We are, as described in our founding Constitution, an association of agreeable human beings who share an admiration of Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse and the rich products of his imagination. Our members include everyone from lifelong fans to people who have only recently discovered Wodehouse's works, from serious rare-book collectors to academic scholars of literature, and from those who go around warbling his songs to folks who didn't even know he was involved in musical theatre. The only generalization we can make is that people who appreciate Plum tend to have a genial outlook on life and a high fizziness of spirit, which leads to quite a bit of fun whenever and wherever they congregate.
The Society was founded in 1980 by Captain William Blood. Bill started the Society after he retired from the U.S. Army to Pennsylvania. In this endeavor he was ably supported by Mary, his wife, and Franklin Axe, also of Pennsylvania. Sadly, our founders are deceased. But their vision has grown over the years to a Society of around 650 members. Most of us are in the United States, although there are sizable gangs in Canada and the United Kingdom, a fair sprinkling of members on the European continent, and a few flung as far as Japan, Australia, India, and Hong Kong.
The Wodehouse Society is a member of the International Wodehouse Association, which links the various Wodehouse societies around the world.
The Society has established the Norman Murphy Award to recognize those who have made significant contributions to Wodehouse scholarship or have provided singular service to the Society. The award is named in honor of the late Lieutenant Colonel Norman T.P. Murphy some of whose contributions are outlined on the "About P.G. Wodehouse" tab.The Wodehouse Society maintains this website and there are four other processes which animate our existence. Plum Lines is our quarterly journal. See the separate tab for more details and the valuable and expanding Plum Lines Archive of posted back numbers of our journal and also the link to the most useful Index. The various members sometimes also gang together in Regional Chapters. Very different and ill-defined, but often very active and energetic, these baskets of Plum fans meet to socialize, enjoy Wodehouse, spread the word of Wodehouse locally in their communities, and generally bubble and fizz. Look one up at the Regional Chapters tab, and if none are close enough, start your own! If one is too geographically remote for chapter participation, or too shy, the PGWnet (see tab for details) is a forum for exchanging Wodehouse news and views among the cognoscenti. Folks frequently adopt a nom de Plum taken from the canon as a way to both mark their fandom and, perhaps, reveal a bit about their inner Wodehousianness. Finally, biennially, in odd-numbered years, TWS meets for a weekend convention. Typically hosted by a local chapter with the assistance of TWS CSC, these conventions are delightfully Wodehousian events. Browsing and sluicing, talking and listening, meeting old and new friends, the occasional bit of cricket and fancy dress, and above all else celebrating P.G. Wodehouse. The photos of some past conventions, linked via the Conventions tab, will display TWS at its very best.