Crossword Contest Concludes: Three Winners Named Many Sherlockians enjoyed Verna Suit’s “Sherlock Goes Green” crossword puzzle, which first appeared at last year’s Scintillation of Scions program, was distributed at the Red Circle’s March 30 meeting, and was posted here soon thereafter. Prizes were offered for the earliest correct entries, and our own quizzer extraordinaire Dana Richards submitted a correct solution before he left the meeting. In due course, Nancy Anselm claimed a prize, as did Lauren Cercone, who found the puzzle here on the website and entered from Arizona. Congratulations all. For those who haven’t seen it, or who want the solution, the puzzle can be found here, and the solution is here.
The Red Circle met for a delightful springtime luncheon and program on March 30. Our trusty Meeting Notes scribe Carla Coupe kept track of the proceedings as usual, and her report is here. And on this day Carla doubled as principal speaker, giving a fine paper entitled "Published When the Times Were Right." Her talk was received enthusiastically, and she has graciously provided the text for our Writings section. You can find it there where it will be archived, and directly through this link. Your time definitely will not be misspent!.jpg)
In Memoriam: Julie Snell The Red Circle is saddened to stand upon the terrace for Julie Snell, who died on March 22. Julie was born in 1923 and grew up in Schenectady, NY, graduated from Cornell University with a major in German Language and Literature, and went on to be a science writer in General Electric's research lab. She and her then fiancé Charlie Snell exchanged some 1,500 letters during World War II and referred to each other as the Beatrice and Benedick of the war. Together, they joined the Red Circle in 1972, making Julie our (almost) senior member. She was also a member of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London and once attended their annual dinner. She enjoyed mystery novels, loved crosswords, quote-acrostics and bridge--and always was delighted when the bridge columns in the Washington Post mentioned Sherlock Holmes. Julie and Charlie are survived by three beautiful, brilliant, talented children (one daughter and two sons), three granddaughters, two grandsons and one great-granddaughter. Julie's daughter Nancy Anselm kindly donated the door prize for our meeting in March: a framed poster from Julie's collection with Sherlockian artwork composed of the entire text of The Hound of the Baskervilles in one and two point type. Nancy told us that Julie wanted someone in the Red Circle to have it.
Curious Incidents at the Reference Desk One of the joys of living in the Washington area is knowing that one of our local libraries is housed in three buildings on Capitol Hill. The Library of Congress has all sorts of resources, including a well-staffed reference desk, where for more than 30 years you could find Red Circle member Thomas Mann, who like all good Sherlockians seemed to know just where all the bodies were buried. Now retired, Tom has found time to write Doc at the Reference Desk (Washington: Alexandrina Press, 2017; 77 pp., $7.00). This collection of fictional but revealing "small stories in a large library" gives us an idea of some of the strange things that can happen at a reference desk. It’s non-Sherlockian (but obviously written by a fellow traveler), and great fun for all those who like real libraries.
A Sherlockian Coin of the Realm Redux At the new year we reported that the UK's Royal Mint was releasing a 50p coin featuring a tribute to Sherlock Holmes. At that time the coin was only available in a set that included other special coins, and at a hefty price. Greg Ruby now alerts us that a brilliant, uncirculated version of the Holmes coin is available directly from the mint for a much more reasonable ten pounds each. The coin is issued to mark the 160th anniversary of the birth of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and comes in a nice presentation folder. The handsome image was created by artist Stephen Raw, whose intials appear at the bottom of the design. This is the only Holmesian coin ever minted in the UK, and ordering information is here.
Ken Ludwig's Dear Jack, Dear Louise now playing at Arena Washington playwright Ken Ludwig has won multiple Tony and Olivier awards for his work. He's a Shakespearian scholar (Shakespeare in Hollywood) and a master of stage comedy (Lend Me a Tenor; Moon Over Buffalo). He's also a longtime Sherlockian (Baskerville; Holmes for the Holidays). Ken's latest play is running at Washington's Arena Stage through December 29, and it's neither Shakespearian nor Sherlockian. It's not a comedy either, although it is laced with much humor. It's called Dear Jack, Dear Louise, and it's the story of the long-distance romance begun during World War II between Ken's father Jack Ludwig and his mother Louise Rabiner. Jack was an army doctor stationed on the West Coast, and Louise was an aspiring actress in New York City. At Arena's season preview showcase in August, Ken was on hand to talk about the show and present a reading of the first scene. Reviews since the play opened have been quite positive; your webmaster saw it early in the run and recommends it highly. Ken is a friend of the Red Circle, and friends of Ken will certainly want to see this world premiere love story.The Sherlock Entreaty A late September play reading in New York presented a comic take on 
“The Naval Treaty” with Watson—the mystery writer who had invented the Sherlock Holmes character—forced to find a flesh-and-blood Sherlock when his old school chum Percy Phelps insists on having Holmes investigate the disappearance of the treaty. Watson resorts to a West End hack actor who generates many laughs when he turns out to be more interested in stagecraft than sleuthing. Webmaster Alan Rettig was on hand for the reading of The Sherlock Entreaty by Charmaine Spenser and presented by Break A Leg Productions. You can read his notes here.
Junior Sherlockians invited to submit monographs Many of us know that The Beacon Society helps keep the memory green by introducing young folks to Sherlock Holmes. The Red Circle’s Denny Dobry is a bright light in The Beacon Society, and he alerts us to a great opportunity for Sherlockian upstarts to start up the path to Canonical erudition, recognition and, oh yes, cash. The Society encourages students in the 4th through 12th grades to enter the Joel Senter Essay Contest and make their first contributions to the writings about the writings. The contest is divided into three groups by grade level and the deadline for entry is February 1, 2020. Along with handsome plaques, cash prizes of $300, $200 and $100 will be awarded to the three students in each group whose essays earn the highest scores from the judges. Details, along with links to the separate entry materials for each group can be found here. More information about the work of the Beacon Society can be found here. So spread the word and the entry packages to your favorite budding Sherlockians, and let’s see if we can get a winner or two from The Red Circle’s precincts!
Archive 2019
Here are items that have appeared on our front page feature section, "The Inner Circle," in 2018. 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
