I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere

Episode 12: An Interview with Bob Thomalen, Part 2

Scott Monty: I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere, Episode 12. An interview with

Bob Thomalen, Part Two.

Mycroft Holmes: I hear of Sherlock everywhere, since you became his

chronicler.

Narrator: In a world where it's always 1895 comes, I Hear of Sherlock

Everywhere. A podcast for devotees of Mr. Sherlock Holmes,
the world's first unofficial consulting detective.

Dr. Roylott: I've heard of you before. You're Holmes, the meddler. Holmes,
the busybody. Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office.

Narrator: The game's afoot, as we discuss goings on in the world of

Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts, the Baker Street Irregulars and
popular culture related to the great detective.

Dr. Watson: As we go to press, sensational developments have been

reported.

Narrator: So join your hosts, Scott Monty and Burt Wolder as they talk
about what's new in the world of Sherlock Holmes.

Sherlock Holmes: You couldn't have come at a better time.

Scott Monty: Hi and welcome back to I hear of Sherlock Everywhere, the
podcast for Sherlock Holmes devotees, where it's always 1895.
We're continuing with the interview we started with Bob
Thomalen last time. We'll pick up where we left off.

Scott Monty: And I think that your example is a shining one because it's
been so successful. It's had such a longevity and people keep
coming back to it time after time.

Bob Thomalen: Yeah. As a matter of fact there are, I think, six Sherlockians
who have attended every one of the Autumn in Baker Streets.
And then there's a whole raft of people that have attended 16,
17 or 18 of them. We have a large following that comes back
every year and yet this year we had something like 12 new
people that had never been here before.

Scott Monty: That's great.

Bob Thomalen: So I think that's wonderful. Yeah, I love to see the new folks
come in.

Scott Monty: Now, one of the things in my mind as I've heard you tell your
story here is, you mentioned getting 56 people at that first
Autumn in Baker Street up in bear mountain. How did you
actually get that many people together? What was your
methodology? Who did you reach out to and how did it come
about that there were 56 people that showed up when you
were expecting maybe 20?

Bob Thomalen: Well, I was hoping for 20. That was ambitious for me. Actually,
I went to Scion meetings around the New York area and I sent
flyers to several other Scions that weren't too far away. And, lo
and behold, of the 56 people that attended, 11 came down
from Albany in the Altamont's Agents group, and I was thrilled
to death.

Burt Wolder: Well, they just came down to get warm.

Bob Thomalen: You know how those people are. But they were wonderful and
they've been coming ever since. Not 11, but a group of them
come every year.

Burt Wolder: Isn't it interesting you had 56 people at that first one, one for
each one of the short stories.

Bob Thomalen: See that. As long as there were only four at the next.
[Laughter]

Scott Monty: Now one of the successes that I know that that keeps the
formula going is that you're able to lock in some really
interesting speakers. And it could be first time speakers. You
know, you approached me to do one, one year, and I had
never given a formal presentation before. And I remember you
badgering me early on for the title and subject of my talk so
you could actually book it in the program.

Bob Thomalen: I usually plan a year ahead.

Scott Monty: A year ahead. And how do you pick your speakers? Who do
you reach out to? How do you make that determination?

Bob Thomalen: I don't know. Divine intervention, I think. I'm not sure.

Scott Monty: Smithwick's!

Bob Thomalen: [Laughter] But there's something guiding my hand. I don't

know. I just have a sense that, and I certainly want to look for
people that I know are good speakers but, by the same token, I
used to teach public speaking and presentation skills and all
that so I know that very rarely does someone get the
opportunity to do that. Hence, everybody is scared out of their
wits when called upon to give a presentation or to speak
before a group.

Bob Thomalen: And so, I would ask occasionally people who had never done
this before, and the reactions were always the same. I would
say, "I'd like you to be a speaker at next Autumn in Baker
 Street." The blood would drain completely out of their heads
and after I picked him up off the floor, they, "What did you
say?"

Bob Thomalen: And then I would repeat it and they, "But I can't, but, but, but,
but." I said, "You can do it, you can do it. Trust me, you can do
it." And lo and behold, they'd work on it and work on it, and by
the time they get up at that lectern, they gave great
presentations. There's very few clinkers that we've had over
the 20, really.

Burt Wolder: When you look back on those presentations, Bob, who stands
out? for example, was Tom Stix ever connected to Autumn in
Baker Street?

