Oberon Shakespeare Study Group

by Linda Theil Wally Hurst talks about his presentation "What's Your Authority for that Statement?" at the Toronto Shakespeare authorship conference Oct. 17-20, 2013. Wally Hurst is that rarest of creatures: a master of arts in Shakespeare authorship studies. He was awarded his degree from Brunel University, London, England in July this year. Also trained in the law, Hurst put his academic background to good purpose when he spoke on day-one at the Toronto Shakespeare authorship conference, October 17, 2013. Hurst's presentation was met with great enthusiasm by conference attendees; the title of his talk became something of a byword for the remainder of the conference. In fact, the question raised by Hurst's topic might serve as a motto for anti-Strats everywhere: "What's Your Authority for that Statement?" Hurst told his audience of authorship skeptics that they must develop a sense of skepticism about all research, including their own. In...

by Linda Theil An article titled “Come not between the Oxfordian and his wrath to paraphrase Lear”  appeared in the Toronto Globe & Mail on October 16, 2013 -- the day before the Toronto Shakespeare authorship conference began. This piece did not get as much attention as  later articles in the local press criticizing York University and Guelph University for their roles in supporting the conference. In the October 16 article, Stratfordian Kelly Nestruck wrote about an encounter last year between Toronto Shakespeare authorship conference organizer Don Rubin and Ontario's  Stratford Festival  communications director David Prosser at a day-long authorship seminar Rubin convened on April 7, 2012 wherein Prosser compared authorship inquiry with Holocaust denial. According to Nestruck’s October 16 article, Prosser said he regretted his comment. Nestruck wrote: In defending the traditional, fact-based narrative that a fellow named William Shakespeare wrot...

Oxfordian of the year! Roger Stritmatter, PhD was named Oxfordian of the Year at the 2013 Shakespeare Oxford Society/Shakespeare Fellowship joint conference held at the Metropolitan Hotel in Toronto, Ontario, October 17-20. SOS President John Hamill and SF President Tom Regnier, JD announce the results of the unification vote. Members of the Shakespeare Oxford Society (138 to two) and the Shakespeare Fellowship (74 to four) voted in favor of unification. Hamill will assume presidency of the unified organization, the Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship, when legal papers are filed today. Update 10/22/13: Ann Zakelj posted a video of the presidents signing the new bylaws at  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtQK7J2d9r8&sns=em . Shakespeare Authorship Coalition Director John Shahan spoke to attendees at the conference banquet about what they can do to forward the cause of anti-Stratfordian research: 1. read and sign the Declaration of Reasonable Doubt , 2. share auth...

Film maker Cheryl Eagan-Donovan presented on the topic of Oxford's homosexuality. "I believe Oxfords sexuality is a primary reason for his pseudonym," she said. She will debut her film Nothing Is Truer than the Truth in Boston in November. New York actor and author Hank Whittemore spoke about Oxford as the guiding force behind the three most important acting companies of Elizabeth's reign. Lynne Kositsky and Roger Stritmatter sign their new book On the Date, Sources and Design of Shakespeare's The Tempest. Journalist Mark Anderson gave the keynote address on "Shakespeare, Newton and Einstein: Listening to the Obsession of Genius". Shelly Maycock made her debut appearance at the conference with a paper on "Essex, Oxford, and the Concept of Popularity in Late Elizabethan Discourse". SOS/SF Unification vote: During the SOS annual meeting this morning, Vote Teller Frank Davis announced a total of  l38 ballots ...

Shakespeare Authorship Conference organizer Don Rubin (right) and assistants Chad Froude (left) and Peter Andrusiak (center) prepare for a second successful day at the Metropolitan Hotel in Toronto, Ontario. Shakespeare Fellowship President Tom Regnier beams after successful presentation on the errors in Clarkson and Warner's analysis of Shakespeare's knowledge of the law. Gerit Quealy presented a fascinating look at how authorship study informs the work of actors. York University theater students Michael Atlin and Jade Lattanzi illustrated Quealy's talk wearing t-shirts she designed based on the Droushout engraving in the First Folio . Check out availability on her Facebook page, History Chiq.

  Oberon member Ron Halsted, after successful presentation on the "Dangerous Timeliness of Julius Caesar" Bonner Cutting, SF trustee Roger Stritmatter and Wally Hurst discuss Hurst's presentation on examining evidence in early modern authorship. UPDATE DEC 7 2013: Hurst's address now available on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPN11Dp5Y9U. Anthony Pointon and Heward Wilkinson in from England will present this weekend. Hanno Wember from Germany and Michael Kositsky discuss Wember's presentation of Robert Detobel's "The Outcast State". Richard Joyrich, SOS trustee relaxes after a successful conference launch, Note: We were very sorry to hear that Ron Hess and family members were in an auto collision on their way to the conference with no injuries, but Hess will not attend the conference to present his paper on Oxford'ssecretary hand. We send our best wishes for their speedy recovery from thei...