"A Remarkably Rich Tenor Voice" [VALL]

It came as a great surprise and shock to me to receive notice of the passing of Bruce Montgomery, BSI ("The Red Circle") on Saturday, June 21. He was, for many years, the voice and spirit of the Baker Street Irregulars annual dinner in New York, where he would invariably sing the BSI's unofficial anthem, "Aunt Clara."

Monty, as he was known by all (a name we both shared) picked up where his father, James Montgomery, BSI ("The Red Circle") left off. The elder Montgomery was also a gifted tenor and provided musical entertainment during the BSI's early years. He passed away very suddenly and very prematurely in 1955, as his Christmas Annual was being printed. As a side note, I actually own a copy of that annual, with a note from Jim's wife:

"My husband died very suddenly on November 9th. It was his expressed wish, however, that I should get out this little booklet in the envelopes which he had already addressed."

Constance P. Montgomery
Christmas, 1955

Like his father before him, Monty was a victim of heart failure - which is ironic, because he had a big heart that was dedicated to bringing joy to all around him. A more upbeat and friendly man I have yet to meet. He brought his special variety of joy in a variety of settings, from the University of Pennsylvania Glee Club (which he brought to a BSI dinner one year), to the Gilbert & Sullivan Players of Philadelphia, to the artwork he took up upon his retirement.

An example of his artwork, which can be ordered as notecards, reminds me of one of the illustrations from "The Lion's Mane":

Thankfully, Monty's contributions will not be forgotten. His artwork lives on, and his voice will live on in the BSI's archives - which will now include digital media. Click on the arrow below to hear Bruce give his last BSI performance, recorded at the BSI dinner in New York City on January 11, 2008.

I was honored to stand in his presence on a number of occasions and share the microphone with him. While my singing voice is fairly good, it paled in comparison to the consummate professional who stood beside me. Good night, Monty. You'll be terribly missed.

You can read his obituary from the Philadelphia Inquirer here.

Do you have your own memories of Bruce Montgomery? Please share them as a comment below.

"In a Flash We Caught a Glimpse" [RETI]

I recently shared a short video with you that described social media. As you may know, the essence behind social media is sharing information - text, audio, video, photos, etc.

I just found an interesting application that allows me to share a stream of mentions of anything on Twitter with a background of Flickr photos. I've set it to stream mentions of "Sherlock" while backed with images tagged with Sherlockian. See what people are saying and what images show up:

This is also a good time to remind you: if you take photos at any Sherlockian events, please consider uploading them to Flickr and tagging them with "Sherlockian," to share them with other like-minded individuals. You might find that you'll connect with some interesting people that way.

"Nearly Passed Over a Little Ford" [LAST]

One of the reasons you've been hearing less from me in these parts is that my professional life has been keeping me very busy. For the last year or so, I've been working for a small start-up that specializes in social media - all of the fancy schmancy stuff you see here, like social networks, podcasts, blogs, etc. Think of it as new technology that makes communicating easier.

After some very long and difficult days this year, I was feeling burned out. As fate would have it, I was approached by one of the most storied brands in America - and quite possibly the world. Ford Motor Company asked me to become the head of social media in their Global Communications department.

As you may know, there are some Sherlockian connections to Ford. There's the reference in the headline above, from "His Last Bow," where Von Bork's secretary is leaving the seaside cottage:

"The secretary lay back in the cushions of the luxurious limousine, with his thoughts so full of the impending European tragedy that he hardly observed that as his car swung round the village street it nearly passed over a little Ford coming in the opposite direction."

And if you've been to a society meeting or two, you may have heard "We Never Mention Aunt Clara." If so, you'll recall that Aunt Clara's sister drove in a second-hand Ford. Let's just say that the Ford I'll be driving will be anything but second-hand.

Moving to Michigan is going to be an adventure, but I won't be leaving my Sherlockian pursuits behind. I know I'll be in good hands with the likes of the Amateur Mendicant Society and the blog and podcast will continue.

And if you'd like a quick run-through of what social media is all about, take a look at this:



Photo courtesy of Andrew Dunn

"Vampires in Transylvania" [SUSS]

One of the most intriguing of the later Sherlock Holmes stories - those from the collections known as His Last Bow and The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes - has to be "The Sussex Vampire." The title alone arouses interest and imagination of a morbid gothic scene.

Certainly vampires have been right up there in popularity with Sherlock Holmes, with plenty of movies, novels and popular culture that center on Dracula and the like. And when you consider that Bram Stoker was an acquaintance of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and that his novel was released in the spring of 1897 - in the midst of Doyle's hiatus from writing the Holmes stories - it fits right in with the time and place of our hero.

If you have even the most passing interest in Dracula, then you'll be happy know know this news: Leslie Klinger, BSI ("The Abbey Grange") - probably most well-known for his three-volume series The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes (which if you don't own, you should; just click the link) - just announced that his latest opus, The Annotated Dracula, is now available for preorder on Amazon.

If you're familiar with Les's fine and thorough work in NASH, you'll know what to expect from his new book. Personally, I don't know enough about Dracula or vampires - just the usual stake-in-the-heart and garlic stuff - so this will be an interesting volume to peruse.

"Took Out His Manuscript" [MUSG]

Every once in a while, there's an item that puts Sherlockian collectors into a fervor. Whether or not the item is within everyone's reach, it creates an aura of excitement and anticipation, wondering what the market will bear. And it almost certainly ends in a battle at the auction house (maybe not as physically violent as the image on the left, but definitely an emotional one).

The most recent item to undergo such scrutiny was an original 1887 Beeton's Christmas Annual - famous for A Study in Scarlet, the first appearance of Sherlock Holmes in print. A copy was found in a pile of books at an Oxfam shop in the U.K. and subsequently was put up for auction, eventually bringing in £18,600 (approx. US$36,500). You can read about the entire backstory as well as the auction results here.

Now it seems that there's an original manuscript of one of the Holmes stories up for sale. The 28-page manuscript for "The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax" is expected to bring nearly £250,000 when it goes under the hammer, according to an article in the Times.

I'm not so certain. The comparable sale they reference is the manuscript for The Sign of Four, which sold for $470,000 (£243,000) at Sotheby's in New York in 1996. I would think that the novels - remember there are only four, and the MSS of The Hound of the Baskervilles was divided up for publicity purposes when the book went on sale - would command a higher premium than any of the 56 short stories. Then again, when collectors have a shot at a true rarity, sanity often times is checked at the door.

For more information about original Doyle manuscripts - Sherlock Holmes-related and otherwise - the definitive resource is Randall Stock's web site. There's a wealth of information available there.