ANN JUDGE, ASH
Remembering Julia Stoner, 1937-1995
Ann Judge was born on June 2, 1937 and died on October 5, 1995. She found her way to the Adventuresses in an appropriate manner: through radio drama and her local bar. Ann lived alone in the Chelsea neighborhood in New York City, and was pleased to discover a local restaurant and bar to her liking. It was called Bogie’s, and the owners were mystery enthusiasts, who decided that Sunday evenings would be devoted to listening to an old radio mystery show from their considerable collection and then taking a general mystery quiz with a free drink for the winner. A conversation one Sunday evening among the usual customers led to the formation of a group to write and perform new mysteries, and Bogie’s owners agreed to play our new radio mysteries once a month. Ann was a fan of the group from the beginning, and was delighted when it became so good that it was able to sell its productions to National Public Radio where several series were aired. By this time, Ann had become friends with several members of the group which numbered several ASH among them. When we discovered she was a Sherlockian we told her about the Adventuresses and she began to attend meetings. In 1985 she was invited to join the society and took the investiture Julia Stoner, probably because she was very close to her sister.
Ann was an Anglophile, who preferred British books and movies to all others. She was delighted to belong to ASH and attended her last few meetings in a wheelchair when cancer took away her ability to walk. She was also an enthusiastic baker and at holiday time sold wonderful pumpkin bread, which many of us have missed since she died. She was a quiet, joyful person who is missed for herself most of all.
A Remembrance of Ann
by M.E. Rich
I knew Ann and found her to be a staunch second generation Brit – I believe her mother was a war bride – and avid admirer of all things Empire. I met her via her Bogie’s connection, as I was a member of the resident actor’s troupe for the restaurant’s popular interactive murder mystery dinners. Her health was never as strong as her spirit, alas, but even when I’d visit her in Presbyterian Hospital Ann would gleefully engage in conversations and urge me to recall my two years adventures in London, happily remembering her own love of the metropolis as we sat within “whitewashed walls and dun coloured doors.” Her tenure with ASH was a short one but the pleasure she derived and returned to us was deep and genuine.
