LISA MCGAW, ASH, BSI, 2s, The Woman
Remembering The Trained Cormorant (BSI: Mrs. Hudson)
Lisa was the second woman given a shilling in the Baker Street Irregulars. A retiring freelance editor, Lisa ran the Gillette Memorial Luncheon at the Holmes Birthday Weekend in New York City. This task was thrust upon her by Julian Wolfe, head of the BSI, at her second attendance at the luncheon in 1964. At that time, the guest list numbered 17 — one for each of Holmes’ fabled steps. Her able management of this cherished event is well-attested by the number of Sherlockians attending — with the guest list now approaching 150, the Gillette Luncheon (now managed by ASH Susan Rice) is one of the high points of the Birthday Weekend.
After the 1980 Gillette Luncheon, Julian Wolfe announced Lisa’s investiture in the BSI and awarded her shilling.
Although she accepted her BSI dinner invitation for the first time in 1990, she was never to attend a BSI dinner — that year she was posthumously given the Two-Shilling Award (for extraordinary devotion to the cause beyond the call of duty).
