Episode 104: Sherlockians at Chautauqua

"I had never heard of the institution" [GREE]

Every four years, the Baker Street Irregulars, the New York-based literary society dedicated to studying Sherlock Holmes, arranges an excursion somewhere in the United States. These events happen outside of the usual BSI Weekend, and like the weekend itself, are open to all interested Sherlockians.

The first in 2004 took the group to Salt Lake City on the trail of A Study in Scarlet; then in 2008, the group went to Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania to the locales that inspired The Valley of Fear; in 2012, Los Angeles played host to a film-related conference. And in 2016, the group headed to the Chautauqua Institution for "The Mind and Art of Sherlock Holmes."

And this time, we were there! We managed to not only listen to and see some wonderful presentations, but we gave one of our own on the future of our little publication. But in the meantime, we nabbed a few of the speakers and got their stories — stories that went beyond the presentations. We even have some audio (and video clips below) of Philip Carli at the piano during the silent showings of the William Gillette film and Eille Norwood shorts. We even have some breaking news on a newly-discovered silent Sherlock Holmes film — the last one ever produced, in 1929.

Join us to hear why this hobby is about more than the collective events and publications; it's about relationships.

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Notes

1:36 Intro

6:22 Sponsor: Wessex Press

7:34 On the ground in Chautauqua

9:12 Interview with computer science legend Alan Kay

12:39 Bonnie MacBird talks about the Vernet family

14:45 Glen Miranker takes us to the WWI trenches

20:30 Henry Boote, Sherlockian entertainer

24:09 Tim Greer on staging Sherlock Holmes

29:12 Sponsor: The Baker Street Journal

31:22 Silent films

34:30 Philip Carli at the piano during the Norwood films

37:15 Russell Merritt talks about the silent films — and a newly discovered one!

41:59 Philip Carli accompanies the Gillette film

44:42 Jeffrey Hatcher on his inspiration for Holmesian screenwriting and playwriting

53:12 Closing thoughts

Sponsors

This episode includes our two longtime sponsors and we thank them. Please support our sponsors by visiting their sites:

• Wessex Press, where the future and the past come together.
• The Baker Street Journal, where we can reflect, be part of the big tent and find a community.

Would you care to become a sponsor? You can find more information here.

Links

• The Chautauqua Institution
• Bonnie MacBird on Episode 83: Art in the Blood
• That Moroccan table
• Eille Norwood