Volume 3.1 December, 2008 The Solar Pons Gazette WWW.SOLARPONS.COM Call to Conclave Toastmaster Alvin F. Germeshausen THIS ISSUE: An Address at the founding of The Praed Street Irregulars, June 12, 1966, at Ivory Towers, Hollywood, Calif. from February, 1967 (Volume 1, Issue 1) Pontine Dossier Call to Conclave 1 Welcome ladies and gentlemen of letters...some of you create them, some wear them Greetings From behind your names; I have some in my pocket that I have forgotten to mail! The occasion 2 Praed Street of this precedent-shattering and epoch-making gathering is to honor three titanic, hercu- lean, gargantuan figures...men to bulk large on any horizon...first, the world’s second The Diagnosis of a 2 Crime most eminent detective, the immortal Solar Pons...his loyal Achates and Boswell Dr. Lyn- don Parker, who is far more than an amanuensis. The Disappearing 4 Detective Like his esteemed precursor, Dr. Watson, he lives the deeds he records...the third, indubi- table and nonpareil literary agent, August Derleth, to whose unremitting toil we owe our An Irish Solar Pons? 6 holy writ, our classic Koran; the six sacred volumes of incomparable Solar Pons exploits. The Real Stone of 7 Scone Ours is an International brotherhood joined together for adulation and veneration of these great men and their work…and also for mutual appreciation. We achieve beneath Featured Case: A 8 the sign of the PSI…this is a set of initials conceived by Nathan L. Bengis for The Praed Word from Dr. Parker Street Irregulars, a Greek letter, a symbol for stellar magnitude and a term to designate an unknown component of phenomena. Solar Pons’ War of 10 the Worlds Of course, the Irregulars are a band of cockney street arabs who serve The Master in cru- Forgotten Ferrets 19 cial crises. Praed Street, honored by the great man’s residency, is thought to derive its name from Winthrop Mackworth Praed, eminent 19th Century man-of-letters. Slighted Sleuths: 19 Sam Spade Our hierarchic and hieratic organization is headed by The Pontifical Council of ipsissimi From the Pontine crime-fiction initiates, which decrees and initiates ritual and legislation. The supreme 22 Dossier body also admits candidates to the path of virtue and designates a (cont on next page) “In a delicate and all but indefinable way, he is not, like Holmes, a man of the Nineteenth Century foreshadowing Copyright notice: Solar Pons is the sole the Twentieth, but rather a man of the Twentieth Century property of the August Derleth Estate. The recalling the Nineteenth.” illustrations used in the masthead were created Anthony Boucher, Intro. To by Frank Utapel. The Reminiscences of Solar Pons Page 2 The Solar Pons Gazette The Call to Conclave cont. Noble preceptor to rule under the temporal title of the Lord Warden of the Pontine Marshes. If any ask of him why this Honour of Pontificiality hath been conferred, he shall make answer: "Ill kept The Secrets of Pons as dark as a night pea- GREETINGS FROM souper fog in Praed Street. I went about The Busi- PRAED STREET ness of Pons as smoothly as runs the Grand Union Canal at the back of the Junction Tavern. I lived Year three of the Gazette! up to The Principles of Pons with the regularity of We’ve survived four issues so the No. 7 bus which plies for hire along Praed far. Of course, the fact that it’s Street. Selah.” free and electronic-only makes that a dubious accomplish- So much for our purpose...now on to our great ment, but hey! work. The magnificent title and office of Lord War- den of the Pontine Marshes, created by Michael ‘ We’ve dusted off Charles Powers’ Pontine Dos- Harrison, derives from that other great title of sier essay, The Old Doctor of Limehouse, featur- honor, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, recently ing my favorite inscrutable Oriental. held by Sir Winston Churchill. The Churchill title in turn is derived from the venerable office of Comes On page 7, Slighted Sleuths makes its debut. This Littoris Saxonici, the Count of the Saxton Shore, a new column will discuss non-Ponsian detectives Roman General appointed to guard the coasts of deserving a readership today. Did you know that Briton...so Sir Winston was titular custodian of the Sam Spade of The Maltese Falcon fame also ap- coast. peared in three short stories? You do now. Similarly our Lord Warden is the guardian of a The Gazette brings you the third in our Introduc- vast and precious literary and detectival tradition. tions to Pons series: Anthony Boucher’s Foreword His responsibility and task it is to expound and to The Reminiscences of Solar Pons (The Adven- defend, to explicate and define our holy writ, the tures and The Return