Return to New York

Books, friends, exhibits and booze: A few memorable days with Sherlockians.

The usual Starrett posts will pause this week as we look back on the recent Baker Street Irregulars weekend. Starrett talk will run through this post but this is mostly a love letter for a group of people who are dear to me.

The BSI dinner and attendant events were held in person in New York City. The return to an in-person series of events felt dramatic. With great respect for those who were not comfortable or able to attend, I have to say that I am grateful for going. Here are a few highlights.

The new edition of Murder on ‘B’ Deck

The paperback and hardbound editions of Vincent Starrett’s *Murder on ‘B’ Deck*.

Before we get to the BSI events, I need to back up a bit. About the time I retired in the summer of 2021, I had an email from Otto Penzler at the Mysterious Bookshop in New York. He said he was going to reprint a second Vincent Starrett detective novel, after the success of The Great Hotel Murder, back in 2020. The lovely and talented Lyndsay Faye wrote the introduction to that volume. Otto asked me if I would write a new introduction for Murder on ‘B’ Deck. I took a while to think about it (12, maybe 13 seconds) and agreed.

Skip ahead six months. Just before I left for New York in January 2022, a box from Mysterious showed up at the house with copies of the hardback and paperback editions. Wow, what a thrill! I was incredibly excited to see something I wrote between the same covers as a Starrett mystery novel. I had a healthy celebratory sip of Laphroaig that night to celebrate.

Signing the introduction for the new edition of Starrett’s *Murder on ‘B’ Deck* in the lower level of the Mysterious Bookshop in New York. We were masked, of course, and I put on a name badge so folks who had a hard time with the mask would know who I was. Photo by Charles Perry.

But the thrill wasn’t over. After a memorable evening with friends in New York on Wednesday night, I went to the Mysterious Bookshop on Thursday morning to see the first annual ACD Society award ceremony.

Afterwards I slipped through the door with the warning tape on it and went downstairs to see what Sherlockian books Otto might have for sale. I didn’t see anything that I needed, but I was excited when Otto suggested I sign copies of Murder on ‘B’ Deck.

That was a first! His colleague, Charles Perry, was kind enough to photograph the moment. (At this writing they have a few signed copies left, so if you’re looking for one, let Otto know.)

It was a grand moment I had never expected.

Go to the Grolier

It was then time to trot up to the Grolier Club on the Upper East Side and see the breathtaking exhibit of Glen Miranker’s Arthur Conan Doyle collection.

I can’t properly tell you how remarkable this exhibit is. Miranker has selected 221 objects from his collection to show the breadth and depth of Conan Doyle’s most famous creation in books and related items.

The dramatic interior sign on the far wall announcing the exhibition.

This image was drawn by Frederic Dorr Steele and is inscribed to Vincent Starrett, signed by Steele and dated 1933—the same year as The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes was published.

One of the creepiest images to ever grace a Holmes story. Glen Miranker’s daughter, Emily, said it used to frighten her every time she saw it.

Vincent Starrett’s first edition copy of The Hound of the Baskervilles.

An original Steele illustration for The Hound of the Baskervilles.

One of several original Paget illustrations, this one showing Holmes as a “venerable Italian priest” from “The Final Problem.”

There were several nods to Starrett in the exhibit, such as a first edition copy of The Hound of the Baskervilles with Starrett’s bookplate and signature; and a remarkable Frederic Dorr Steele original of Holmes in dressing gown, inscribed to Vincent Starrett and dated 1933, the same year as The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes.

The photos here don’t do the exhibit justice. If there’s any way you can get there before the exhibit closes on April 16, 2022, I highly recommend it.

I was fortunate to buy a copy of the exhibit catalog while there, and Glen kindly inscribed it. The book is gorgeous, authoritative and a treat to read. Congratulations to all who were involved with the exhibition and the beautiful book.

“Shall the world, then, be overrun by oysters?”

A half-dozen oysters were happily consumed by your correspondent during the SPODE dinner.

In previous years, I’ve stayed in New York until Sunday morning largely to attend a Saturday night gathering at the Oyster Bar in Grand Central. What started many years back as a handful of folks looking for a little food and beer in a quintessentially New York establishment has grown to become S.P.O.D.E.: Sherlockians Preventing Oysters Destroying the Earth.

