Baltimore Ripper Convention April 8-April 10 2016

[Chris G.]

Get your head around the mystery that Shakespeare's skull may be missing here, and, more importantly, don't forget that we will be discussing the "Great Victorian Mystery," as former Ripper Notes editor Christopher-Michael DiGrazia famously called the Whitechapel Murders, at RipperCon in Baltimore in less than two weeks' time! The event stars veteran Ripperologist Martin Fido (The Complete Jack the Ripper A to Z). Sign up for RipperCon now! Deadline March 31. For complete updated information, go to http://RipperCon.com.

Epitaph on William Shakespeare's grave in the parish church at Stratford-upon-Avon. Photograph by Dean Conger.



Errrm. . . . Laurence Olivier really should have known better!!!! Give it back, Larry.

[Chris G.]

Attendees at RipperCon in Baltimore April 8-10 will be going to the Baltimore Civil War Museum at President Street Station on the Sunday bus tour! It's the place to learn about the city during the war, including the Pratt Street riot of April 19, 1861 and Lincoln "sneaking" through the city on the way to his first inauguration. Full information at http://RipperCon.com. Sign up now! March 31 deadline.

[Chris G.]

Spaces are still available for RipperCon, so don't miss out if you are interested in coming to our Jack the Ripper - True Crime event! Not only will we be discussing the Whitechapel murders with Martin Fido and other experts but we will discuss Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his theories about the case but the Long Island Serial Killer with Robert Anderson and forensic techniques with Dr. Charles Tumosa of the University of Baltimore. A newly added session is Dr. Mikita Brottman's talk on the Yorkshire Ripper --

Mikita Brottman will discuss "The Yorkshire Ripper" on Friday afternoon, April 8. Her originally proposed topic "Why We Love True Crime" is now going to be part of a panel on "Fictional Crime versus True Crime" on Saturday afternoon. Dr. Brottman is a psychoanalyst and professor in the Department of Humanistic Studies at the Maryland Institute College of Art. She is the author of Meat is Murder! (1998), a study of cannibalism in myth, crime, and film; and the true crime collection Thirteen Girls (2013). Her next book, The Maximum Security Book Club: Reading Literature in a Men’s Prison, will be published in June 2016 by HarperCollins (for more information, see http://www.mikitabrottman.com).

Our website gives the complete rundown of speakers and times:

http://rippercon.com/rippercon-speakers/

http://rippercon.com/rippercon-schedule/

Registration cost and bus tour price are given on the main page --

http://rippercon.com/

As noted, our base hotel for RipperCon is the Mount Vernon Baltimore Hotel, a block east of the Maryland Historical Society where the talks will take place 1 pm to 6 pm on Friday, April 8 and 9 am to 5 pm on Saturday, April 9, with the bus tour taking place on the morning of Sunday, April 10 as the last event of the weekend.

Rooms can be booked at the Mount Vernon Baltimore Hotel for the special price of $119 a night by going to Rippercon. If you have trouble booking, let me know -- email [email protected] or telephone 410-243-5635. The hotel say they will open up more rooms to accommodate us as necessary. You can also directly contact the hotel sales manager, Gretchen Shaffer, telephone 410-727-7101 ext 3104. Fax 410-789-3312. Email [email protected].

Best regards

Chris

[Scott Nelson]

I'm getting excited now. Maybe Martin Fido can present my Lifetime Achievement Award.

[Chris G.]

Spaces are still available for what promises to be an exciting must-see weekend in Baltimore, April 8-10! Don't miss our Jack the Ripper - True Crime event! Not only will we be discussing the Whitechapel murders with Martin Fido and other experts but Janis and I will chat about Sherlock Holmes, Jack the Ripper, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's theories about the case. Michael Hawley promises new revelations about Dr. Tumblety who actually lived in Baltimore as we will see on the Sunday bus tour -- his lodging house is still standing! I will talk about the mysterious death of Edgar Allan Poe in 1849, and folks on the bus tour will be going to the Poe House on Amity Street and to his grave, along with having the privilege of seeing "Nutshell Studies of Unexpected Death" at the Maryland Coroners Office. Mikita Brottman will talk about the Yorkshire Ripper and Robert Anderson will discuss the ongoing unsolved Long Island Serial Killer case. Dr. Charles Tumosa of the University of Baltimore's Forensic Studies program will describe using forensic techniques to solve old cases.

Mikita Brottman will discuss "The Yorkshire Ripper" on Friday afternoon, April 8. Her originally proposed topic "Why We Love True Crime" is now going to be part of a panel on "Fictional Crime versus True Crime" on Saturday afternoon. Dr. Brottman is a psychoanalyst and professor in the Department of Humanistic Studies at the Maryland Institute College of Art. She is the author of Meat is Murder! (1998), a study of cannibalism in myth, crime, and film; and the true crime collection Thirteen Girls (2013). Her next book, The Maximum Security Book Club: Reading Literature in a Men’s Prison, will be published in June 2016 by HarperCollins (for more information, see http://www.mikitabrottman.com).

Our website gives the complete rundown of speakers and times:

http://rippercon.com/rippercon-speakers/

http://rippercon.com/rippercon-schedule/

Registration cost and bus tour price are given on the main page --

http://rippercon.com/

As noted, our base hotel for RipperCon is the Mount Vernon Baltimore Hotel, a block east of the Maryland Historical Society where the talks will take place 1 pm to 6 pm on Friday, April 8 and 9 am to 5 pm on Saturday, April 9, with the bus tour taking place on the morning of Sunday, April 10 as the last event of the weekend.