Bob Thomalen: He once gave a presentation on Silver Blaze, but his shining
moment in the annals of Autumn in Baker Street came in, it
was 1982 I'm sorry, 1983. We started in '82 but now we're in
'83 and Cynthia Wein, she hand paints shirts with Sherlockian
themes and she painted a beautiful one of my logo for Autumn
in Baker Street on a blue t-shirt with black painting, which
were the colors of the program booklets that I used to
distribute.

Bob Thomalen: And I was wearing this when, suddenly, Stix got up and he
came up and I was between speakers and I was just about to
introduce another one, when he stormed up with this big
easel. And I looked at him and wondered what in God's name
is he doing now? So he turned the easel pad and on it were
listed the years 1982, '83, '84 et cetera. And he said, "This is
just to prove that Thomalen can't count." So I said, "What are
you doing? What are you talking about?" He said, "This is the
10th anniversary of Autumn in Baker Street, but it's 11 years
ago. It can't be the 10th." And I said, "You get out of here, get
going, get on." He went back and the place laughed, of course,
but before he did, he said, "Listen, all kidding aside, we've
gotten a present for you." And it was this big cardboard box.
 And I looked at it. I was around him too long. I said, "You think
I'm opening this? You're crazy."

Bob Thomalen: So he says, "No, seriously go ahead." So I opened the box and I
started to laugh. There's very few times that I've been
completely at a loss for words, but I just couldn't stop laughing
when I saw this. He had gift wrapped half a toilet seat. I don't
have to explain the implications.

Scott Monty: Which half, Bob?

Bob Thomalen: You know, somebody asked which half and he said the right
half. It's the right guy. So with that, Ben Vizoskie stood and
said, "Does Tom get the other half?" And somebody said,
"There goes your shilling!" So, that's how I recall Tom Stix at
Autumn in Baker Street.

Scott Monty: That's great. Now, you actually worked pretty closely with Tom
within the ranks of the Baker Street Irregulars, if I'm not
mistaken.

Bob Thomalen: Yes.

Scott Monty: Can you tell us a little bit about your role and maybe some
personal recollection of Tom? Because for those listeners who
may not be aware, Tom Stix was the, let's see, one, two, three,
four, fourth head of the BSI, and was actually instrumental in
bringing women into the organization when it had been a
single sex club for so long, and he will be forever remembered
for that magnanimous gesture. And it sounds like there was
both a warmhearted side to Tom as well as the one that could
actually rib you in a few ways. Just tell us a little bit more
about your experience with the man.

Bob Thomalen: Oh, he was Jekyll and Hyde, there's no question about this. He
could be as irascible as the very worst person. We were sitting
in the lobby of the Algonquin one weekend, the Sherlock
Holmes weekend, I forget when, years ago, and an older
regular walk behind him. And apparently Tom had
 remembered something that this guy did that annoyed him
and started berating him at the top of his lungs. And I leaned
over and I said, "Will you shut up? Who do you think you
talking to? This guy is about 75 years old." "Well ... " And then
he finally realized where he was and he calmed down. But
yeah, he could blow off like you wouldn't believe. But he was
probably the most good natured guy I've ever met. He was
generous to a fault and he would do anything for you.

Bob Thomalen: But, getting back to things that I remember about him, when
he became Wiggins, I became Cartwright and John Bennett
Shaw became Simpson. Because, prior, well the first leaders of
the BSI, there were three. And then there was one, Julian, and
then, I'm sorry, Edgar Smith. Then Julian, they ran it alone. But
when Tom took over, he's decided to go back to the three
officer format. So Shaw would handle all the correspondence
of the BSI and my job, I always said that my job was to be a
buffer between Tom and the membership. And Shaw said,
"You're right. That's all we do." We didn't know whether he'd
kill them or they'd kill him. Let's just keep them apart and
that's the way. But he was wonderful fun to be with. He would
often have parties at his house, big dinner parties, and he was
a wonderful host, he and Dorothy. And Dorothy, by the way,
became the unofficial photographer of the Baker Street
Irregulars and she is now in the process of putting together
albums and a pictorial history for the Harvard Baker Street
collection.

Scott Monty: Right, right.

Burt Wolder: The Trust.

Bob Thomalen: The Trust, yes. Let's see. Let me tell you about Tom. When he
took over, it was decided that he'd run the dinner and I'd run
the cocktail party. So I would often say, "I wonder what I have
to say tomorrow." I didn't have to worry about material
because, at the dinner ... Well, at one dinner he said when he
was addressing the group, he was reading something and he
 said, "And this will help us to keep green the member, Sherlock
Holmes."

