Sherlock Holmes’s 162nd birthday was feted by an enthusiastic group, also celebrating the 25th anniversary of the opening of the BSI to women.
Mike Whelan (the BSI's "Wiggins") honored Tony Montag for his more than fifty years as an Irregular. He also recognized others in attendance with Irregular longevity, including Peter Blau, Albert Silverstein, Russell Merritt, George McCormack, Chris Redmond, and James Saunders.
Julia Rosenblatt toasted Mrs. Hudson. Marilynne McKay gave the toast to Mycroft Holmes. Sally Sugarman had us raise our glasses to Watson's second wife, and Catherine Cooke toasted Sherlock Holmes. Marino Alvarez led the responsive reading of the Musgrave Ritual. Bob Coghill gave a toast to an Old Irregular, Maureen Green Van der Flaes. Tony Montag read the Constitution and Buy-Laws.
Bert Coules gave an account of Holmes on the radio in the 1930s, a tribute to Edith Meiser. Peter Blau and Evelyn Herzog gave a "Duet: With an Occasional Chorus" account of the role of women in the BSI from 1934 to the present (which concluded with the singing - for the first time at an annual Dinner of the BSI - of the Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes' "Reindeer Song"). Susan Rice gave a presentation on the rational roots of Holmes's feelings about women. As usual, Henry Boote, at the piano, led the musical entertainment. Susan Dahlinger provided a marvelous rendition of a song from The Seven Per-Cent Solution film, as Nicholas Meyer was in attendance. Betsy Rosenblatt did a great job singing "At Last," and Henry Boote charmed us with the singing of his own original composition, both celebrating women in the BSI. Francine Kitts, once again, performed a moving “Standing upon the Terrace” ceremony, remembering those whom we have lost.
Seven deserving Irregulars received their Shilling. Nancy Browning was toasted as The Woman. Tom Francis (former Chairman of the BSI Trust) received the Two-Shilling Award for extraordinary devotion to the cause beyond the call of duty. Mike Whelan also appointed two more officers of the BSI: Michael Kean (as "Cartwright") and Bob Katz (as "Billy the Page").
The evening concluded with Peter Crupe reciting Vincent Starrett’s poem “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 15, 2016
The Yale 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 2016 BSI Dinner photo (not available at this time, but see the 2016 Table Seat Assignments (PDF)
BSI Honours List
Investitures:Dana Cameron as The Giant Rat of Sumatra
Bert Coules as The Whole Art of Detection
Jenn Eaker as Mary Sutherland
John Durein as Wilson, the Notorious Canary Trainer
Jayantika Ganguly as The Great Agra Treasure
Timothy Greer as The Ragged Shaw
William Walsh as Godfrey Norton
* received Investiture at another event during the year
What is an Investiture?
Two-Shilling Award:
Tom Francis.
What is a Two-Shilling Award?
The Woman:
Nancy Browning.
What is The Woman honour?
"Stand with me here upon the terrace..."
(as named at this Dinner, not their year of passing)
John Devereux de Gozzaldi (The Speckled Band, 1980)
William Dudley (The Papers of Ex-President Murillo, 1976)
Barton Eberman (The Hound of the Baskervilles, 1986)
John Farrell (The Tiger of San Pedro, 1981)
Matthew Fox (Vigor, the Hammersmith Wonder, 1972)
George Hough (The Duke of Balmoral, 1983)
Jack Key (Pritchard, 1989)
C. Frederick Kittle (Jack Stapleton, 2000)
Art Levine (The Cutter Alicia, 1955)
Austin McLean (The London Library, 1990)
David Pearce (The Khalifa at Khartoum, 1977)
Mel Ruiz (Jack Douglas, 1988)
Ralph Wroblewski (Captain Teddy Marvin, 1976)
What is the origin of “standing on the terrace?”
Morley-Montgomery Award:
Chris Redmond, "Dr. Hill Barton Pays a Call"
The Baker Street Journal 65.2 (Summer 2015): 18-26.
What is the Morley-Montgomery Award?
The BSI Distinguished Speaker Lecture:
Jeffrey Hatcher, “Casting Holmes”
The Baker Street Journal 66.1 (Spring 2016): 21-31.
What is the BSI Distinguished Speaker Lecture?
Reports on the Dinner
The Baker Street Journal 66.1 (Spring 2016): 49-59.Blau, Peter, Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press, (January 2016): 1-2.
List of 2016 BSI Dinner Attendees (PDF)
Recordings
A recording of portions of the 2016 BSI Dinner is available at Harvard as part of the BSI Archive.Related Material
Rosenblatt, Albert M., and Betsy Rosenblatt, “BSI Poem 2016,” The Baker Street Journal 66.1 (Spring 2016): 59-62. The Rosenblatts’ rhyming retrospective, delivered at the January 16, 2016 Sherlockian Cocktail Reception.Previous dinner: the 2015 BSI Dinner
Next dinner: the 2017 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 5/28/2017 by Tamar Zeffren
This page last updated 5/29/2017 by Andrew Solberg.
