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THE ASTORIAN • SATuRdAy, OcTObER 19, 2019
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BAKER STREET’S
ETERNAL ALLURE
Peninsula resident travels world as
part of Sherlock Holmes societies
By PATTY HARDIN
‘E
lementary, my dear
Watson.”
Iconic
words
from an iconic character. Sher-
lock Holmes lives in the mem-
ories of devoted fans and fol-
lowers, and Sherlockians are
passionate about keeping Mr.
Holmes relevant.
“The Baker Street Irregu-
lars, the first Sherlock Holmes
Society, was named after
some characters in the Sher-
lock Holmes stories,” said
Marty Martin. “They formed
in 1934.” These characters
are street boys employed by
Holmes as intelligence agents.
International Holmes
societies
Martin, a peninsula resi-
dent, belongs to the London
Sherlock Holmes Society,
The Noble and Most Singu-
lar Order of the Blue Carbun-
cle in Portland, the Knights of
Baskerville Hall and the Curi-
ous Collectors, both in south-
ern California.
Her enthusiasm for Holmes
began when she started watch-
ing the old Basil Rathbone
movies on television.
“These movies were always
on TV when I was a kid,” Mar-
tin said, recalling a 1950s,
black and white display. “I
didn’t particularly care for
them as a kid, but my friends
did.”
You may be surprised
that many people cross con-
tinents, international bor-
ders and oceans to follow in
the footsteps of two fictional
characters.
Martin said there are at
least 897 Sherlockian societies
worldwide.
Fans in diverse locations
including Australia, Belgium,
Brazil, the Czech Republic,
Denmark and India gather to
read, watch movies and plays,
write essays, argue about the
same and drink. In addition to
England and the U.S., two hot-
beds of Holmesiana are Russia
and Japan.
“The BSI still meet once
a year,” Martin said, “around
the weekend of January 10 at
the Algonquin Hotel,” in New
York City during Holmes’
birthday month.
In total, the Sherlock
Holmes canon includes 56
short stories and four novels.
Martin is also a retired civil
engineer, fixed-wing pilot and
a certified scuba diver.
Themed meetings
Sherlock Holmes soci-
ety meetings are sometimes
themed, and many of those
attending dress accordingly.
Martin’s husband, Bob
Walters, is becoming more
enthused about participating.
“I put the costumes out on
the bed and he puts them on,”
Martin said.
In addition to the expected
literature teachers and librar-
ians, members include psy-
chologists, lawyers, national
security and forensics experts,
funeral directors, doctors and
mathematicians. (Sherlock’s
arch enemy, Moriarty, is a
math professor.)
Martin sums up the Sher-
lockian mania best with the
following toast she wrote:
He sits by the fireplace in Baker Street with Watson by his side.
Then they go off pursuing the game that’s afoot, and we go along for the ride.
We’ve read every one of his cases, we dress up in funny old clothes.
We travel to faraway places, we go wherever he goes.
We’ve seen all the Canon’s locations from the top of an old London bus.
Where would we be without Sherlock? Where would he be without us?
Patty Hardin is a free-
lance writer in Long Beach,
Washington.
A Sherlockian dinner at the House of Commons in England.
Sherlockian Marty Martin, right, with her husband Bob Walters.