Burt Wolder: I've heard of green thumbs, but ...

Bob Thomalen: I roared my head off. Of course the next day, that was part of
my comments from the lectern at the cocktail party.
Unbeknownst to Tom, I had contacted Jeff Decker who was the
Sherlockian artist and I said, "Jeff, I want you to paint me a
picture. I want a picture of Sherlock Holmes addressing BSI in
tuxedos. And I want a picture of Stix kneeling in front of him
painting his crotch green." And Jeff Decker painted, it was his
favorite picture. And when Tom died, I tried to get it but his
son wanted it, so his son has that painting. But he laughed his
head off, because the next year he said, "We're going to keep
green the mammary." And of course gales of laughter.

Burt Wolder: You know, some folks might not know that Tom followed in his
father's footsteps in his interest in Sherlock Holmes and Tom
Stix Sr. himself was a great Irregular.

Bob Thomalen: Yeah, the Darlington Substitution Scandal. And his grandson
has the same investiture. But Tom was "The Norwood Builder"
before he became Wiggins. But he was a wonderful guy.

Burt Wolder: In Norwood, New Jersey.

Bob Thomalen: In Norwood, New Jersey, yeah. He was a terrific guy. He was a
dear friend. I really miss him.

Scott Monty: And speaking of dear friends, tell us a little bit about Bill
Schweikert. I know you mentioned him before and he's written
this poem that I certainly am familiar with. Tell me a little bit
about your relationship with bill, how you came to know him
and the evolution of the poem.

Bob Thomalen: I became a member of The Three Garridebs one meeting after
Bill did. It was three or six months, I forget what it was. But
yeah, he became a member just before I did and this fellow,
 Bruce Kennedy used to run The Garridebs and it was at the, I
think it was the 1981, yeah, the 1981 dinner up at The Culinary
Institute. We were standing out in the yard, outside having
cocktails, and Kennedy came up to me and said, "I want your
permission to resign from The Garridebs." I said, "What? What
did you say? What are you talking about?" And he said, "I'm
not going to be with The Garridebs anymore." And just then
they called us into dinner. I didn't have a chance to chat with
him about this. Well, to make a long story short, he didn't.

Bob Thomalen: So I called Bill and said, "You know, this guy's gone. You want
to take over?" And he said, "Well, why don't we both?" So we
both ran The Garridebs for, I think, 12 years and we found that
we had a great working relationship. Bill was probably the
sweetest man you could ever meet. He was a retired executive
vice president of the New York Bank For Savings and he was
just such a fine gentleman and a good friend that you had to
love the guy.

Bob Thomalen: Well, the kind of guy he was, you couldn't give him anything. It
was one quirk of his. When the patches came out, the BSI
patches, I said, "Let me have two of them. I'll give one to Bill."
So I bought two of them and I gave one to Bill Schweikert and
Bill said, "Oh, thank you. I'll have to give you ..." "No, no, no,
no. Bill, you don't have to give me anything. This is a gift.
Period." Okay, about a month went by and at our next meeting
he said, "Bob, this is for you." And a big 8.5x11 envelope. I said,
"Okay, thank you." I didn't know what it was, but we were
planning the next Garrideb meeting, and when I got home,
there it was, the manuscript for A Long Evening With Holmes. I
was overwhelmed. I just couldn't believe what I was seeing
here.

Bob Thomalen: And we had a perfect balance. We never argued over what
material should be covered. If he didn't care for something I
suggested, he'd say so and I'd say, "Okay, we'll drop it." And
vice versa. He didn't like getting up and doing the MC and all
that stuff, but I did. I loved it. He liked the background stuff. He
 was a banker, so he did all the finances and he loved that. And
I loved doing what I was doing. It was a perfect marriage to run
a scion society.

Scott Monty: It sounds like it.

Bob Thomalen: And then when he ... Oh, it was. It was perfect. And then when
he passed away, there was a great, great hole in The
Garridebs. It was just, never been the same since. He was just
almost too good to be true.

Bob Thomalen: I just remembered something funny. He would read it at every

Garrideb meeting, and he'd stand up and I used to sit next to
him, and he'd start reading and I'd be mouthing it with him.
And oftentimes he would make a mistake and I'd look at him.
I'd say, "It doesn't go like that Bill." And then he'd say, "Oh,
okay," and he'd read on again. But a charming guy, charming
guy. And I just want to extol this poem just a little bit, because
it perfectly reflects how we all feel about Sherlock Holmes. It
gets right inside your head and your heart and you just know,
this is right. I would guess the first 10 or 15 times, or even
more than that, I couldn't recite this without tearing up at the
end. I could barely voice the last line or two.

