The 138th anniversary of the Master’s birth provided ample evidence—if any were still required at this juncture—of the global appeal of Sherlockiana and Sherlockian scions. Irv Kamil reported on The Asian Travelers, a new Sherlockian society founded the previous year at the Great Wall of China, and visitors from France (Jean-Pierre Cagnat) and Japan (Yuichi Hirayama and Hirotaka Ueda) were introduced.
This was the first BSI Dinner at which women were in attendance, the BSI having been opened to women by Tom Stix at the 1991 Saturday Sherlockian Cocktail Party. There were fifteen women attending this first co-ed BSI Dinner: Maureen Green, Evelyn Herzog, Karen Johnson, Kate Karlson, Eleanor O'Connor, Marsha Pollak, Susan Rice, Lloyd Rose, Sherry Rose-Bond, Julie Rosenblatt, Marina Stajic, Ruthann Stetak, Francine Swift, Jean Upton, and Delia Vargas.
Steve Rothman showcased a treasure: a rare audio recording of Christopher Morley speaking about Sherlock Holmes and reading from “The Adventure of the Dying Detective.” Ely Liebow discussed the Sherlockian aspects of "The $64,000 Question" (the 1956 television quiz show). The program also included Edward Vatza's discussion of "The Gloria Scott", and Joseph Fink's investigative report on Dr. Watson's marital affairs. Bruce Montgomery led the assembled in singing “Aunt Clara” and followed this with his own “Father’s Folly, or Aunt Clara Revisited.” Dr. Hirayama then rendered the chorus of “Aunt Clara” in his native Japanese; subsequently, Don Yates did the same in Spanish. The Baker Street Journal notes: “This might have gone on, getting really problematical, but it didn’t.”
Margaret Walsh was celebrated as “The Woman.” Five new Irregulars were invested at the Dinner. Two more received their Irregular Shillings at the Sherlockian Cocktail Party the following day.
At the Sherlockian Cocktail Party on the following day, Theresa Thomalen was awarded the Queen Victoria Medal (see the 1969 BSI Dinner for background on the Medal). Peter Blau expertly presided over the Sherlockiana auction which raised $610 for the BSI’s Dr. John H. Watson Fund, which offers financial assistance to Sherlockians (membership in the BSI or the ASH is not required) who might otherwise be unable to participate in the weekend's festivities. The proceeding also included a raffle which featured a bottle of Madeira (1934 vintage) donated to the Dr. John H. Watson Fund by Patricia Guy.
Dinner Details: January 10, 1992
24 Fifth Avenue, New York
Dinner Photo Information
Click on the above photo to see a larger version of it, and maximize your browser window to see the most detail.Revised Key to People in the 1992 BSI Dinner Photo (PDF)
BSI Honours List
Investitures:Jeff Decker as Dr. Grimesby Roylott
Michael W. McClure as Stimson and Co.
Patricia E. Moran as Patience Moran*
Shirley A. Purves as The Dog in the Night-Time*
Mary Ellen Rich as Lady Frances Carfax*
Sherry Rose-Bond as Violet Hunter
Bruce E. Southworth as Victor Hatherley
Maureen Green Van der Flaes as Kitty Winter
* received Investiture at another event during the year
What is an Investiture?
Two-Shilling Award:
Michael F. Whelan
What is a Two-Shilling Award?
The Woman:
Margaret Walsh
What is The Woman honour?
"Stand with me here upon the terrace..."
(as named at this Dinner, not their year of passing)
Charles Goodman (The Stockbroker's Clerk, 1991)
Michael Hardwick (The Sign of the Four, 1985)
Michael Harrison (The Camberwell Poisoning Case, 1964)
Howard Haycraft (The Devil's Foot, 1992)
Henry Lauritzen (The Royal Family of Scandinavia, 1961)
Edward A. Merrill (Palladio, 1972)
Lenore Glen Offord (The Old Russian Woman, 1958)
William Passen (The Camberwell Poisoning Case, 1955)
Milton Perry (Nathan Garrideb, 1992)
Sylvia Porter (The Woman, 1957)
Ake Runnquist (Jacob Shafter, 1991)
Eleanor Sullivan (The Woman, 1990)
What is the origin of “standing on the terrace?”
Morley-Montgomery Award:
No awards were given from 1981-1995.
What is the Morley-Montgomery Award?
Reports on the Dinner
The Baker Street Journal v42 n1 (March 1992) pp. 50, 54 (available in the eBSJ).Blau, Peter, Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press, (January 1992), p. 3.
List of 1992 BSI Dinner Attendees (not available at this time, but see Key to the Photo, below)
Revised Key to People in the 1992 BSI Dinner Photo (PDF)
Original Key to People in the 1992 BSI Dinner photo (digitized images at Harvard)
Two pages. Numbered Photo and Key. Sequence 149-150.
Recordings
A recording of the 1992 BSI Dinner is available at Harvard as part of the BSI Archive.Related Material
1992 BSI Dinner Menu (digitized images at Harvard)Two pages. Cover and interior. Sequence 143-144.
Name Tag from the 1992 BSI Dinner (digitized images at Harvard)
One page. Sequence 145
Ticket to the Annual Sherlockian Cocktail Party on January 11, 1992 (digitized image at Harvard)
One page. Sequence 146
Rosenblatt, Albert, Rhyming Retrospective of the 1992 BSI Festivities (digitized image at Harvard)
Presented at the Saturday Sherlockian Cocktail Party.
Two pages. Sequence 147-148.
Rose, Lloyd, “To Women, A Mystery No More,” The Washington Post (January 13, 1992)
Lloyd Rose, at the time, the Chief Drama Critic at the Washington Post, wrote about her attendance at the 1992 BSI Dinner.
Next dinner: the 1993 BSI Dinner
For an index to all BSI Dinners and photos, see our BSI Dinner Summary 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 BSI Archive at Harvard page.
Page composed on 5/3/2016 by Tamar Zeffren
Page updated 5/15/2016 by Andrew Solberg.
This page last updated 2/15/2020 by Randall Stock.
