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 1986 BSI Dinner and announcing his retirement at the 1997 BSI Dinner.
Deborah Fusco was honored as The Woman. Five Irregulars received their Shilling.
At the next day’s Sherlockian Cocktail Reception, Jon Lellenberg received the Morley-Montgomery Award 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
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.Key to People in the 1999 BSI Dinner photo (not available at this time)
BSI Honours List
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
What is an Investiture?
Two-Shilling Award:
The Two-Shilling Award was not given in 1999.
What is a Two-Shilling Award?
The Woman:
Deborah Fusco
What is The Woman honour?
"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)
What is the origin of “standing on the terrace?”
Morley-Montgomery Award:
Jon Lellenberg, "'Entertainment and Fantasy': The 1940 BSI Dinner"
The Baker Street Journal 1998 Christmas Annual (available in the eBSJ)
What is the Morley-Montgomery Award?
The BSI Distinguished Speaker Lecture:
Owen Dudley Edwards, “Dr. Watson: Portrait of a Genius,”
What is the BSI Distinguished Speaker Lecture?
Reports on the Dinner
The Baker Street Journal v49 n1 (March 1999) 7-16 (available in the eBSJ).Blau, Peter, Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press, (January 1999), 1.
List of 1999 BSI Dinner Attendees (not available at this time)
Recordings
A recording of portions of the 1999 BSI Dinner is available at Harvard as part of the BSI Archive.
Related Material
1999 BSI Dinner Menu (digitized images at Harvard)Two pages. Cover and interior. Sequence 182-183.
The Musgrave Ritual (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, “Toast to Mrs. Hudson.” (digitized images at Harvard)
Two pages. Sequence 185-186.
Francis, Thomas J., “A Toast to Mycroft Holmes.” (digitized images at Harvard)
Three pages. Cover note and toast (two copies). Sequence 187-189.
Kean, Michael, “A Toast to Sherlock Holmes.” (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 1998 BSI Dinner
Next dinner: the 2000 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 8/4/2016 by Tamar Zeffren
This page last updated 8/13/2016 by Andrew Solberg.
