EVERYONE IS TIRED OF FAKE NEWS AND WE ARE TIRED OF FAKE SHAKESPEARE!
I am your new President — and I need your help!
I’m asking for your assistance in this new, concentrated effort. While we have the facts about Oxford being the real author behind the alias Shakespeare, as we know from current times, facts are not enough! Facts can be ignored or simply dismissed if they present a threat to current belief. There is much money at stake and reputations are threatened when we challenge the traditional myth that the author was William Shakspere of Stratford-upon-Avon. The evidence indicates that the real author was Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford. This claim impacts the validity of doctorates and biographies of so many Shakespearean “experts.”
Shakespeare plays are presented every day in every country in the world. Many plays, movies, symphonies, and operas are based on his writings. His writings impact our daily speech. Yet, the majority of the world doesn’t know his real biography. That by itself should lead to a renewal of interpretation of his works. There are many allusions that were topical to personalities of his time. To investigate these allusions would create a new Shakespeare Renaissance. People should be interested in the truth.
Yet, we are ignored by almost all of Academia, the press and the population at large. Nobody seems to care. We are treated like an irrelevant fringe cult! We are basically Untouchable! Very few in academia will admit to even reading our evidence:
- They ignored the seminal discovery by J. Thomas Looney in 1920 with his book “Shakespeare” Identified, where he revealed through skillful detective work that Oxford, was the real author.
- They ignore the 2007 Shakespeare Authorship Coalition’s “Declaration of Reasonable Doubt About the Identity of William Shakespeare,”which has been signed by over four thousand people now, including many academics.
- They ignore Richard Roe’s 2010 book, The Shakespeare Guide to Italy, which demonstrates that the author traveled to Venice, Padua, Verona, Florence, and other places where the Shakespeare plays take place. We know that Oxford visited these cities, but there is no evidence that Shakspere of Stratford ever left England.
- They ignore Mark Anderson’s 2005 biography of Oxford, Shakespeare by Another Name, in which he clearly ties the life of Oxford to many scenes in the plays.
And the list of Oxfordian books and journals goes on and on. All ignored!
Stratfordians claim that Shakespeare was a GENIUS who had an outstanding imagination and therefore the plays do not reflect his life. Absurd! Everyone’s work—in literature, painting, music, science—reflects one’s experience, education and travel.
Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon is not known to have had ANY education, and his parents, wife and children were illiterate. His will shows that he did not own any books at all, not even a family bible, or copies of Shakespeare’s plays or poems that had been printed at that time. Neither he nor his family ever claimed that he was a writer (there is no evidence that he ever even wrote a letter!), never mind the author of some spectacular poems and plays. Many of the sources of the plays were available only in foreign languages—like Italian, French, Greek, and Latin. How could he read them? Oxford, we know, was fluent in all these languages and had access to these sources. Oxford was also praised by several of his contemporaries as one of the best writers of his time, but one whose “doings” had NOT been “found out and made public,” as stated in a book published in 1589! Was it an open secret? Remarkably, no play under his name has survived.
When anyone with an inquiring mind wishes to investigate the authorship question, they will turn to what the “experts” have to say. The “experts” are the professors of the leading universities, Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Stanford, etc. Yet these “experts” refuse to discuss the matter. The famous Shakespearean actors, Sir Derek Jacobi and Sir Mark Rylance, have been ignored and ridiculed in England by Academic professors for questioning the Shakespeare Authorship. An astrophysics professor at Stanford, Peter Sturrock, who wrote AKA Shakespeare: a Scientific Approach to the Authorship Question, has great difficulty in getting English professors to respond to his inquiries. One of his rare responses was, “You will never get me to believe that the works of Shakespeare were not written by the man from Stratford.” This is a Catch-22. It reminds me of the story that Galileo, having been the first to see the moons of Jupiter through his telescope, invited a math professor to take a look through the telescope; the professor declined because, he said, he knew there was nothing to see. “Experts” like these quash all inquiry and discussion, the opposite of what a University is supposed to foster.
Historically, our membership has hovered around 400 members. The memberships of the Flat Earth Society and of the People Abducted and Molested by Space Aliens run in the thousands. And they get press coverage. Recently, CBS “Sunday Morning” ran a documentary on the Flat Earth Society. PBS runs a series on “Secrets of the Dead.”
A new documentary by Cheryl Eagan-Donovan, Nothing is Truer than Truth, is now out and provides documented FACTS about Oxford. We need contacts in the media that will interview us. We are initiating Podcasts on the SAQ.
This is what I need you to do:
- Forward this to all your friends, family, colleagues, or anyone who you think might be interested in this dramatic cover-up.
- Renew your SOF membership for 2019, if you haven’t already done so. Ask your friends and family to join the SOF, and if possible, make an extra donation to support our research and outreach initiatives.
- If you know anyone in the media (TV, radio, cable, local paper, local access channel) contact them, send them a personal note and a copy of this email. Have them interview you. We will join you if possible, and if not, send you marketing material.
- If you don’t know how to do it, have your kid or grandkid post this on all social media: Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Have them create a hashtag such as #TheRealShakespeare or #400YearOldHoax.
- Spread the word through your personal network: friends, civic clubs, community centers, etc. You’d be surprised how people that don’t know much about Shakespeare become riveted by this story.
- Link our SOF website to your online posts.
- Let us know if you can get theCheryl Eagan-Donovan documentary screened anywhere.
My main objective as President is to focus on OUTREACH and PUBLIC RELATIONS in order to increase MEMBERSHIP.
We are establishing closer coordination with the De Vere Society in England since it is the only other organization in the world promoting Oxford as the true author. Its Chairman, Alexander Waugh, has made many important discoveries, such as that the phrase “Sweet Swan of Avon” is a reference not to Stratford-upon-Avon, but to Hampton Court, which was referred to as “Avon” during the 16th century, and where Shakespeare plays were performed for Queen Elizabeth and King James. Surprise! This major discovery is also ignored.
We just held our Annual Conference in Oakland, California, where many of these ideas were discussed. We had an exciting video contest on the Authorship Question, and you can see the winners on our SOF Website. Please share these videos with your friends. They are excellent in spreading the facts in 3 minutes! They are educational and fun.
Above all, please renew your membership, have your friends join, and if possible donate to our General Fund and our Research Grant Program. These are the most significant ways to invest your money to ensure the future of our study of the true author Shakespeare. Remember, we are the only institution in the world that provides funding for Oxfordian research. Your donation is essential to maintain this program.
We have been too nice and respectful, trying not to offend the hallowed Stratfordians. And the Strats continue to get away with their malarkey! It’s time for our voices to be heard!
GET THE WORD OUT!
We’re here and we’re clear. It had to be Edward de Vere! — get used to it!
No more “fake news”! We need to educate the world about this fascinating TRUE history.
I look forward to your support and to hearing about your successes in this effort.
Sincerely,
John Hamill
President, SOF
[First published in the Shakespeare Oxford Newsletter, Vol. 54, No. 4 (Fall 2018), pp. 2–4; republished on the SOF website, Nov. 26, 2018.]