(I think you had to be there.)

The LORE scion society of S.P.O.D.E. is official!

The Oyster Bar couldn’t accommodate us on Saturday this year, so we met on Thursday night. A few of our regulars could not be there (Alas Tim Greer and Roy Pilot, among others. We drank to you. Several times.), but we carried on in their absence, eating as many of the evil bivalves as possible, while washing them down with fermented libations.

Accepting the award for the LORE chapter of S.P.O.D.E. were Ashley Polasek and your correspondent.

Steve Doyle, S.P.O.D.E. Headboard, used the occasion to recognize two scion societies, one of which was LORE, based in Williamsburg.

The recognition recalls a visit to the Studies in Starrett World Headquarters by Dr. Ashley Polasek, during which oysters were eaten along with multiple tastes of various expressions of Laphroaig Scotch whisky. Our favorite from that evening was LORE and when Steve asked us to name our chapter of S.P.O.D.E., we went with that.

Again, I think you had to be there.

We are grateful to Jacqueline Bost Morris for the photo.

Friday Lunch at the Park Avenue Tavern

A lunch in honor of Susan Rice. From left: Jenn Eaker, Janice Fisher, Curtis Armstrong, your correspondent, Ashley Polasek, Steve Rothman and Mickey Fromkin.

Lunch on Friday was something special.

You see those folks around the table? We were at the Park Avenue Tavern to celebrate our friendship, but also to remember an absent friend, the late Susan Rice. We gathered with Susan’s wife, the always nattily dressed Mickey Fromkin. We also briefed Mickey on the outcome of a little project we had been working on over the last year as a fitting tribute to Susan’s memory. You can read more about the Susan Rice Mentorship Award below in the section on the Saturday luncheon.

Susan was a long-time friend and a great Starrettian. Whenever I write about Starrett now, I think to myself, “It’s not bad, but Susan would have done it better.” I re-read her essays on Starrett often, always with admiration and affection.

BSI dinner at the Yale Club

I loved this year’s dinner. Dining and laughing with so many friends restored me in ways I did not know I needed.

Michael Kean led a smooth and elegant program that hit all the right notes. I was floored by Ira Matetsky’s detailed and delightful paper on Rex Stout and his long relationship with the BSI. Ira was called up from the bench when a few others had to cancel, and managed to do a great presentation with only 48 hour’s notice.

My paper describing in detail why Vincent Starrett attended only one BSI dinner also seemed to go over well.

This year’s class of new Baker Street Irregulars. Congratulations to all of you!

The climax of the meeting was when Wiggins announced the new investitures. There were many grand people brought into the ranks, including Jim Hawkins, who created the John Bennett Shaw site; and Tim Johnson, Curator of the Sherlock Holmes Collections at the University of Minnesota Libraries, where there is a sizable Starrett collection.

The evening ended with a reading of Starrett’s, “221B.”

I’ve left a lot out, but know this: In my opinion it couldn’t have been better.

Saturday luncheon

At the BSI luncheon the following day, the first Susan Rice Mentorship Award was given.

Curtis Armstrong announced both the award, and its first recipient, Peter Blau. The award was designed to honor Susan’s decades of encouragement and kindness to many of us in the Sherlockian world and to encourage others to follow her example.

We could not have picked a better first recipient than Peter Blau. Peter and Susan were great friends, but more importantly, he has an equally admirable record of helping many of us in our early years.

The award and its recipient were met with a richly deserved standing ovation.

Great memories, precious friends

Amtrak canceled two trains headed back to Virginia on Sunday because of nasty weather. I finally got a ticket for one that made its way from New York to Richmond, Virginia, and after a drive through snow and freezing rain, I was home late Sunday afternoon.

That evening, I took the books acquired during the weekend and added them to the pile of gift books that came over the holidays. My TBR pile is this high. I couldn’t be happier.

For me, the holidays officially come to an end after returning from New York. There were many precious memories, especially from the little lunches and room parties that allow friends to catch up, brainstorm and plan what comes next in our Sherlockian lives. There are unforgettable moments from that weekend that I will cherish.

To all who had a hand in making this a successful weekend, I thank you.

And to all the many friends, old and new, that I had the opportunity to see, I thank you too.