N.S. Sherlockian's invite to exclusive literary society is anything but elementary

Cape Breton University's Tom Ue is one of the newest inductees into the Baker Street Irregulars, an international literary society dedicated to the scholarship of Sherlock Holmes and author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout-Nick Pearce (Mandatory Credit)

HALIFAX — A Cape Breton University scholar is one of the latest inductees of an international literary society whose alumni include novelist Isaac Asimov, two former U.S. presidents and the actor who played Booger in “Revenge of the Nerds.”

Tom Ue, an assistant professor of the long nineteenth century at the Sydney, N.S. school, is one of the newest members of the Baker Street Irregulars. It’s an invite-only literary society named after the fictional detective’s home address, dedicated to the scholarship of Sherlock Holmes and the British author who brought him to life, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

“It brings together Holmes readers from all walks of life,” Ue said in an interview. “So you’ve got lawyers, you’ve got artists, you’ve got some distinguished filmmakers, you’ve got so many different people who are part of this organization that celebrates Sherlock Holmes and Conan Doyle’s writing. And I think that makes it really special, the fact that we can come together from every part of the world to celebrate Holmes, and (John) Watson and Conan Doyle’s writings.”

Founded in 1934, the Irregulars boast that they are the oldest Sherlockian society in the world, publishing fresh scholarship on the violin-playing detective and hosting various events, including an extended weekend celebrating Holmes every January in New York.

There have been 772 Irregulars in the group’s history, with 331 still alive. Members include former U.S. presidents Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Harry Truman, award-winning author Neil Gaiman, Pulitzer-prize winning columnist and critic Michael Dirda, New York Times bestselling writer Nancy Holder and actor Curtis Armstrong, best known for his work in the “Revenge of the Nerds” films.

Since 2021, Ue has been the editor of “The Magic Door,” a Holmes journal published in partnership with the Toronto Public Library and an associated Sherlockian group. He’s currently working on a two-book project to introduce readers to Holmes, one of which will focus on the four novels, including his first appearance in “A Study In Scarlet” in 1887. The other project will focus on the 56 short stories. Ue is also working on a book for the Modern Language Association that goes over how and why the stories should be taught in classrooms.

Ue explains that Irregulars members produce books, journals and other research, including attractive editions of Holmes stories complete with facsimiles of the original manuscript and essays about the story. He says he’s known many of the members for years and has worked with them on various projects.

“It was still a surprise that they would invest me, and to be one of two people in all of Atlantic Canada to be recognized is just wonderful,” said Ue.

The other Atlantic Canadian member of the Irregulars is Mark Alberstat, a friend of Ue’s who lives in Halifax and edits the Canadian Holmes journal with his wife, JoAnn Alberstat.

Mark Alberstat joined the Irregulars in 2014. On the recommendation of well-known late American Sherlockian John Bennett Shaw, the former sports reporter has carved out a niche studying how sports are represented in Conan Doyle’s writings. He notes Holmes is portrayed as a boxer and fencer with self-defence skills, and Conan Doyle himself participated in boxing, tennis, golf, rugby and soccer.

“He helped introduce, or popularize, skiing in Switzerland, of all places,” said Alberstat. “He golfed in Egypt at the foot of the pyramids… He loved baseball, and of all things… he even hit the opening pitch of a ball game in Jasper, Alta., while he was touring Canada.”

Alberstat says he’s given talks on the subject to a group of baseball historians in Cooperstown, N.Y., home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Alberstat says the marquee event for the Irregulars is held in New York every year. Sherlockians from around the world converge on the city for the better part of a week to attend public lectures, private dinners, walking tours and the investiture ceremony of new members, like Ue.

“When you go to a Sherlock Holmes meeting, you could be sitting next to the guy who drives the bus in the morning or the postmaster general,” Alberstat, a retired government IT worker, said.

“There could be a forensic pathologist next to me, or someone who is a historian and writes books. It’s such a wide variety of people. And now someone could be sitting next to Tom, a lecturer at (Cape Breton University), and the next person over is a retired geologist.”

Ue says recent adaptations like the Robert Downey Jr. movies and the Benedict Cumberbatch television series, have revived interest in the Baker Street detective, and he’s excited for the “Young Sherlock” series scheduled for release this month.

Guinness World Records ranked Holmes as the most-portrayed literary human in film and TV with 254 different portrayals as of 2012. Ue says there’s a nostalgia factor that keeps bringing people back to put a new spin on the well-tread tales.

In today’s complex society, Ue says there’s a yearning for stories with clear answers and a sense of closure. He says it’s also the characters that attract readers, noting Holmes is complex and flawed. He’s brilliant, and quite often sets up a situation where a criminal can choose to commit a crime so he can catch them in the act. That can be read as a form of police entrapment, which poses ethical questions, as does Holmes’ well-known drug use.

Ue likens the Sherlockian crowd to any other fandom, such as “Star Wars,” where fans study, debate and poke holes in the narratives and how the various stories connect. There’s even a string of Holmes scholarship that tries to place the detective and his friend John Watson in the real world, complete with genealogies connecting them to real people.

“I am quite excited to follow the footsteps of these people and also to carry the torch forward and to invest more people (in the Irregulars),” he says.

“More people from Nova Scotia in particular, as we’ve only got two, two in all of Atlantic Canada.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 1, 2026.

Devin Stevens

The Canadian Press