 
Katherine Karlson as The Evening Standard 
John E. Pforr as Police-Constable Cook 
Marsha L. Pollak as A Small But Select Library 
Robert J. Stek as The Mysterious Scientist 
* received Investiture at another event during the year 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is an Investiture?</a> 
 
Two-Shilling Award: 
The Two-Shilling Award was not given in 1996. 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is a Two-Shilling Award?</a> 
 
The Woman: 
Barbara (Mrs. Paul D.) Herbert 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is The Woman honour?</a> 
 
"Stand with me here upon the terrace..." 
(as named at this Dinner, not their year of passing) 
Not listed in the 1996 BSJ report. 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the origin of “standing on the terrace?”</a> 
 
Morley-Montgomery Award: 
Margaret Nydell, "On the Chaldean Influences in Cornish" 
The Baker Street Journal v45 n1 (March 1995) pp. 24-30 (available in the eBSJ). 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the Morley-Montgomery Award?</a> 
 
 
<h4>
Reports on the Dinner</h4>
The Baker Street Journal v46 n1 (March 1996) pp. 8-14 (available in the eBSJ). 
 
Rose-Bond, Sherry, “Toast For Peter Steiler The Elder,” The Baker Street Journal v46 n1 (March 1996) pp. 8-9 (available in the eBSJ). Presented at the 1996 BSI Dinner. 
 
Katz, Robert S., “To The Second Mrs. Watson — 1996,” The Baker Street Journal v46 n1 (March 1996) pp. 9-11 (available in the eBSJ). Presented at the 1996 BSI Dinner. 
 
Herzog, Evelyn, “My Collection Of M’s Is A Rhymed One,” The Baker Street Journal v46 n1 (March 1996) pp. 11-14 (available in the eBSJ). Presented at the 1996 BSI Dinner. 
 
Blau, Peter, <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/links.html#news">Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press</a>, (January 1996), 1. 
 
<a href="http://files.bsitrust.org/pdf/dinner/bsi-dinner-1996-photo-key.pdf">Key to People in the 1996 BSI Dinner photo</a> (PDF) 
 
 
<h4>
Recordings</h4>
A recording of portions of the 1996 BSI Dinner is available at Harvard as part of the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/archive.html">BSI Archive</a>. 
 
 
<h4>
Related Material</h4>
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:16162476?n=163">1996 BSI Dinner Menu</a> (digitized images at Harvard) 
Two pages. Cover and interior. Two copies. Sequence 163-164. 
 
Rosenblatt, Albert M., “The BSI Dinner, January 1996,” The Baker Street Journal v46 n1 (March 1996) pp. 16-17 (available in the eBSJ). Judge Rosenblatt’s rhyming retrospective, delivered at the January 13, 1996 Sherlockian Cocktail Reception. 
<div>
 </div>
Previous dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/07/the-1995-bsi-dinner.html">1995 BSI Dinner</a> 
 
Next dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/07/the-1997-bsi-dinner.html">1997 BSI Dinner</a> 
 
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. 
 
 
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. 
 
Page composed on 7/23/2016 by Tamar Zeffren. 
Page updated 7/23/2016 by Andrew Solberg. 
This page last updated 1/11/20 by Randall Stock. 
 
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The 1996 BSI Dinner

The Dinner celebrating the 142nd anniversary of the Master’s birth included the usual traditions and imaginative toasts. Tom Stix was at...

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