How I became a Sherlockian

by J. S. Wollam on July 10, 2023

​It was the end of summer in 1973, and my classmates and I were attending a new school. Our little town was too small to have its own high school, so we were all bussed to the next town over to attend United Township for our freshman year.

My best friend Rusty P. and I were lucky enough to have at least one class together that first quarter, English Literature, taught by Mr. Greer. Not far into the month of September, we came upon a mystery short story in our textbook which was destined to steer me towards enjoyment for the rest of my life. The piece was entitled "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Upon reading it, Rusty and I were immediately captivated. While he pursued other SH stories by this Doyle fellow at the nearest bookstore, I remembered I already had The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes at home, purchased on a whim from the school reading list a few years earlier. After that it was trips to both the bookstore and the local library to find more. Meanwhile fortune smiled upon us when the local TV station substituted the Saturday midnight "Creature Feature" with the Sherlock Holmes/Charlie Chan Mystery Theater, thus introducing us to Basil Rathbone, Peter Cushing, et al.

At some point I must have thought, "I wonder if this deduction stuff really works"? So one day (in which I learned absolutely nothing about English Literature) I spent the entire class period examining Mr. Greer's shirt sleeves, elbows, and cuffs, his trouser knees, his tie, anything that might give me a clue. Then it hit me! As soon as the dismissal bell rang, I motioned for Rusty to come with me to Mr. Greer's desk. I said, "I have a question to ask you Mr. Greer, then I will make a deduction. Do you park your car in the paved lot with the rest of the teachers?". "Yes I do", he replied. "Then I must deduce that if I were to look for your house, it would be the one without a front sidewalk". "You're right", he said smiling. Rusty's mouth dropped open as he exclaimed, "How did you know THAT??". "By the grass on his shoes", I answered, pointing. "If he parks here in the asphalt lot, the only place the grass could have come from was his lawn when he walked to his car this morning, a lawn without a sidewalk". Thus began my interest in Mr. Sherlock Holmes.

My Sherlockian pursuits were on hiatus for awhile due to marriage, college, and child rearing, but happily returned in 1993 with my rediscovery of The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes short story collection. Since then, I have reread the originals (HOB at least three times), and dozens of pastiches, as well as viewing and collecting the TV series starring Jeremy Brett, Peter Cushing, Douglas Wilmer, Ronald Howard, and others. I earned my Bachelors Degree in Sherlockiana from the Watsonians in February of 1999. I am proud member of the Sherlock Holmes Society of the Cape Fear (NC) which I joined in September of 2022. And a large framed print of the Reichenbach Falls by Sidney Paget adorns my living room. Many relaxing hours away from the stresses of lilfe have been spent up those seventeen stairs at 221B, and I hope to have many more. Yet I still remember fondly those beginning days of discovery half a century ago, and my friend's glowing admiration at my deduction. "I can't believe you did that!" he gushed as we left the classroom. "Elementary, my dear Rusty," I replied, "Elementary."