Scott Monty: Yeah, and I've actually been witness to that. I think at maybe
my first Autumn in Baker Street meeting or maybe one of the
first ones after Bill died. [Bob: Or at the BSI.] Oh, that too. That
too. I witnessed you kind of choking up and you can tell how
much Bill's relationship with you meant, and also how much
this particular work means to you personally, from just reading
it as well as your relationship with your good friend Bill
Schweikert.

Bob Thomalen: Yeah, it's true. It's got me on two different levels and it's just
right there. Yeah.

Scott Monty: Well, it sounds like Bob, that so much of your Sherlockian
hobby here has been tied up in relationships with people that
 Terry would be hard pressed to throw out the effluvia of this
hobby, since they're people and not things.

Burt Wolder: You know, not too many people know, she was a sister to
Calpurnia.

Scott Monty: Effluvia?

Burt Wolder: Yeah.

Scott Monty: I thought you meant Terry.

Bob Thomalen: So did I.

Scott Monty: And to me, that strikes a chord of something Burt and I often
discuss, that this pastime is mostly about relationships. It's not
necessarily about books or things or even the studies. It's
about how we relate to our fellow man, our fellow men and
women, in the pursuit.

Burt Wolder: Well it's true. You know, as we've been doing this podcast,
we've talked about so many things about books, about Conan
Doyle, about his life and time, about what's attractive to us in
the character. And the ability to share that with other people
who also enjoy the same things is, I think, a defining hallmark
of this pursuit.

Scott Monty: Absolutely.

Bob Thomalen: I'd like to say one thing before we jump off. Talking about
things that are really important, Theresa has been by my side
throughout all of this. She has helped me immeasurably, not
just in my personal life, my outside life, but my Sherlockian life.
She doesn't care about Sherlock Holmes. She's not interested
in Sherlock Holmes, but she's come with me to every meeting.
She's been an absolute general factotum at all of the Autumns
in Baker Street and has done so much, not just for me or for
Autumn in Baker Street, but for the Baker Street Irregulars,
when I was in the office of Cartwright.
Bob Thomalen: It's amazing what she did. In fact, it got her the award of the
Queen Victoria medal. She's just been absolutely spectacular.
And it's easy for me because I love this, this hobby of ours, but
she doesn't. Yet she does all this stuff anyway. And I think
that's top of the line, doesn't get any better than that.

Scott Monty: Well, and one of the future shows that we're planning on
doing is kind of a survey of speaking with Sherlockian spouses.
And it may be for spouses that share the hobby, those like
Terry who don't share the hobby but are interested in the
personal aspect and ensuring that everything goes off well,
and all the way over to the other end of the spectrum, those
that have no interest in the hobby or even participating. Kind
of get an overview of how that affects people's lives and
relationships and their interaction with their fellow
Sherlockians.

Bob Thomalen: Yeah. So, well, that should be interesting.

Scott Monty: We hope so. We hope all of these are interesting. And, Bob,
thank you so much for agreeing to participate and sharing so
much of your own personal history with us.

Bob Thomalen: Oh, it was a pleasure. I enjoyed it. Thank you.

Burt Wolder: Thank you, Bob.

Scott Monty: Yeah, and you're certainly welcome back anytime. And the
next Autumn in Baker Street, or whatever in Baker Street that
gets put together, we will certainly let people know about, if
there should happen to be one. We will be there front and
center, kind of cheering you on.

Burt Wolder: And if any of our listeners are working on events like that, that
we don't know about, please let us know and give us a
comment. And you can always give us a comment at our
comment line, which is ...
Scott Monty: (774) 221-7323. That's (774) 221-READ, or comment
www.ihearofsherlock.com

Bob Thomalen: It's like a well oiled machine.

Scott Monty: There you go.

Bob Thomalen: I'll tell you, it's frightening. And if any of your readers or
listeners would like information on or help in putting together
one of these things, please put them in touch with me and I'd
be happy to share whatever I can with them.

Scott Monty: We'd be happy to do that.

Burt Wolder: Thank you.

Scott Monty: Great. Well thanks for being with us, Bob.

Bob Thomalen: You're quite welcome.

