Upheaval: A Study in Mourning

Prologue

To An Oxford Punter,

As you are well aware, I have entrusted a number of my memoirs to Laurie King of California. I am pleased and grateful that Ms. King has seen fit to serve as my "literary agent," a capacity she has filled much better than another of whom I can think. She has shown great care in representing my life and association with Sherlock Holmes. I did not choose to share all of my memories, but I understand that my manuscripts have stirred more interest than I could have imagined. I understand, as well, that said interest sometimes moves beyond just the stories that I have told. Human nature being what it is, I should have realized that a public weaned on the romanticism of The Strand and bloated with the likes of today's tabloids might wish for more information than I was prepared to share with Ms. King or she with her readers. This is a cynical view, however, and it is not worthy of her readers or your readers. I would rather assume that the readers of my recollections are familiar with the methods of observation and deduction, that these readers understand the importance of so-called trivialities to the whole, and that these readers ask questions of a personal nature out of a genuine admiration (and perhaps adoration). Though taken aback somewhat by some of the speculations about my life, I am moved deeply by the interest.

I never intended to reveal all of my life, and I will not do so. Nevertheless, my life has taken many an interesting turn and I see this as just another one. The following are recollections not sent to Ms King. I entrust them to your care with the permission of those involved to do with as you see fit. They address one of the mysteries of my life about which Ms. King's and your readers have so politely, if insistently, inquired. The recollections do not present the whole story, but they should provide enough to quell curious minds.

More to follow.

MRH