Wolfe Pack 2008 Events

Although we usually have a summer Book Discussion hiatus, this summer we will try a new format for a Book Discussion — comparing the works of another Grand Master of detective fiction with Stout's Wolfe series.

When: Monday, July 21, 2008
            7 P.M. to 9 P.M.
Where: Slattery's Midtown Pub
             8 East 36th St., NY, NY
             (between 5th & Madison Ave.)
             (212) 683-6444

This special event will feature a comparison of the Wolfe corpus with the canon of an inaugural winner of the Archie Lifetime Achievement Award, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes series. The specific stories will be Fer-de-Lance and The Speckled Band, although the overall body of work, including characters, plot devices, settings, etc. are fair game. will be the subject of the comparison.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, including the short story, The Speckled Band, is available for free, legal download from www.gutenberg.org.

Our moderator will lead the conversation, which can range from a discussion of the ridiculous to the subtle. Bring your opinions, but with an open mind, and join us for interesting, and perhaps even heated, discussion.

Join us for a stimulating evening. Slattery's offers us a second floor banquet room, conveniently located with good and reasonable food, excellent ambiance and service, separate checks, and no background sports or bar events. Ample on-street parking is available for the Monday night discussions.

The Nero Wolfe Stakes
Monmouth Park Race Track

When: September 13, Saturday
Gates open 11:30 am, first race 12:50 pm.
Where: Monmouth (Ocean Port), NJ

One of Archie's, if not necessarily Mr. Wolfe's, favorite sports is horse racing, and eight years ago, we pursued this interest with a Wolfe Pack trip to Monmouth Park Racetrack in Monmouth (Ocean Port), New Jersey. After eight years, it is time to reprise this event and we will do so in September with a picnic, a quiz, a race named The Nero Wolfe Stakes, the opportunity to watch and wager, and a good time for all. A prize will be awarded for the best picnic lunch in the tradition of Fritz and Mr. Wolfe or Archie and a suitably-themed Wolfean quiz will be perpetrated upon the attendees.

The track is located conveniently near mass transportation including a train from Penn Station in Manhattan.

The cost for this event will be $12.00 which will cover all expenses except for lunch (B.Y.O. picnic or buy lunch there), transportation, and, of course, your wagers. 

Please make your check payable to THE WOLFE PACK and snail-mail it to the event coordinator, Mr. Jonathan Levine, 34-29 80th Street, #51, Jackson Heights, New York  11372.  Your ticket to the racetrack for September 13 will be mailed to you in advance, along with information on transportation alternatives, and your cancelled check will be your receipt. 

USE THE FORM to submit
your reservation and check

Please respond no later than August 25, 2008 to allow ample time for the tickets to be mailed.

For those who sign up too late to mail tickets, there is a hostess at the gate until 12:30.  (First race is 12:50)  The hostess will leave extra tickets at the pass gate.  The late-paying attendees must identify the group (The Wolfe Pack) to get a ticket. 

TRANSPORTAION DIRECTIONS:

BY CAR:
Take the Garden State Parkway to Exit 105, to Route 36 East. Follow signs to Monmouth Park. The NJ Turnpike connects with the Parkway at Woodbridge interchange, Exit 11. From the south and west, use the NJ Turnpike to Exit 7A to I-195 east to the Garden State Parkway north, or Route 18 north to exit 13B. From Long Island or Brooklyn, take the Verrazano Narrows Bridge and Staten Island Expressway to the Outerbridge Crossing, to the Garden State Parkway south to Exit 105.

BY TRAIN:
NJ Transit’s North Jersey Coast Line provides hourly service to the Monmouth Park station featuring 10 stops every day. For more information on the “Monmouth Park Thoroughbred Package,” call 800-626-RIDE or visit njtransit.com. See the schedule below, but check with NJ Transit before the departure date.

Black Orchid Weekend
December 5, 6, 7, 2008

Check Back for details!

WHAT: Book Discussion of The Golden Spiders and comparison to the television show starring William Conrad
WHEN: Friday, December 5, 2008-- The Golden Spiders
WHERE: To Be Announced

WHAT: Assembly and Black Orchid Banquet
When: Saturday, December 6, 2008
Where: JOLLY HOTEL MADISON TOWERS
22 East 38th Street
New York, NY

What: Assembly
Suggestions for speakers are welcome. Send an e-mail
When: Saturday, December 6, 2008 2:30 p.m.  

What:  Black Orchid Cash Bar
When: 6:00 p.m.  

What: Black Orchid Banquet
What: 7:00 p.m.   
Quizzes, toasts, presentation of the Nero Wolfe and Black Orchid Novella Awards, and a keynote speech by Pulitzer-Prize-winning author (and screenwriter of the 1977 movie version of THE DOORBELL RANG) Frank Gilroy. See Mr. Gilroy's latest book Writing for Love And/Or Money: Outtakes from a Life Spec, the Early Years.

WHAT: Brunch
WHEN: Sunday, December 7, 2008
Time & Venue to be determined

Check back for event reservations
and other details

UPCOMING OUT-OF-TOWN EVENTS

In additional to our events in and around the New York area, we are planning some exciting events elsewhere, in the spirit of our 2007 trip to the Greenbrier Resort and other past successes.

In 2009, Wolfeans will gather in BOSTON, where the archives and literary papers of Rex Stout are stored at the John J. Burns Library of Boston College. We will also tour the campus of Harvard College, scene of pivotal events in THE LEAGUE OF FRIGHTENED MEN, and enjoy some of the Boston area's fine dining. This event will take place in the spring or summer of 2009. Participation and suggestions from our New England members will be most heartily welcomed.

Next, please consider saving October 15 to 18, 2009 to attend BOUCHERCON 2009 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Bouchercon is the world's leading mystery fans' annual convention, and for 2009, the convention will celebrate the 75th anniversary of FER-DE-LANCE, the first Nero Wolfe novel, with a series of appropriately themed events. Steering Committee member Jane Cleland is our liaison to the convention and will be keeping us up to date on the observances that are planned.

Finally, the Steering Committee hopes that in 2010, our planning and the political situation will allow us to travel at last to MONTENEGRO, the birthplace (unless it was Trenton) and childhood home of Nero Wolfe. The Ambassador of Montenegro to the United Nations, a speaker at our 2007 Assembly, has promised to help us formulate our travel plans and we are looking forward to an outstanding trip.