The relationship between John H. Watson and Sherlock Holmes tends to eclipse all others in their lives, but it’s the rare bird who can live an entire life with just one other person in it. And we know John Watson had at least a couple of other friends.
His billiards friend Thurston. His old friend Colonel Hayter. His at least lunch-long friendship with Stamford. His Blackheath rugby team. His schoolmates who joined him in whacking Percy Phelps with those wickets. The fellow doctors who’d look in on his patients. Even Lestrade.
John Watson actually had quite a few friends, friends that he didn’t write sixty stories about. Should the John H. Watson Society and our friends perhaps try to remedy that situation?
As the November issue of The Watsonian winds it’s way to the printers, it’s time to start thinking of 2020 and our next issue. The deadline is February 15th, but why wait? Especially if we’re looking at paying tribute to those unsung friends of Watson.
Think one of Watson’s other friends could be worth a poem, short story, or article to let us know what Watson saw in them, what might have been going on with them in his non-Sherlock time? Got a friend of Watson’s we haven’t even met yet? The Watsonian’s Spring 2020 issue is hoping to feature as many of those Watson buddies as we can squeeze into an issue, so here’s your chance to shine a lot on a favorite in a place where we’ll giving them the stage they deserve.
So why not join in the fun and get that contributor’s copy, along with the pride of demonstrating what a friend to Watson you yourself are? Submissions should be up-to-date Word documents, if at all possible, and sent via email attachment to: publisher@johnhwatsonsociety.com. Questions can also be sent to that address.
Let’s make Spring 2020 a time to show John H. Watson, and the world, just how many friends he had!