James Warren presents "J. Thomas Looney and the Most Revolutionary Book in the History of Shakespeare Studies" at the Shakespeare Identified Centennial Symposium at the National Press Club, Washington DC, March 4, 2020.
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Even those who are equivocal on the topic of the Shakespeare authorship must be unequivocal in their admiration of the Oxfordian thesis progenitor, J. Thomas Looney, and must admire the great organization that honors his work, the Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship. When a colleague asked if we thought the fellowship’s March 4, 2020 symposium at the National Press Club celebrating the centennial of Looney’s Shakespeare Identified in Edward DeVere, Seventeenth Earl of Oxford was worth the expenditure in time, effort, and funds, we replied enthusiastically in the affirmative.
The concept of the March 4, 2020 Shakespeare Identified Centennial Symposium developed in a brainstorm session at the 2018 Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship annual conference in Oakland, CA. At that time the Shakespeare Identified Centennial Committee had expanded by several members, among them Linda Bullard, who offered to organize a March Fourth 2020 event at the Cecil Palmer Archive at the University of Texas in Austin. That seed did not bear fruit; but Bullard, her subcommittee, and the entire Shakespeare Identified Committee supported the concept of a publication-day event, and worked hard to achieve that goal.
The Oberon group congratulate the SOF for having the will to host a major celebratory event in addition to the annual conference in the centennial year. The SOF stood up for its history, and paid honor and thanks to a man who deserves a loud centennial cheer for his work. The symposium was a wonderful way to kick-off the celebration. It is bitter, today, to think that had that group not worked so hard to honor the very date of publication, we might not have been able to celebrate at all.
Origins
In 2014, Kathryn Sharpe, Jennifer Newton, and I were working on multi-media, public relations for SOF when we asked the board to set up the SI-100 committee as a way to generate content online -- we thought a centennial is a great news hook, and we owed it to Mr. Looney to say thanks for his work. We might have been premature, but we thought that it would be easier to lay a good foundation than to throw up a lean-to at the last minute.
James Warren came on-board early and, along with his work on the book about the impact of Shakespeare Identified -- J. Thomas Looney's Shakespeare Identified: the 100th Anniversary of the Book that is Revolutionizing Shakespeare Studies, Warren also decided to publish a centennial edition of Shakespeare Identified as a way to honor Looney.
Kathryn Sharpe with perseverance and incredible diplomatic skills negotiated not only the honorable marking of Looney's grave (We initially had no idea he had no grave marker.), but also development of an important relationship with Looney's grandson leading to the discovery of hundreds of Looney’s documents that would have been lost forever without her and James Warren’s intervention.
And then to have the very day of the centennial — March 4, 2020 — marked for posterity was icing on the centennial birthday cake!
Ron Charles of the Washington Post spoke the absolute truth when he referred to the ". . . well-known tenets of the Oxfordian thesis” in his report on the March fourth symposium. He is absolutely right, the tenets of the Oxfordian thesis are well-known. From the Internet access to media, and the power of the worldwide attention that Roland Emmerich's 2011 film, Anonymous, created; the question of Stratford's authorship has been firmly wedged into the culture. For good or ill, we have entered a new era of Shakespearean inquiry; and the Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship is the world leader on the topic. They have led with honor, and have marked the new era with a look back in gratitude to their progenitor. That is a birthday gift beyond words to acclaim.
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Shakespeare Identified Centennial Committee, March 2020: Kathryn Sharpe, Jennifer Newton, Linda Theil, James Warren, Tom Regnier, Robert Meyers, Justin Burrow, Bryan Wildenthal Roger Stritmatter, Shelly Maycock, Linda Bullard, Joella Werlin, Catherine Hatinguais, Earl Showerman, Richard Joyrich, Bob Crane, Stewart Wilcox-Sollof, Charles Boyton, Jonathan Morgan, Kevin Gilvary, John Hamill, Steven Sabel.
SOF Trustees 2020: John Hamill, Bryan Wildenthal, Don Rubin, Richard Foulke, Earl Showerman, Ben August, Julie Sandys Bianchi, Walter Hurst, Theresa Lauricella
Resources
Shakespeare Identified Centennial Committee
"SOF announces Shakespeare Identified Centennial Symposium"
James Warren presents "J. Thomas Looney and the Most Revolutionary Book in the History of Shakespeare Studies" at Shakespeare Identified Centennial Symposium, March 4, 2020
"Warren to publish centennial book in 2020"
Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship
Shakespeare Identified Centennial Edition edited by James Warren (Veritas Publications, 2019)
"SI-100 progress update Dec. 2017" by Kathryn Sharpe
"Joyrich called it" (re Anonymous)
"Shakespeare Identified Centennial Symposium"
"This week marks a centennial milestone of the weirdest and most tenacious conspiracy theory in English literature." by Ron Charles in The Washington Post Book Club, March 4, 2020