Scott Monty: Excellent.

Burt Wolder: Well that was just a terrific conversation. And, as you all know,
we typically end these podcasts with an editor's gas lamp from
a past Baker Street Journal or something appropriate to the
conversation, and Scott and I couldn't think of anything better
to close this discussion with Bob Thomalen with, than with him
reading "A Long Evening With Holmes," which Bob was kind
enough to record for us.

Bob Thomalen: I just want to extol this poem just a little bit, because it
perfectly reflects how we all feel about Sherlock Holmes. It
gets right inside your head and your heart and you just know
this is right. I would guess, the first 10 or 15 times, or even
more than that, I couldn't recite this without tearing up at the
end. I could barely voice the last line or two.

Bob Thomalen: So this poem that he wrote, A Long Evening With Holmes, was
first delivered at the 1984 edition of Autumn in Baker Street.
 And I make it a point, we close every Garrideb meeting with it.
And I close every Autumn in Baker Street with it.

Bob Thomalen: A Long Evening With Holmes, by Bill Schweikert.

Bob Thomalen: When the world rushes in with its worries and cares and my
problems and headaches are coming in pairs, I just climb in my
mind up those 17 stairs and spend a long evening with Holmes.
The good doctor greets me and motions me in. Holmes grasps
my hand and lays down his violin. Then we sit by the fire and
sip a tall gin, when I spend a long evening with Holmes.

New Speaker: And while we're discussing his cases galore, if I'm lucky, there
comes a loud knock at the door. In stumbles a client, head
spattered with gore, when I spend a long evening with Holmes.
Watson binds up the client's poor face, while Holmes soon
extracts all the facts of the case. Then often a hansom to
Brixton we race, when I spend a long with Holmes.

Bob Thomalen: The adventure is solved. Holmes makes it all right. Then back
to the lodgings by dawn's early light. And a breakfast by
Hudson to wind up the night, when I spend a long evening with
Holmes. So this modern rat race can't keep me in a cage. I have
a passport to a far better age. As close as my bookcase and
there, on a page, I can spend a long evening with Holmes.

Bob Thomalen: Thank you fellas.

Scott Monty: Thank you Bob, that was well read and very emotionally
expressed.

Bob Thomalen: Thank you.

Burt Wolder: It's just beautiful.

Scott Monty: Well I hope you enjoyed that as much as Burt and I did. If you
did, please feel free to give us a call at (774) 221-7323. That's
(774) 221-READ or leave a comment at
 comment@ihearofsherlock.com or a comment right on the
website.

Scott Monty: Speaking of which, we actually have had some listener

comments and I'd just like to share one of them with you at
this point. This came in on the website itself from Tim in
Minnesota.

Scott Monty: Tim says, "Scott and Burt, I have enjoyed the many interviews
and guests you've had on your show through the first 11
episodes. The current discussion with Bob has the same spirit
and entertaining camaraderie as your previous interview with
Peter. I'm looking forward to your next show. Keep up the
great work on your podcast and I appreciate the links you post
to websites discussed during each episode. Thanks."

Scott Monty: Well, thank you Tim. As always, it's great to hear from our
listeners to know that you're getting something out of what
we're putting together here. That we're actually spending our
time well. And I would remind everyone that you can visit the
website at www.ihearofsherlock.com to check out those links
that Tim was talking about. There's also some neat little
features over on the sidebar of the page, that you can take a
look at, including a link to our Facebook site and something
new I put together. It's called the Sherlock Holmes Social
Network. This is a hosted at SherlockHolmes.ning.com, that's
N-I-N-G dot com. It's basically a site that allows everyone to
customize it however they want to use it. You can create
groups, you can share photos, you can discuss things on
forums. You can post your own blog posts if you wish.

Scott Monty: It's a way to continue to get engaged with the Sherlockian
community, with each other, and to share ideas that you think
are important. So I'd encourage you to check that out. And
again, you can jump off of the Ihearofsherlock.com page to
that social networking site.
Scott Monty: As always, thank you for being with us and until the next time,
the game's afoot.

Sherlock Holmes: You know I afraid, within the pleasure of this conversation, I'm
neglecting business of importance which awaits me elsewhere.

Narrator: Thank you for listening. Please be sure to join us again for the
next episode of I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere, the first
podcast dedicated to Sherlock Holmes.

Sherlock Holmes: Goodbye and good luck and believe me to be, my dear fellow,
very sincerely yours, Sherlock Holmes.