Notes from Professor Besser will be posted here soon. In the meantime, read the story here.

And read more about John and Susan.
John joined 2023 as The Norwood Builder (NORW)

John and Susan Besser are professors here in Nashville. John is a chemistry professor at Nashville State Community College; Susan is an adjunct professor of interior design at Belmont University and was on the faculty at O’More School of Design in Franklin for years before joining the faculty at Belmont.

John was the Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity in Williamson County. He and Susan initiated the program there in 1992. John continues to work with 27 Habitats in TN as a consultant.

More on John Besser

Louisville, KY is his hometown
Chemistry degrees from the University of Louisville and Illinois State University.
MBA from Middle Tennessee
Career in Product design and Research in insulation technologies
Reached senior management positions in manufacturing
Directed offshore manufacturing in China, Brazil, and Belgium
Hobbies are golf, watercolor painting, reading mystery novels set in the 1880s, and outdoor activities such as hiking and bird-watching.

Keep an eye on John Besser. He will be one of our stellar Sherlockians, especially with support from Susan

Previously

January 18 - The Priory School <> Jeff Steward, Discussion Leader
February 15 <> Silver Blaze <> John Besser, Discussion Leader
March 19 <> Cancelled due to severe weather <> Rescheduled for May
April 19 <> The Beryl Coronet <> Drew Thomas, Discussion Leader
May 17 <> Shoscombe Old Place <> David Hayes, Discussion Leader

Looking Ahead

June 21 - The Boscombe Valley Mystery (Led by John Besser)

July 19 - Summer Party at the Home of Tom & Wanda Vickstrom

August 16 - The Lion’s Mane

September 20 - His Last Bow (Assigned to Jim Hawkins)

October 18 - The Striped Chest (The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia)
October is always led by Dean Richardson

November 15 - The Blue Carbuncle

We announced the passing our dear friend Gael Stahl this past September.
A service of remembrance and celebration for Gael
was held at our January 2025 meeting.

He was our Final Problem, often the spark of creativity and progress for our Three Pipe Problem Scion Society. His enthusiasm and energy were never lacking until his health waned in the past few years.

Please see our 3PP Newsletter, 1st Quarter of 2024 for a special issue produced when we learned that Gael and SuSun were moving to Indianapolis, IN earlier this year.

More about Gael Stahl is on our Remembrance page.

When Gael’s health began to fail, he joined our monthly meetings via Zoom. I asked him to be prepared to read Vincent Starrett’s poem 221B to close our meetings. He was thrilled to do so. We are pleased to have this memory of Gael reading this famous Sherlockian benediction from a meeting in 2023.

221b
by Vincent Starrett

Here dwell together still two men of note

Who never lived and so can never die:

How very near they seem, yet how remote

That age before the world went all awry.

But still the game's afoot for those with ears

Attuned to catch the distant view-halloo:

England is England yet, for all our fears—

Only those things the heart believes are true.

A yellow fog swirls past the window-pane

As night descends upon this fabled street:

A lonely hansom splashes through the rain,

The ghostly gas lamps fail at twenty feet.

Here, though the world explode, these two survive,

And it is always eighteen ninety-five.

March 11, 1942