Welcome to Joseph Kruth, JHWS “Marlowe”

The Society is pleased to welcome Mr Joseph Kruth as a Charter Member. Joe has been corresponding regularly and has sent along his delightful biography:It was quiet. No radio or TV allowed on the ward floor.  As I was drifting in and out of a swirling yellow fog, a smartly turned-out young women in a crisp Red Cross uniform was approaching – book cart in tow.  Maybe a book would clear my head.  The book cart had many well-thumbed books including one Sherlock Holmes book. Sadly, I neither remember the book title nor the stories. This was in my adventurous year of 1969.  Three years later, in a library, I came across William S. Baring-Gould’s two volume Sherlock Holmes Annotated and spent several hours paging through this weighty tome.  Yes, I was hooked. Within a few days I purchased my own Baring-Gould set for about $50 – no small amount of money at the time. However, money well spent.

Through the years, I have endeavored to keep-up on all things Sherlockian:

Seven 3-ring binders containing 526 newspaper clippings, advertisements, book excerpts, etc. Please note: my collection is hard copy-print media. No internet searches.

Also, my main Sherlock Holmes index appropriately sub-titled “Behold the Fruits of Laborious Days and Pensive Nights,” contains 324 entries ranging from books, tapes, DVDs and miscellany.

And, in August 1996, Classic Specialties was gracious enough to publish my small unworthy monograph “I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere.”

In August 1998, I corresponded with the Franco-Midland Hardware Company based in England. After a little time, I passed the 200 question exam and received my Certificate in Holmesian Studies (CHS).  I am no longer in contact.

Lastly, it was the Peter Blau newsletter of April 2013 that alerted me to your august John H. Watson Society.

It is time to end with a non-canonical, but appropriate, exit:

“Holmes Again? Always Holmes…Until the End.”  Recognize the line?

Thank you.
Joe.

And, Joe, we all warmly welcome you to the Society with our also most appropriate greeting:  “You have been in Afghanistan, I perceive.”