Sherlocking in Chicago
By Don Hobbs

When my boss told me I had a job to do in Chicago, my first thought was, “There must me a new Spider-Man movie coming out!” A funny response? No, it’s just that that is where I saw the first two installments of the Web-slinger Saga.

The first Spider-Man movies, starring Tobey McGuire, were released in May 2002. As luck would have it, this coincided with The STUD/Watsonian Weekend. I decided to drive from Flower Mound, Texas to Chicago, Illinois because I was invited to attend.  Brad Keefauver was also invited so I detoured to Peoria to pick up Brad and his lovely wife, Kathy Carter. Our group headed for The Windy City a day early in order to meet with Brad’s friend, Billy Sweetwood, and go to the cinema to see Spider-Man.

This was the weekend that Sherlockpeoria was conceived. Brad and I already had a lengthy and productive career together creating some interesting bits of Sherlockiana. We discussed creating a weekly website and a couple of weeks later, June 2, 2002, Sherlockpeoria vol.01 no.01 was released. Two-Hundred and Fifty-eight weeks later, you are reading article 258.

In June 2004 Spider-Man 2 was released. Once again, I was in Chicago, this time working at Edwards Hospital in Naperville. My co-worker and I went to the local multiplex and saw the film.  I was there for the weekend and Brad came up. We had a day trip, getting in some serious book and antique shopping. Brad found a signed copy of a Vincent Starrett book that was very inexpensive. I was more excited than Brad until he explained that finding a signed Starrett in Illinois isn’t really that big of a deal.

So that brings us to Spider-Man 3 and my most recent trip to Chicago. My trip requires me to stay ten days. The second night I found a cinema a couple of blocks away and took in Spidey-3. Check-out “The Cinema of the Four” for S. Holmes IV’s review.  I liked the flick even though I found the middle part sort of goofy.

Brad drove up from Peoria on Saturday and he and I were joined by Philip Cunningham, a local South Side Sherlockian. Philip offered to drive so we piled into his van and drove to Fish Lake, Indiana to photograph Indiana State Highway 4. The route was recently decommissioned by the state and we feared that our two-hour drive would be for nothing. The Sherlockian Gods were looking favorably upon us because there were several photo-ops for Indiana State Highway 4 signs. We did a little antiquing in La Porte before heading back to Chicago.

Beautiful Downtown La Porte

I had an invitation to Hugo's Companions “Birthday Celebration” on Saturday night. It is their contention that instead of shooting V.R. in the wall at 221B Baker Street, Holmes actually shot V 17. This, the group insists represents May 17, which they take as being Holmes’ birthday, thus the group’s “Birthday Celebration”. 
Brad was unable to join us for dinner due to a previous engagement and he drove back to Peoria. I followed Philip and his wife, Loraine, to the Ridgemoor Country Club in North Chicago. I saw many old friends there, like Fred and Sonni Levin, Don Izban and his wife Patricia, Janice Wiener, and Paul and Margaret Smedegaard. Paul looked marvelous for someone who just had major brain surgery. It was a pleasant surprise seeing him looking well.

Our room overlooked the golf course and soon, everyone was seated and the evening began with the toasts.  Don Izban, amazingly, found the original toast that Dr. Watson had sung to Beryl Stapleton when he met her on the moors and was thus smitten by her.  It was also astounding that the lyrical toast sounded like a Cole Porter show-tune. The evening’s quiz was based on Charles Augustus Milverton. The highlight of the evening was during the awards presentations. The Baker Street Tankard Award was presented to Mr. Rick Kogan. He is currently senior staff writer and columnist for The Chicago Tribune Sunday Magazine and host of WGN-AM Sunday Papers radio program.

Mr. Kogan delighted everyone with stories about his lifelong friend, Studs Terkel and what he feels about his beloved Chicago. 

The evening came to an abrupt end with everyone dispersing into the night.

I spent Sunday morning with Philip exploring Graceland Cemetery. I have wanted to visit Vincent Starrett’s gravesite and this was a perfect morning when we arrived. There are many other famous people buried in Graceland. The great Chicago architect Louis Sullivan is there along with John Kinzie, the first white settler in Chicago, and Allan Pinkerton, the founder of the detective agency of the same name. One can also find Marshall Fields and George Pullman are there as well.

Starrett in Graceland

Overall, I would have to rate my visit to Chicago a roaring success. A special thanks to Philip Cunningham, for his knowledge of Chicago and its history and for driving me around.  That was icing on the cake.

Happy Collecting!!