were featured in prior is- revered writings of Lyndon Parker, the achieve- sues). It is followed by William F. Nolan’s essay, ments of Solar Pons. Who Was Anthony Boucher? We have had the rare privilege to meet in dedi- Ever wonder how The War of the Worlds would cated fellowship, to receive honors graciously be- have gone if Solar Pons had been around to help stowed, and most of all to appreciate revealed mankind battle the invaders? Britisher Andrew greatness as conveyed by our Agent, August Der- Norris tells us in his original pastiche, Solar Pons’ leth. War of the Worlds, beginning on page 19. Go forth and demonstrate the distinction, intrinsic However, what does not appear (for the second and conferred, which you represent. Remember, issue in a row) is a Notebooks entry. I hope to there is but one Solar Pons and Derleth is his bring you another installment in the next Gazette, Agent. as that is my favorite item in the newsletter. The birth of my first child last December has severely curtailed the time I spend at Praed Street. The December, 2007 Gazette is not posted on the web but a .pdf is available via email upon request. FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: It contains a fully annotated version of The Unique TERRI PINCKARD, Dickensians; easily the most ambitious project in ALVIN F. GERME- the Gazette’s short history. SHAUSEN AND “THE AGENT,” AUGUST DER- LETH Page 3 The Solar Pons Gazette Frank utpatel, the ‘Sidney Paget of Solar Pons,’ created this drawing for The Pontine Dos- sier’s 1970 Annual, with a half-dozen references to cases from the Canon. Page 4 The Solar Pons Gazette Featured Case The topic has been discussed ad infinitum (or ad nauseum for some) in regards to the (www.SolarPons.com) Canon and will not be debated here. How- ever, it is also possible that an elderly A Word From Dr Lyndon Parker Parker simply had trouble recalling the ex- “In Re: Sherlock Holmes”: The Adventures of act details in his dotage. The scene might well exist perfectly clearly in his mind, but Solar Pons, 1945 the time could be clouded by a year or Date - 1944 three. How many of us have forgotten anni- versaries or even events from a short time The Case back? It is the event itself that is of most important to Praed Street fans. A short essay from Dr. Parker, written in 1944 to introduce the first collection of his chronicles of So- Parker writes that Pons “had already estab- lar Pons. Parker relates how he was sitting in a pub lished for himself a reputation for skill and near Paddington Station when Pons entered. A intelligent sleuthing for which he was held waiter referred to the newcomer as ‘The Sherlock in high regard by many persons connected Holmes of Praed St.’ Pons approached Parker, told with Scotland Yard and his Majesty’s gov- him that he was looking for someone to share his ernment. lodgings and led Parker away to inspect 7B Praed St. Pons’ private practice covered the years 1907 Quotes – 1939. Since the Chronologies state that Pons and Parker met in either 1919 or - Fine color. Not long back from Africa, I see. 1921, the reference to ‘His Majesty’ must refer to King George V, who ruled England from 1910 – 1936 (he died of bronchitis in - Your scarab pin suggests Egypt and, if I’m not mistaken, the envelope on which you 1936). have been writing is one of Shepheard’s. From Cairo, then. The first exchange between Pons and Parker is clearly a tribute to Holmes and Watson’s first encounter in the basement of St. Comments Bart’s. Though the specifics are different, Parker feels a lack of roots similar to Wat- This essay was written in 1944, and Parker son’s. Pons makes several elementary ob- makes reference to his initial meeting with servations about Parker’s recent experi- Pons as taking place “almost thirty years ences and profession. He then discusses ago.” Common usage of such a phrase the possibility of sharing his current lodg- would seem to indicate some time between ings (certainly 27 and 29 and three-quarter years. Surely if prompted by a it had been 26 years, some such phrase as need for financial “just over a quarter century” or the like assistance) and would have been chosen. Rounding up, they set off to view thirty years would make their meeting in the rooms. 1914. Twenty-seven years would be 1917. Certainly most readers were discovering Yet Basil Copper (1919) and Robert Pattrick Parker’s chronicles for the first time with (1921) discount Parker’s entry here. Look- the publication of this collection and the ing at all available data from the Pontine introduction established a warm and com- Canon, we must assume that like his Bos- fortable link with Sherlock Holmes.