BSI Invests Ten New Irregulars; The Red Circle well represented Peter E. Blau reports that the Baker Street Irregulars held their first-ever virtual annual dinner on January 8, via Zoom, and the agenda included the usual toasts, rituals and papers. This year the traditional toast to Mrs. Hudson was delivered by the lady herself, splendidly impersonated by Denny Dobry, from his re-created sitting-room at 221B Baker Street. The BSI's "Wiggins," Mike Kean, presented Birthday Honours (Irregular Shillings and Investitures) to ten people, three of them well known to the Red Circle: Debbie Clark ("Mrs. Cecil Forrester"), Carla Coupe ("The London Bridge") and Alan Rettig ("The Red Lamp"). Our congratulations to them all.
Ken Ludwig's Comedy Play Club features Baskerville Many of us remember fondly the Red Circle's September 2014 meeting, where Tony and Olivier Award-winning playwright Ken Ludwig told us all about his play Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery, which would have its world premiere at Washington's Arena Stage the following January. After that auspicious debut, and after many more productions 
around the world, Baskerville will be the subject of Ken's online Comedy Play Club, a Zoom webinar on Wednesday, August 11 at 4:45pm ET. Ken cordially invites all his Sherlockian friends to join him and Ryan McBride, Artistic Director of the Mercury Theatre in Colchester, England and director of Mercury's new production of Baskerville. In addition to a discussion, Ken tells us we'll be treated to a few scenes from Mercury's staging. The details are in Ken's newsletter, and you can click up your free Zoom registration here. Sounds like great fun.
Sherlock Holmes and Advertising was the topic of the day at The Red Circle's June 19 Zoom meeting. Joining us from Toronto was special guest Peggy Perdue who took us on a guided tour of the many ways the Great Detective has become not just a literary icon, but a marketing goldmine for products from tobacco to alcohol to clothing to toys--just to name a few. Peggy's talk was richly illustrated and tremendously enjoyable. Bev Wolov provided context to Peggy's talk with a fascinating "prequel" discussion of advertising milestones. To conclude the meeting, a quiz from Dana Richards picked up on the advertising theme. The video of the meeting is available right here, simply by clicking Peggy's picture.You say Gomorrah, we say Camorra "Gomorrah" (2014) is a four-season Italian television series that aired in the U.S. on SundanceTV in 2016, a fictionalized account of today's crime syndicate in Naples. The title of the series is a pun on the real name of the syndicate, the Camorra, a society well known to Sherlockians who are aware that the manuscript of "The Red Circle" states "Camorra" (when the story was published the name became the "Carbonari"). The series is streaming now on HBO Max (in case you subscribe to the service, or want an excuse to). You can find more information--and watch the trailer for free--here. There are subtitles in English, of course; when the series aired in Italy there were subtitles in Italian, because the dialogue in the series is in the Neapolitan dialect, rather than in "proper" Italian. Fair warning: the series is not for the faint-hearted.
Senter Essay Contest Winners Announced and Published The Beacon Society has announced the winners of the 2021 R. Joel Senter Essay Contest for young people, and has published the prize-winning writings. First prize in the 7th to 9th grade category went to Kaitlyn Polchow for her essay "Thinking Like Sherlock Holmes." She begins, "Ever since I was young. . ." Dear me, dear me. Reading the work of these young Sherlockians is a joy, and you can do it simply by clicking here.
Routes from the Reichenbach captures worldwide audience The July 10 joint meeting of The Red Circle and The Reichenbach Irregulars of Switzerland boasted some 150 participants from at least 15 countries. It was a grand launch party for the new book from the Reichenbach Irregulars, Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle and Switzerland. Drawn from one of the book's main themes, 
the program for the day was "Routes from the Reichenbach," as three experts on both Sherlock Holmes and Switzerland's challenging terrain presented their views about how Holmes managed to foil Moriarty's henchmen and travel safely from the falls to Florence after the professor's precipitous plunge from the precipice. The research and creativity of our special guests Eva Iggland, Guy Marriott and Bryan Stone were evident as they each mapped a different route, and their exuberant turns at playing the Grand Game were appreciated by all. In the USA, the book is available from amazon; in Europe it's available from Books on Demand. And, the highly entertaining video of the event is available simply by clicking the screen.
A Broken Circle Our friend Randall Stock is well known for his “Best of Sherlock Holmes” lists. Paul Thomas Miller of Portsmouth aims to become just as famous in the opposite direction. His “Doyle’s Rotary Coffin” society was inspired by Will Ferrell’s Holmes & Watson, and features all manner of what he considers Holmes at his worst. Case in point: by mashing together The Red Circle’s namesake story and the popular Christian hymn “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?” Paul offers the music video “The Red Circle Will Be Broken.” You’re invited to watch and listen here.
Goodbye to 10-year medallion For the past year we've proudly displayed our 10-year medallion here on the home page. But we must now retire it, because November 2021 marked a full eleven years since our website went live. We've enjoyed the ride, enjoyed getting to know more and more Sherlockians at every turn, and enjoyed the continued enthusiasm for the Great Detective--even through the convulsive two years just past. As always, we invite you to explore our Archive via the right-hand box above. It's loaded with articles, meeting notes, Inner Circle highlights, quizzes and videos that chronicle our beloved Red Circle. And thanks for keeping us on your "favorites" list
Around in Circles! The circles may not have been red, but the century-old Dentzel Carousel at Maryland's Glen Echo Park was an irresistible draw for Peter Blau and Dan Stashower at our September 25 picnic. Peter claimed that he was looking for Silver Blaze! Read the meeting notes here, and take the "Parks and Recreation" Quiz here.
Sherlockian Societies info and interactive map are featured on the new and extremely useful website from the Beacon Society. Most Sherlockians know that the Beacon Society focuses its light on bringing the exploits of the Great Detective to young people. To advance that cause--and to provide an excellent resource for all Sherlockians--the Beacon Society's new website includes great information about Sherlockian societies along with a map pinpointing active groups and giving contact information for each. The Sherlockian Society page is here, and the home page for the new website is here.
Nick Meyer Highlights December Red Circle Meeting We were pleased to welcome author, director and Sherlockian Nicholas Meyer to our December 4 Zoom get-together. Nick billed his talk as "The Great Escape," and it was a truly delightful escape into his personal takes on everything from art and life. . .to the value of pastiches. . .to Sherlock Holmes, with a few words about his fascination for Egypt, which inspired his new Holmes adventure, The Return of the Pharaoh. His presentation was followed by a lively and entertaining question-and-answer period. If you weren't with us live, we especially recommend the video, which you can watch by clicking the screen at the right. Peter Blau's Meeting Notes for the December 4 meeting are available here.
Archive 2021
Here are items that have appeared on our front page feature section, "The Inner Circle," in 2021. We have included those items that may have some continuing interest; however, some of the links in the items may no longer function due to the removal from the internet of the underlying material.
To review the archives of other sections of our website, click here
