Oberon Shakespeare Study Group

English author and composer Alexander Waugh named Tony Pointon's  The Man Who Was Never Shakespeare  (Parapress, 2011) as one of his favorite reads of 2011 in Waugh's reply to a Wall Street Journal   article published December 17. With dry humor, Waugh said that he has vacillated in his response to the Shakespeare authorship controversy, and added: Mr. Pointon's book sets out to prove that "William Shakspere" (an illiterate player and tradesman from Stratford) never wrote the poems and plays credited to the pseudonym "William Shakespeare." The book's strength is that it doesn't attempt to peddle any of Mr. Pointon's own theories as to who actually did write them. His evidence is clear and compelling. So I am currently on Mr. Pointon's side against the Stratfordians, enjoying my gullibility and looking forward to re-reversing my views many more times in the coming years.  In the article titled "Twelve Months of Reading" , th...

I just want to be sure that we are appreciating the Wall Street Journal interview of James Shapiro for what it accomplished. First of all, the reporter states immediately, "today the controversy seems more alive than ever." That's a third party making a statement which the Strats have denied, and it is a direct result of her freshly done interview with one of the head Strats. No better third party than the Wall Street Journal . She does this, by the way, by framing Shapiro against Emmerich, so here is an early return on the Emmerich "investment" that perhaps we did not foresee. Second, Professor Shapiro states, "There are certain things you can't say or do [in academia], and one of them is to talk about who wrote Shakespeare." We have said this countless times and countless times have been denied as whiners. Now here comes the head Strat himself attesting to this truth about the state of free and open inquiry in academia. Thank you, Profe...

Spurred by the Wall Street Journal article about Justice John Paul Steven’s anti-Stratfordianism , professional skeptic and publisher of Skeptic magazine, Michael Shermer, inveighs against the evils of authorship heresy in the August 2009 S cientific American . I’ve never understood Shermer’s staunch stance against authorship agnosticism. I would have thought that a skeptic might wonder how a man who couldn’t write managed to pen all those plays, or how the man from Stratford knew so much about science, math, astronomy, languages, law, mythology, and myriad books and authors. I thought a skeptic might be skeptical. But no, Shermer’s only concern is his hatred of conspiracy theorists. But what if there were no conspiracy? What if history just got it wrong when someone decided the playwright was this guy from Stratford? Would Shermer become an Oxfordian?  I doubt it. I don’t have much confidence in the intellectual acuity of the guy who said in his Scientific American essay: Some a...

The Wall Street Journal has caved in to the inevitable traditionalist reaction to its front page report last Saturday, April 18 about the finding by Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens for Edward de Vere as the name behind the pen-name, Shakespeare.   All five of the five letters to the editor printed today (Sat./Sun., April 25 -26, 2009) attack the authorship issue and authorship doubters in general, and the Journal and Justice Stevens in particular. The Journal printed none of the supportive letters it received. The letters which it did print are a remarkable lot, brilliant in their own conceit but in fact blissfully ignorant and uninformed, among the very best examples of the know-nothing mentality which prefers ". . . that the media wouldn't give print space to Oxfordian elitists." They rail against “. . . treating this nonsense seriously.” They see themselves ". . . like Shakespeare,. . . primarily self-educated and masters of intell...

Dear Oberon, Justice Stevens of the U.S. Supreme Court was reported in the Wall Street Journal  to have come down on Oxford's side in the authorship controversy. We all knew this but here are two amazing things: It's the WALL STREET JOURNAL reporting it The poll in the article of all the judges adds up to NINE not supporting Stratford Will to THREE supporting him.  There were 3 pro Oxford, 1 specifically against Stratford but not pro anyone, 3 pro Stratford, which makes it 4-3 AGAINST Stratford.  The remaining opinions were "no comment," "no idea," and "no informed views," which according to my math puts the United States Supreme Court overwhelmingly in the Reasonable Doubt column. We have just taken a huge leap forward. Enjoy the day. Tom Hunter

Note: On date below, I understand that although the article was available online on Friday 4/17/09, it wasn't actually published in print until Saturday 4/18/09. LT Yesterday (4/17/09) the Wall Street Journal published an article by Jess Bravin titled: Justice Steven's renders and opinion on who wrote Shakespeare's plays: It Wasn't the Bard of Avon, He Says, Evidence Is beyond a Reasonable Doubt In response, Oberon Chairperson Tom Hunter sent this message -- To the  Editor of the Wall Street Journal: Thank you to reporter Jess Bravin and the Wall Street Journal for the news about the support of U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens for Edward de Vere, the 17 th   Earl of Oxford, as the true author under the pseudonym William Shakespeare of the works which have been attributed for 400 years to William Shaksper of Stratford-Upon-Avon. The report is extremely relevant as hundreds of thousands of devoted Shakespeare fans around the world plan to ce...