I was lucky enough to be introduced to the wider S...

2006-10-10T03:57:00.000-04:00

I was lucky enough to be introduced to the wider Sherlockian world by an American, Luther L Norris, and among the first people to contact me (yes, they contacted me, not vice-versa) was John Bennett Shaw. We were friends for nearly thirty years, though we met on only two occasions, the second being in 1980 on my first visit to America. John and Dorothy kindly put me up for a couple of nights at their house in Santa Fe, and John actually apologised for the fact that the spare bed was in his library. That fabulous library! People would have paid money to spend a night in that room...

Meeting John was like meeting Father Christmas or Old King Cole. He was a big man, big in heart and spirit and body.

One night shortly before his 81st birthday (and my 47th - we were born on the same day, but decades apart) I dreamed that we met again. It was the only time I remember dreaming of him. The next day I was told that he had died, at about that time.

John Bennett Shaw was 'Big Brother' to generations of little brothers and sisters throughout the world. He was a great Sherlockian, a great collector, and a great friend. Here's to you, John!

Comments on The Baker Street Blog: "...To Add to Your Collection, Watson." [DANC]

I was lucky enough to be introduced to the wider S...