Beacon Society News and Links

Why read Sherlock Holmes today?

The Jan Stauber Grant provides up to $250 in assistance for developing a teaching project that will introduce more young people to Sherlock Holmes. Guidelines and application forms are available on the Jan Stauber Grant page. The deadline for receipt of applications is March 1, 2012.

William S. Dorn, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at The University of Denver, has taught his undergraduate students about the logical reasoning and adventures of Sherlock Holmes for 30 years. He has written five books about Sherlock Holmes and has been a member of The Baker Street Irregulars since 1999. In 2011, Bill generously gave the Beacon Society permission to share his 2-volume set of Study Guides to Sherlock Holmes, which were published in 2001 and are now out of print. The Foreword and Introduction to the Study Guides explains the unique character of this project that covers every story in the Canon. We have chosen The Red-headed League as our first Study Guide adventure. Thank you, and congratulations, Professor Dorn!

The Beacon Award annually recognizes a project that has successfully introduced young people to the Sherlock Holmes stories. The award comprises a certificate and a check for $221. If you're thinking of a nominee for next year, review the nomination form here, and note that you cannot nominate yourself.

The Beacon Society can now accept donations on our website! We are happy to accept PayPal as well as Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express. Security is guaranteed by PayPal, the company that handles our online account.

The Beacon Society is now on Facebook! Thanks to Beacon member Judith Freeman, who thought we could benefit from some social networking, the Beacon Society has joined several other Sherlockian groups on Facebook. Drop by, "friend" us, and tell us what you'd like to see.

2011 Winner of the Clarkson Prize: Watson's Tin Box of Ellicott City, Maryland, along with the Howard County Library and Howard County Public Schools, again sponsored the Sherlock Holmes Essay Contest for seventh graders in Howard County, Maryland. This is the sixth year that students have studied and written about The Speckled Band. Emily, the 13-year-old winner of the Clarkson Prize, has agreed to let us present her winning essay on the Beacon website. Congratulations, Emily!

Last year we enjoyed Sherlock, a 3-episode series from the BBC, shown in the US on PBS "Masterpiece Mystery" in October 2010. We were even more excited to find that PBS mentioned the Beacon Society in its Book and Film Club: Sherlock list of "Resources" for the first episode, A Study in Pink. If you missed it, there will surely be reruns, as more episodes of Sherlock are planned for 2012.

POETRY plays an important part in the world of Sherlock Holmes. Two favorites are Vincent Starrett’s “221B” written in 1942 and William Schweickert’s “A Long Evening with Holmes” written in 1984. These poems are often recited at the beginning and/or end of a meeting and to Sherlockians, “it is always 1895.” Vincent Starrett and William Schweickert were respected members of The Baker Street Irregulars. We have added a teaching unit on these poems that includes a literary introduction and Word Search puzzles.

Dr. Wayne Scott, a retired professor of English and American Studies, is a Sherlockian in Columbia SC. A contributor to the college textbook American Civilization and Culture, Dr Scott is greatly interested in promoting reading among young people, particularly reading about Sherlock Holmes. His book reviews will become a regular feature on the website.

Jerry Riggs' contribution on Scouting and Sherlock Holmes comes just in time for the Boy Scout Centennial.  Jerry Riggs, a Sherlockian who has been involved with Boy Scouts in the Chief Okemos Council in Michigan for nearly fifty years, has developed ways to instruct his Scouts in the time-honored “Sherlocking” first developed by Lord Baden-Powell for British army scouts and later used by him in the International Boy Scout movement.

Sherlockian Marino C. Alvarez, professor of Education at Tennessee State University, devised a Résumé for Sherlock Holmes, based on material from the stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Grammarians take note! Sherlockian Karen Murdock has identified all the figures of speech in the stories of Silver Blaze and A Study in Scarlet. PDF files are available with the story and all the identifications on the "I'm a Teacher" page.

Founded in 2003, the Beacon Society is dedicated to supporting educational experiences which introduce young people to the study of Sherlock Holmes literature. Through its recognition programs and information sources, the Society helps teachers and engages children in the pleasures of reading. A not-for-profit organization, the Beacon Society serves as a link to scions of the Baker Street Irregulars and to those working with young people, providing teachers and others with resources for bringing the magic of Sherlock Holmes to life in the classroom. Its mission is "supporting educational experiences that introduce young people to the Canon and recognizing exemplary efforts to do so."

Beginning in 2004, Beacon Awards have been given to those persons or organizations whose work with young people are deemed to have made an outstanding contribution toward the Beacon Society’s mission.