by Cheryl Eagan-Donovan, Chairman of the Oxfordian of the Year Selection Committee
As Chairman of the Oxfordian of the Year Selection Committee, it is my great pleasure to announce this year’s recipient. Our committee met several times as is our custom, discussed in detail the various eligible and worthy candidates, and quickly reached consensus. The committee, consisting of Alex McNeil, Roger Stritmatter, Bill Boyle, and myself, was unanimous in its decision.
This year’s award goes to someone who is long overdue for this recognition, and meets all of the criteria we use in evaluating candidates. They have made many important contributions to the Oxfordian cause through scholarly research, publication of several articles and a book, speaking engagements at conferences, local book clubs and universities, bringing wider awareness to the authorship question, and taking an active leadership role in the Shakespeare studies and authorship community.
I am thrilled to announce that the 2024 Oxfordian of the Year is Bonner Miller Cutting. I first met Bonner in Portland, OR at the Concordia authorship conference, and got to know her well when she offered me a ride each day from the hotel to the university. I was immediately impressed by her in-depth knowledge of the authorship question and her professionalism. Her presentations are always thoroughly engaging and impeccably polished, the result of her commitment to rehearsal, which is not surprising because she is also a classically trained pianist. As a newcomer to the community, I admired her greatly and learned much from her. She became a great friend and mentor to me, encouraging me and supporting both my film projects and my research. She is always respectful and gracious in her interactions with colleagues, yet never afraid to disagree with other experts on new ideas and discoveries. She is a true risk-taker and a powerful advocate for our movement. Her most recent research, on the portrait of Susan Vere, the theatrical works owned by Francis Bacon, and the manuscript by Percival Golding regarding Oxford’s burial in Westminster, on which we collaborated to write an article, constitute major discoveries and have great potential for further inquiry and analysis. My hope is that she will soon publish another book.
Alex McNeil says, “Bonner is one of only a few ‘lifelong’ Oxfordians. Her parents, Ruth Loyd Miller and Judge Minos Miler, were active in the movement for many years. She is an indefatigable researcher. In preparation for her work on the last will and testament of Will Shakspere of Stratford, she read and analyzed abstracts of hundreds of wills from that time period.
“Amazingly, she seems to know ‘who was who’ from the Elizabethan era — with ease, she can tell us whose daughter married whose son, how many children they had, and what families they all married into. If there had been a newspaper back then, she could have been the society columnist.
“In addition to her book, Necessary Mischief, she has written more than three dozen articles for Oxfordian publications on many different topics, including Oxford’s 1000-pound annuity, the wardship system, and the apparent misidentification of two women in portraits of that time.”
Roger Stritmatter adds, “Bonner has a keen eye for relevance in the authorship question. Her work has strategically developed foundations passed on to all of us through the many years of research and scholarship of her parents, Judge Minos and Ruth Loyd Miller. For example, Bonner’s work has encompassed such related leverage points in the authorship question as early modern censorship, the history of the revels office, the Shakspere will, and the legacy of concealment (and revelation) from the English aristocracy of the 17th and 18th centuries. Her research on the Wilton triptych definitely established that Lady Susan Vere, the first wife of the Earl of Montgomery, is depicted in the painting even though her presence had been denied for decades if not centuries as part of the cultural amnesia that had erased Susan’s father from Elizabethan and Jacobean history.
“Bonner has obviously not squandered or disregarded her parents’ valued legacy but has built upon the best of it in a most impressive way.
“She has also over several decades been a consistently cheerful presence who takes a genuine interest in the work of other post-Stratfordians and Oxfordians, has given of her time and intellect through service on the board of the SOF, and has been setting standards for the organization by raising money from independent and objective outside sources.
“Bonner’s contributions to the Oxfordian cause have over many years been exemplary; both her scholarship and her educational outreach will continue to repay benefits for the Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship for many coming years and decades.”
Bill Boyle notes that Bonner has also opened up the “Miller archives” for everyone, which will be inventoried and catalogued, and SOAR will eventually help share this important resource with the Oxfordian community.
Her generosity, diplomacy, and passion for the study of Shakespeare are boundless. I cannot think of a more valuable member of our Oxfordian community. Thanks so very much Bonner! Congratulations!
Watch the award ceremony and see Bonner’s acceptance speech:
