Sherlocking in Minneapolis
By Don Hobbs

It is no secret that I travel for a living. I am on the road about forty-five weeks a year. Some might find it odd that when I was finally scheduled to be home for more than a week, I opted to fly to Minneapolis, Minnesota for a conference on Sherlock Holmes. Well, at least those who are not Sherlockian might wonder about this . . . but certainly not anyone who has attended one of the Minneapolis conferences. This tri-annual event, co-sponsored by the Norwegian Explorers of Minnesota and the University of Minnesota, is the gold standard of Sherlockian conferencing.

I arrived the day prior to the opening of the conference, "Victorian Secrets and Edwardian Enigmas," so that I could fulfill my latest Sherlockian obsession -- photographing yet another  state highway "4" road sign. This time I was after the state highway "4" signs from Minnesota and Iowa. There was a bonus along the way, when I came across the Steele County county road "4" sign. Another reason for arriving early was so I could attend the pre-conference party at the home of Julie and Mike McKuras. If the Minneapolis conference is the gold standard of Sherlockian conferencing, then Julie and Mike’s party is the gold standard of pre-conferencing parties. They opened up their home to nearly sixty Sherlockians, including an open bar and catered food. Their large home was perfect for this type of outing.

Friday morning arrived far too early but the promise of a private tour of the Sherlock Holmes Collections being offered, the night-before induced fog quickly vanished. I am not capable of adequately describing the collections. Suffice to say that a life as a Sherlockian would end unfulfilled if one never visited the collection. It is like Ali Baba’s cave full of treasures. It truly has something for every Sherlockian regardless of their interest.

The conference began on Friday afternoon with speakers from vast and varied backgrounds but it only took the second speaker, Michael Dirda, form the Washington Post, to set the entire tone and standard for the conference. His talk on Langdale Pike was one of the most brilliant talks one could imagine. It gripped everyone so much that each speaker afterward referenced Langdale Pike. The crowd of nearly 200 Sherlockian roared louder with new reference to Pike.

There was not a let-down in speakers or in Sherlockian comradery on Saturday or Sunday. Saturday night’s banquet was held in the hotel. The best toast of the evening came our own Brad Keefauver. During his toast to Mycroft, Brad got to say "nay" twice and reference Mycroft's flipper-like hands! There was an auction to support the E. W. McDiarmand Fund. The attendees were freewheeling with their bidding. The five items auctioned brought in more than $3,000.  A copy of the letters written by President Roosevelt  fetched $1,750.

Any Sherlockian who happened to up late on Saturday night might have spotted Leslie Klinger cramped in the backseat of the little Mitsubishi Eclipse that I rented. There was small get-together at John Bergquist's downtown Minneapolis condominium after the banquet. Les needed a ride back to the hotel so I gave him one. He told me Sunday that his hair still would not lie down. With Brad Keefauver riding shotgun, we were quite the sight arriving back at the hotel.

As Sunday morning rolled around, several of the attendees were heading back to “real” lives. There were still three more speakers on Sunday before the conference wrapped up. I don’t know everything I will be doing in 2010, but I know I will be returning for the next Minneapolis Conference. You should start making plans too. They say that history repeats itself, and Minneapolis has been repeating it tri-annually for almost fifteen years.

Happy Collecting!!