During a series of leg exercises recommended by a physical therapist I became so bored that I leaned over to a bookcase and took the first book my hand landed on. Hamlet. OK, this will certainly take my mind off the repetitive motions.
Thumbing the pages preceding the actual play, I just happened to notice a short paragraph mentioning the authorship question. This paperback was maybe 20 years old and this comment made me instantly recall the PBS Frontline program on the DeVere link to the WS plays. I had really enjoyed the historical and political angle of the show …. but did not pursue it further. Now, my mind was filled with that earlier wonder and mystery. Pursue it I must.
Within hours I was deep into many sites and authorship videos on my computer. Bacon? Marlowe? Fulke? De Vere? So much speculation and enormous research. There was no doubt to doubt Shaksper now. In the following weeks the “evidence” and great research by Whittemore and Waugh and Green and others focused me onto the DeVere track. What a fantastic wave of analysis and interpretation. I look forward, now more than ever, to reading the “works,” having the real author’s life and times as the stage.
— Marshall H. Peck III
“How I Became an Oxfordian” is edited by Bob Meyers. You may submit your essay on this topic (500 words or less in an editable format such as MS Word), along with a digital photo of yourself, to: communications@shakespeareoxfordfellowship.org. Also include a sentence about yourself (e.g., “John J. Smith is a businessman in San Francisco.”)
SOF memberships are now available on our membership page.
