The Red Circle is Sherlock's home in Washington DC. Now in our eighth decade, we continue to celebrate his immortality and enjoy each other's company. All are welcome to join us and share our interest in all things Sherlockian and Doylean.
Welcome
The Red Circle is Sherlock's home in Washington DC. Now in our eighth decade, we continue to celebrate his immortality and enjoy each other's company. All are welcome to join us and share our interest in all things Sherlockian and Doylean.
Next Meeting
Saturday, June 24, 2023
Special Guest
Distinguished Holmesian Actor
Paxton Whitehead
Alfio's La Trattoria
Drinks at Noon -- Lunch at 1:00
Archives
All times US prevailing Eastern
2023
- June 24 Red Circle Luncheon with special guest Paxton Whitehead. Full information here.
For a much more comprehensive list of Sherlockian meetings and events around the United States and beyond, see Ron Fish's
Sherlockian Calendar.
The only known surviving Sherlock Holmes cover art from Classics Illustrated comic books, published by the Gilbertson Company
Peter Cushing portrays Sherlock Holmes in this piece by pop artist David O'Keefe. David is a well known caricaturist who created this image under a commission from Jerry Margolin.
Paxton Whitehead to join The Red Circle for its June meeting We are looking forward to welcoming actor, theatre director and playwright Paxton Whitehead to the Red Circle's June 24 luncheon. On the boards since 1956, Mr. Whitehead joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1958. Among his countless roles on stage, screen and television is his Broadway run as Sherlock Holmes in Paul Giovanni's Crucifer of Blood in 1978 and 79. Two decades later, he did another turn as the great detective in The Mask of Moriarty at New Jersey's acclaimed Paper Mill Playhouse. He was nominated for both Tony and Drama Desk awards for his role as Pellinore in the 1980 Broadway revival of Camelot. You won't want to miss this opportunity. Full details are here. For reservations email Peter Blau or call him at 301-229-5669.
Glen Miranker featured speaker at March 11 meeting The renowned Sherlockian collector Glen Miranker joined us at our March 11 luncheon meeting, and answered the question, "Why (Does Glen Miranker) Collect Books?" The meeting was well 
attended and Glen's talk was enjoyable and much appreciated by all. Read Peter Blau's meeting notes here. With great thanks to Matt Hall, the video of Glen's presentation is available. It's highly recommended for those who weren't at the meeting--and for those who were there and would like another look! Just click the video button.
The Red Circle Redux Some of us--like Peter Blau--remember the days when movie theaters used multi-part serials to encourage customers to come back every week, and one of them was Daredevils of the Red Circle, a 12-part serial released by Republic Pictures in 1939. It's not at all Sherlockian, but there's a mad killer involved and of course it has a very nice title! If you don't mind spoilers you can read all about it here and watch it on YouTube here. 4/10/23 PBRare (but not stuffy) Books Rebecca Romney and Brian Cassidy are rare book sellers here in the Washington area. They're the proprietors of Type Punch Matrix in Silver Spring, and Rebecca has been the rare book guru on TV's Pawn Stars since 2011. Both Rebecca and Brian are Sherlockians and Red Circle members. Washingtonian magazine has just published a very nice article about the duo and their book emporium. It's a delightful read. Punch it up here. 2/7/23 AR
"Art in the Blood is liable to take the strangest forms," said Sherlock Holmes in "The Greek Interpreter." He went on to reveal that his roots trace back to the multi-generational French family of artists named Vernet. Among them was Carle Vernet (1758-1836), the detective's second grand uncle. Mary Burke alerts us that an exhibition of Carle Vernet's work will be on display at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts through August 27. Information here. 3/3/23 AR
A "Red Circle" Compendium A lasting Sherlockian legacy of the COVID plague is The Legion of Zoom, an amalgamation of Sherlockians who have participated in more sciontific Zoom meetings than ought to be permissible under international humanitarian law. The Legion, via sparkplug Steve Mason, is providing its members cannily curated compendiums of canonical chronicles, and has graciously allowed us to share with you the edition devoted to “The Red Circle.” It’s great fun to see “our” story’s story, with characters, plot points, publication history, artwork and more wrapped in a handsome package. Have a look for yourself, and enjoy! 2/6/23 AR
The Red Circle meets Artificial Intelligence With all the commotion about artificial intelligence lately, your webmaster decided to see what the now-famous online guru called ChatGPT has to say about us. On one hand, it's amazing that it got some things right; on the other, well, maybe it needs a little work. See for yourself. ChatGPT's "term paper" is available for you to peruse. Click here to share the fun. 2/3/23 AR The Red Circle luncheon meeting on December 17 was a tremendous success. Read all about the proceedings in Carla Kaessinger Coupe's Meeting Notes here.
AFI Celebrates Barrymore's 1922 Sherlock Holmes with Centennial Screening The American Film Institute's Silver Theatre in Silver Spring, Maryland was the perfect place to present John Barrymore's star turn in the classic silent film Sherlock Holmes on the 100th anniversary of its release. A number of Red Circle members joined other film fans at the AFI's showcase theatre for the November 13 event, which was greatly 
enhanced by a live musical accompaniment by Donald Sosin and Joanna Seaton. Your webmaster was also on hand to introduce the film. The AFI's programming director Todd Hitchcock was a gracious host, and tells us that he's aiming for more Sherlock Holmes programming at the Silver in the near future. Watch this space! 11/14/22 AR
Red Circle Pins Available The pin has been proudly worn all over the Sherlockian world, from Rockville to the Reichenbach, so Red Circle members (which includes everyone who's ever been to a meeting) will treasure having their own. The price is $14.95 each, which includes shipping anywhere. Send an email to Tom Fahres to order. Scuttlebutt: One Fixed Point in a Changing Age Our own Peter E. Blau's monthly Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press has endured for more than 50 years, and has a permanent home right here on our website. It's the most remarkable collection of Sherlockian news and notes anywhere, and your webmaster recommends a monthly visit. The very latest edition is available now, as are past numbers. It's just a click away--use the "Scuttlebutt" button at the top of the page.
- Be an Inner Circle Contributor We welcome submissions from all quarters for this page. Please direct materials to the webmaster, alan@redcircledc.org
- For earlier, archived items from The Inner Circle, click here.
