The Luck of the Bodkins met with universal approval at the most recent clandestine gathering of The Den(ver) of the Secret Nine. It did not have the body count of Love Among the Chickens, to which original member Mike objected, nor the sense of retracing old ground that member Ed confessed to finding in Joy in the Morning. The Luck of the Bodkins, however, was praised as the very model of sweetness and light that one hopes to find in Wodehouse.
As usual, member Shawn came prepared with copious notes. Member Joice came with several books and CDs pertaining to Wodehouse’s considerable songbook, and she presented newest member Mike with her invaluable Unified Field Theory of Wodehouse diagram, which shows the relationships between all the stories.
Unfortunately only eight of the Secret Nine could be in attendance; two were kept away by the Mother‘s Day snowstorm that sent tree limbs snapping throughout Denver and the Front Range.
Various members asked informal quiz questions, including some to which the answer was not known beforehand. We also discussed the possibility of more frequent gatherings and may move to monthly meetings, although since some of us are members of other groups that also meet on Sunday, scheduling will be a concern.
For now, the next formal meeting will be at 12:30 p.m. July 13 at Pints Pub in Denver and the book to be discussed will be If I Were You, which had been earlier considered for the group, but had been abandoned because it had gone out of print. Since then, however, Overlook Press has republished it.
We will have another Wodehouse movie get together June 14 but only for existing members as it will be at someone‘s home.
We also discussed another attempt at finding new members. Original Mike is looking into the possibility of our group attending a cricket game and inviting the local Sherlock Holmes and Jane Austen societies. Members are invited to visit the Colorado Cricket League to get an idea where games are played along the Front Range. Mike will try to find suitable dates.
Another obvious way to entice new players would be a golf tournament, but since we only have a few members who play, the next logical choice is miniature golf. It was suggested that the September meeting might be a good time for a miniature golf outing as the weather will be reliable. I suggest the Kennedy Golf Course would be a good choice. We also need to start thinking about our October Wodehouse birthday get together and the challenge of finding somewhere to meet.
Another suggestion was to find whether any local theater groups could be persuaded to stage a Wodehouse-related production. I said I knew of no current Wodehouse-related production, but today I discovered that the Town Hall Arts Center in Littleton will stage Anything Goes Nov. 14–Dec. 28. The musical is a Guy Bolton/P.G. Wodehouse collaboration and group tickets are available. I’ll see if it’s possible for our group to do a cross promotion with the arts center. How much of the original Bolton/Wodehouse book survives I do not know.
That’s it for now. I’ll keep you posted by email when a time is set for the movie night.
The Denver of the Secret Nine 