Episode Details

It's a rare thing to find a Sherlockian legend these days, but Chris Redmond certainly qualifies as one. From his investiture in the Baker Street Irregulars at the tender age of 16 to his long association with the Bootmakers of Toronto, he is a respected speaker at all kinds of Sherlockian events. And online, he's probably best known for his longstanding and comprehensive reference site Sherlockian.net.

Chris's writing output is impressive, steady and ranges from the scholarly to the humorous. In Bed with Sherlock Holmes, Welcome to America, Mr. Sherlock Holmes and A Sherlock Holmes Handbook are all well known and in depth volumes about Arthur Conan Doyle's great detective. But in this interview, we move beyond the written page and get into Chris's inspirations and aspirations (still!).

You'll learn what Chris's initial career choice was before moving along to communications and how that initial proclivity stayed with him. You'll hear about some of Chris's great speeches, from the man who loved women to the hilarious take on how to give a Sherlockian presentation. As if there isn't enough to content with in simply concepting and assembling one, Chris shares the most difficult part of compiling a comprehensive biography of some 800 individuals. And finally, we have Chris's next book to look forward to in which he challenges each of 60 authors to determine why every Sherlock Holmes story is the best.

As usual, we couldn't do this without the significant support of Mary Miller for her extraordinary Patreon support! If you contribute at Mary's level, you get mentioned on the show. But we welcome any amount of support that you can muster.

1:50 Welcome and please take our survey at ihose.co/ihosesurvey

5:25 Sponsor: Amanda Lester, Detective

6:48 Introducing Chris Redmond

8:46 First meeting with Sherlock Holmes

11:25 The Toronto Public Library's Arthur Conan Doyle Collection

13:21 Discovering a world of Sherlock Holmes beyond the original stories

16:25 Chris gets started on the Internet

20:33 Setting the course for Sherlockian.net

26:19 Sponsor: The Baker Street Journal

27:50 Finding inspiration and training throughout one's career, and the Spiritualizing Sherlock Holmes project

33:20 Developing the content for A Quick Succession of Subjects

44:50 The impact of color in the Sherlock Holmes stories

48:22 Sponsor: Wessex Press

49:45 Lives Beyond Baker Street

59:10 An upcoming book project: About 60: Why Every Sherlock Holmes Story Is the Best

1:04:25 What Chris is reading now and his book habits

1:09:47 Wrap up

This episode includes our two longtime sponsors and a special sponsor