WARREN RANDALL, ASH, BSI
Remembering An Impish Habit
by Sue Vizoskie
Warren Randall, ASH (An Impish Habit), BSI (Harold Stackhurst), died on January 26, 2021 at the age of 85.
Warren was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, and, at an early age, he moved to the Bronx with his family. He graduated from Bronx High School of Science and continued his education, receiving his BA from City College of New York. While attending CCNY, he joined ROTC and later served in Okinawa, Japan (1955 -1956). Warren completed his MA at Stony Brook University (Stony Brook, New York) where he had a lengthy career as Assistant Vice Provost beginning in 1963.
Wholeheartedly subscribing to Holmes’s description of the Irregulars, Warren attempted to “go everywhere, see everything, overhear everyone,” and along the way, he had many adventures and made many, many friends. Warren thoroughly enjoyed the world of Sherlock Holmes and being able to participate in it. He was a social being, joining many scions and societies beginning in the mid-1980s. He was a stalwart member of the New York area scions including the Montague Street Lodgers of Brooklyn, the Priory Scholars of New York, the Three Garridebs of Westchester County (New York), Mrs. Hudson’s Cliffdwellers (New Jersey), and the Epilogues of Sherlock Holmes (New Jersey). Warren also joined another scion, the Long Island Cave Dwellers, and eventually became its leader, serving in that position for many years with the able assistance of other members.
Combining his love of driving with his enjoyment of Sherlockian gatherings, he drove farther afield to additional meetings in Philadelphia and Toronto. Warren was especially proud of being a member of the Bootmakers of Toronto and a Master Bootmaker.
An inveterate traveler, he attended Sherlockian conferences in Pennsylvania, Utah, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, and Canada. He had adventures with Sherlockians and Holmesians in London and Prague, and he sailed the seas with Sherlockians and Holmesians to Bermuda and to various ports around the Baltic.
Warren enthusiastically participated in whatever activities were on offer wherever he found himself. He enjoyed being a panelist and competing in games and quizzes. He presented toasts and offered his ideas and opinions in discussions.
In 1988, Warren assumed the editorship of Prescott’s Press, New Series, from Bob Thomalen, its founder. To acknowledge those who assisted Warren in this endeavor, Warren initiated the Prescott Prize award and presented it beginning in 2002 Warren also collected, compiled, and edited Robert N. Brodie’s (BSI, The Gloria Scott) many papers, toasts, and presentations into a book entitled The Log of ‘The Gloria Scott,’ a fine tribute to an exceptional writer and presenter.
Warren was a prolific and versatile writer. His work was included in both volumes of Serpentine Muse-ings, and articles of his were published in the Baker Street Journal and the Sherlock Holmes Journal. He wrote poems, including serious verse as well as the light-hearted. He penned Sherlockian lyrics to accompany the music of well-known songs and holiday carols for the enjoyment and the entertainment of companions at Sherlockian gatherings. Warren’s skits, presented at various scion meetings and dinners, were imaginative, amusing, and replete with puns that caused the audience to moan and groan. To Warren, the groans were better than applause, and the more groaning he caused, the happier he became.
Warren loved to make people laugh, and those in his company at any meeting or meal, excursion or conference were guaranteed a happy time. He had a very quick wit, and quips, wisecracks, and lightning-fast comebacks were his specialties. He was irrepressible and irreverent.
There is no doubt that, above all else, Warren adored his children and grandchildren, and spending time with them was his top priority and his greatest joy. His many friends are very grateful that Warren also shared his time and talents, his sense of adventure, his impish sense of humor, and most of all, his kindness, companionship, and friendship with them. He will be missed.