Rooms can be booked at the Mount Vernon Baltimore Hotel for the special price of $119 a night by going to Rippercon. If you have trouble booking, let me know -- email [email protected] or telephone 410-243-5635. The hotel say they will open up more rooms to accommodate us as necessary. You can also directly contact the hotel sales manager, Gretchen Shaffer, telephone 410-727-7101 ext 3104. Fax 410-789-3312. Email [email protected].

See you in Baltimore.

Best regards

Chris

[Chris G.]

RipperCon co-organizer Janis Wilson will appear on the Investigation Discovery Channel tonight at 10:00 pm on a program with the topic "Scorned." Janis is a regular contributor to the ID Channel. Check out her website JanisWilson.com.

If you have not yet caught it, RipperCon M/C and Long Island Serial Killer (LISK) speaker Robert Anderson and I recorded a podcast interview with Quincy of the Talk 2 Q Radio Show to chat about RipperCon in Baltimore, April 8-10. The podcast also features an appearance by Buffalo native Brian Young (aka Steadmund Brand). To listen, go to alturl.com/buudf.

Space still available for RipperCon. But time is getting short! If you are interested in attending, sign up now! Go to our website at RipperCon.com

[Chris G.]

Looking forward to welcoming Martin Fido to Baltimore tomorrow night and all attendees for RipperCon, our Jack the Ripper - True Crime convention taking place at the Maryland Historical Society.

If you have not yet caught it, RipperCon M/C and Long Island Serial Killer (LISK) speaker Robert Anderson and I recorded a podcast interview with Quincy of the Talk 2 Q Radio Show to chat about RipperCon in Baltimore, April 8-10. The podcast also features an appearance by Buffalo native Brian Young (aka Steadmund Brand). To listen, go to alturl.com/buudf.

Space is still available for RipperCon. But time is getting short! If you are interested in attending, sign up now! Go to our website at RipperCon.com for complete information.

[Chris G.]

RipperCon speaker Mikita Brottman interviewed in Baltimore Style magazine: http://baltimorestyle.com/19713/you-dont-know-jack/



Space is still available for RipperCon. Go to our website at RipperCon.com for complete information. Students with valid ID will be given free admission.

[Big Jon]

Good luck to my fellow researchers from Team Syph who are presenting our research and theories on the Long Island Serial Killer case in Baltimore tomorrow.

[Adam Went]

I hope the conference is going brilliantly and can only add again that I'm sorry I couldn't make it in person. Next time!

Cheers,
Adam.

[Chris G.]

Hi Jon, Adam, et al.

Yes we were very pleased with the way the weekend went. Robert Anderson who as many you will know has attended and addressed a number of the UK conferences felt it was one of the best Ripper events that he has witnessed. Here is one of his photographs, of my co-organizer, Janis Wilson, along with the generous and eminent Martin Fido, taken by Bob.

Martin gave the keynote address in the first session on Friday afternoon on "Ripperology and Anti-Semitism," took part in a panel on suspects on Saturday morning along with Mike Hawley and Bob Anderson, chaired by Bob, and freely offered his opinions and eruditeness all weekend long.

Best regards

Chris

[Chris G.]

The weekend proved to be a great success in terms of the quality of the speakers and the information presented. I even got into the presentation that Janis and I did on “The Ripper, Sherlock Holmes, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle”, that Conan Doyle, besides being a qualified physician, played football (i.e., soccer). He was a goalie for Portsmouth!

Hi all

We held talks Friday afternoon then all day Saturday with a bus tour of downtown Baltimore on Sunday for four hours starting at 9:00 am. I stayed at the Mt Vernon Hotel Saturday night so I would be in good shape to lead the bus tour Sunday morning. Attendees at the event decided to eat at an Ethiopian restaurant up the street but I didn't fancy that so I just ordered room service. I had filet mignon and a bottle of red wine.

Here are a few shots I took at the hotel from the window of my room looking out at Mt Vernon Square and the city's Washington Monument. First several shots are of the square on Saturday evening. It had been rainy and blowy during the day so the streets and sidewalks were wet. The photographs were taken between 6:30 pm and 7:30 pm as dusk closed in. Note one shot of the flag above the window then one of the illuminated monument around 7:30 pm. Then the last photo -- a shot of the monument on Sunday morning, which thankfully dawned sunny and dry which was good because I had photographs and documents that I wanted to show the folks during the tour!

[Chris G.]

The Washington Monument in Baltimore is the first major formal monument to the nation's first president. The architect was Robert Mills who also designed the Washington Monument in D.C., although that monument is an obelisk and not a classical column as here. The next two photographs were taken in George's Restaurant at the Mt Vernon Hotel... named for the first president, naturally!

Buffalo native Brian Young at RipperCon by Robert Anderson



Brian Young, Martin Fido, Robert McCullough, Delianne Forget, Mike Hawley and Katja Nieder at RipperCon, Baltimore, April 8-10, 2016 by Robert Anderson

[Chris G.]

Long Island Serial Killer presenter and RipperCon M/C Robert Anderson and opening slide for his team's presentation. Photographs courtesy of Bob.

[Chris G.]

Michael Hawley presenting on Tumblety at RipperCon.

On the Sunday bus tour, Chris George talking to attendees outside Tumblety's former lodgings at 218-220 N. Liberty Street and a couple of views of the building, which now houses a fast food joint and a lawyers office.