Ripperologist 100: February 2009

[Supe]

Tom,

Did the second part of 100 come out and I missed it?

Now Tom, you know an issue wouldn't be official unless you got your copy. And that copy should be ready for you this coming weekend. And there will not be, as was feared elsewhere, a false moustache painted on "Sam Flynn," but some other famous faces may have some faux facial spinach. Patience!

Don.

[Suzi]

The weekend and part two- they come soon! xxx Pax chaps xxxxxx

[Tom_Wescott]

Random thoughts on the new issue

I'm reading through some of issue 100 pt. 2, and let me be the first Casebooker to congratulate Timothy Riordan as winner of the first annual Jeremy Beadle award. I'd also like to congratulate the other nominees, since the judges had many dozens of essays to choose from. I was delighted to see Daniel Olsson nominated since I admire the work he's done on Liz Stride's early life.

Not wanting to get into anything too heavy tonight, I've thus far read Adam's editorial (you can stop apologizing for being electronic now, the history of Ripperologist (sans mucho controversy), which was cool. Eduardo Zinna definitely looks better WITH facial hair! 3/4 of the staff come from Ripper Notes, which seems odd until you realize how incestuous the Ripper mag world is. Chop off the first page or so of 'History of Ripperologist' and you'll also have the history of the 'Whitechapel Society Journal', but I digress.

I sincerely congratulate Adam and the others (but Adam's been around the longest, so more kudos to him) for seeing this mag through to 100 issues. That's no small feat. Extra kudos to Don Souden for more recently being the mag's saving grace.

On a side note, let me say that the thing I miss the most about Howard Brown's site since being kicked off all those years ago is Chris George's poetry. He writes some seriously good stuff.

That was a nice picture of Jennifer. Every picture of Don Souden looks exactly the same. I think they have a cardboard cut-out of him or something. By contrast, no two photos of Adam Wood look alike. Go figure.

Regarding the Ripper survey, most of the answers were predictable. But coming in at #3 on Who you would ask and Why was 'Abberline: who was the Ripper?' Now, you can ask ANYTHING of ANYBODY, so who the flip voted this, since we know a) Abberline had no clue, and b) he theorized it was George Chapman, so we already know his favored suspect. Come on, McFly!

Wilff Gregg wrote for the mag for YEARS and died last year. Surely he deserved at least a page (half his alotted space when he wrote reviews) and a photo. Poor ol' guy.

Adam Wood has wisely revised his essay on Wynne Baxter - an old favorite for most of us, since it was an exceptional piece of writing and research on a personage whose importance to our understanding of the case cannot be overestimated. The new version of the article comes in at just under a gazillion pages and contains a jawdropping number of illustrations. I'm telling you, Adam Wood is the MAN. He found the Joseph Lawende picture, after all.

I'm getting ready to read Don Souden's article on how they put the mag together. I'm saving the more heavy stuff for later, but look forward to reading it, particularly Sam Flynn's essay. Is that a recent photo, Sam?

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Sam Flynn]

Is that a recent photo, Sam?

Indeed. Taken at just after 4PM on the 16th February 2009, Tom - warts and all (not that there are any ).

[ChrisGeorge]

Wilff Gregg wrote for the mag for YEARS and died last year. Surely he deserved at least a page (half his alotted space when he wrote reviews) and a photo. Poor ol' guy.

Thanks for your kind words, Tom, about Ripperologist 100 part 2 as well as about my poetry.

In regard to a tribute to the late Wilf Gregg, we did run a full obituary and appreciation of Wilf in Ripperologist 92, June 2008.

All the best

Chris

[Tom_Wescott]

Indeed. Taken at just after 4PM on the 16th February 2009, Tom - warts and all (not that there are any ).

Having never met you in person - only through photos - I can't be sure, but it looks like you've lost weight.

Chris,

I didn't mean to be nitpicky. Just expected something on Wilf, being the first member of the staff to die. Lots of Beadle pics, but no Wilf. Anyway, not trying to be a downer here. Congrats on a good issue.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Sam Flynn]

Having never met you in person - only through photos - I can't be sure, but it looks like you've lost weight.

I have, Tom - I've shed over 30 lbs this past year. Thanks for noticing

[Supe]

Tom,

I will certainly echo Chris's words about your overall impression (thus far) of Part-2. As to my never-changing visage, I think Adam still uses my pic for the Wolverhmpton Conference program. Or else i am simply a fixed star in an ever-changing universe. In either case, I shall try (like most of the staff) to get some better pics. And, I have a certain curiousity about what you thought of our issue 200 cover.

On a more serious note, we did have, I thought, a nice appreciation of our fallen colleague, Wilf, in issue 92 as Chris mentioned. Indeed, his kindly visage adorned that issue's cover.

Don.

[Robert]

Well, it's got me stumped - who was it on the cover?

[Monty]

Gareth

Looking good mate. Thoroughly enjoyed your piece. Glad to read you and look forward to more. Also loved John Bennetts work too. He is probably the coolest Ripperologist in the world, along with Eduardo.

[Sam Flynn]

Cheers, Monty.

[The Grave Maurice]

100-2 may well be the best issue ever. I really enjoyed the pieces by Gareth and John. Excellent work, gentlemen. I'm still working my way through the issue and will probably be back with further praise.

[Natalie Severn]

Sam,
You look really good in that pic-congrats on your weight loss+ the article -I havent yet had time to read but part two is so full of interesting stories that its taking time to cover them all -I read the one about the Bishopsgate Institute which complemented John"s East End feature really well both were fascinating.
I still havent read a lot of it though,having only down loaded it all tonight but I"m really looking forward to reading through it all.

Norma

[bodiam]

Still working my way through Part I and Part II is sitting here mocking me, but well done. You chaps put out a terrific magazine every month and I'm always amazed at the range of articles.