MARY CAMPBELL, ASH, BSI, MBt
Remembering Mrs. Merrilow (BSI: Brenda Tregennis)
by Maureen Green with comments by Kate Karlson
On March 17, 2003, Mary Elizabeth Campbell, M.Bt., ASH, (Mrs Merrilow), BSI (Brenda Tregennis), left behind the diabetes, kidney problems and blindness that had dominated her last five years. Whenever possible Mary arranged her librarian affairs to be in New York when the ASH were meeting. For the last three years, she gratefully depended on Bootmaker friends to assist her to attend the January weekend.
Mary was described in one of the many tributes at her memorial service as a “diamond with many facets.” To the end, Mary enjoyed playing bridge and spending as much summertime as possible at her cottage in Muskoka. A friend from her barbershop choir group visited almost daily to act as her eyes, thus enabling Mary to stay involved in her many activities.
As a Master Bootmaker, Mary was the group’s long time archivist, co-authored “Lasting Impressions” to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Sherlock Holmes Society of Canada, and received the group’s Derrick Murdoch, Mostly Mysteries, and True Davidson awards. As a member of the Bootmaker Players, Mary assumed the persona of Mrs Hudson. As Kate Karlson writes, “she was quick to share her scholarly expertise with beginning Sherlockian scholars. Mary became equally known for her vast knowledge of Victorian life and times and the easy, open friendship which she extended to all who attended Bootmaker meetings.”
Mary never let ill health hold her back and she was always ready to play the game. On a trip to a Victorian soirée held at the home of Ric Simpson in Fort Erie, Ontario, a snowstorm prevented all but three participants from Toronto from attending. For Mary, the weather was not a problem. She agreed to stay overnight and, following the soirée, enjoyed a videotape of Pavarotti and some Sherlockian videos, returning to Toronto the next day fully sated.
In later years Mary used the volunteer eyes that were always available to her to assist her with her indefatigable research for papers and presentations. Her final paper, “Images of Professor Moriarty,” will be presented to the Bootmakers, in her memory, in the fall of 2003.
It was Mary’s fellow librarian, Ann Skene Melvin, along with her husband David, who introduced Mary to the Sherlockian world through the Bootmakers of Toronto. Ann died a month after Mary. ASH member and fellow Bootmaker Kate Karlson said, “We salute Mary and Ann and rejoice in the gifts of friendship they gave us. To paraphrase Alexander Pope, when a friend dies, we lose a part of ourselves, the best part. We Adventuresses have indeed lost a pair of fine and noble ladies, members who honored us when they took ASH after their names.”
