Tom Regnier, former President of the Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship (2014–18) and Oxfordian of the Year in 2016, died tragically and unexpectedly of Covid-19 on April 14. The news about this terrible loss to the Oxfordian movement was first posted on our website on April 16 and a detailed obituary was published on April 25.
As word of Tom’s death began circulating on email and social media on April 14, there was an immediate and remarkable outpouring of heartfelt tributes and remembrances from many members of the SOF and our sister organization in the United Kingdom, the De Vere Society.
We collect and share a selection of these here. Some of these are very brief. Please keep in mind they may reflect first reactions to the shocking news. Many of us found ourselves literally speechless with grief. Some remembrances below have been supplemented by those paying tribute. Others prefer to leave their expressions as they were recorded in the moment. All are unique and powerful reflections of what Tom meant to us. If any friend of Tom in the Shakespeare authorship community wishes to add or revise a remembrance or tribute, please email us here.
Tom played a special, indeed unique, role in the modern history of the SOF, and the Oxfordian movement generally. Tom himself would be the first, however, to note our loss of other valued Oxfordian colleagues as well during the last two years, including Robert Detobel (1939–2018) (newsletter, pp. 12–13), Professor Dan Wright (1954–2018) (newsletter, pp. 10–12), W. Ron Hess (1949–2019) (newsletter, pp. 9–11), and John Paul Stevens (1920–2019) (newsletter, pp. 13–14), retired Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1975–2010).
Some remembrances of Tom have been preserved on audio in a recent episode, “Prince of the Oxfordian Revolution: Remembering Tom Regnier” (April 29, 2020), in our SOF podcast series, Don’t Quill the Messenger. We extend our heartfelt thanks to host Steven Sabel (who also serves as SOF Director of Public Relations and Marketing), and to podcast producer Jake Lloyd, for creating that episode on short notice, in which Steven and his wife Annie Sabel are joined by SOF Trustee and Secretary Earl Showerman, with recorded tributes by many other friends. Tom himself appeared in the second episode of DQTM on January 30, 2019, on “Shakespeare and the Law.”
Tom’s final lecture, delivered on March 4, 2020, at the SOF “Shakespeare Identified” Centennial event at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., is available here.
This is a revised and supplemented version of the collection of reminiscences appearing in the Spring 2020 issue of the Shakespeare Oxford Newsletter, pp. 1, 5, 29–31, published in early May 2020. It is republished here with the kind cooperation of newsletter editor Alex McNeil.
Tributes and Remembrances
Tom was an outstanding human being. He was a powerful guiding force for the SOF and for the Oxfordian movement worldwide. We were very lucky to have him with and for us. We became personal friends and helped each other out over these last years. We worked together to merge our Oxfordian organizations and he was our President for four years. As the manager of our SOF website, he was in effect the face of our organization.
Tom was truly a Renaissance man. He was a lawyer, actor, researcher, presenter, lover of Shakespeare/Oxford, and much more. We will also miss his performances at the end of our SOF conferences. He always provided the fitting end.
If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumber’d here
While these visions did appear.— A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act V
Tom will be sorely missed.
— John Hamill, SOF Trustee and President
When the Winter 2020 issue of the Newsletter went to press back in February, “coronavirus” was not part of our vocabulary. Three months later everything is different. A submicroscopic particle has affected just about everyone on Earth: social distancing, stay-at-home advisories, business closures, travel restrictions, furloughs, layoffs, food banks — the list goes on. Millions of people have contracted the highly contagious pathogen. Many have experienced only mild symptoms, or no symptoms. Hundreds of thousands of others have not been so fortunate. Among them was our own Tom Regnier.
The “Shakespeare Identified” Centennial event at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., where Tom himself spoke, took place on March 4. It was just in the nick of time, when traveling still didn’t seem too risky. If it had been scheduled even a few days later, it might have been postponed. No one knows how long, and to what extent, our lives will be disrupted. But life does go on. We are encouraged by the high rate of membership renewals this year. The Spring 2020 issue of the Newsletter just went out on time, thanks to our printer and to the U.S. Postal Service.
A final word about Tom Regnier. There are a number of touching tributes to him here, and I want to add mine. Among his many skills was proofreading — his were the last pair of eyes to look over the Newsletter before it went to the printer. He did a great job. Tom and I were both attorneys with expertise in appellate work. As such, it was a special thrill for the two of us to go to the U.S. Supreme Court in late 2009 to present the Oxfordian of the Year Award to Justice John Paul Stevens.
A few months after that event a small box came in the mail to my home. Inside was a coffee mug bearing a photo of Justice Stevens with Tom and me. That illustrates Tom’s thoughtfulness. I don’t use that mug for coffee, but I keep it right here on my desk filled with pens and pencils.
Tom — I will miss you.
— Alex McNeil, editor, Shakespeare Oxford Newsletter
A friend to all of us — a comrade-in-arms, our commanding officer. Kind, wise, honourable and humourous, how very sad to lose you, Tom. May Heaven’s gates welcome you with trumpets!
— Alexander Waugh, Chairman, De Vere Society (U.K.) (Alexander’s condolences were also reported in the De Vere Society Newsletter, July 2020)
Editorial Note: See Alexander’s YouTube channel, a wonderful solace in troubled times where you may explore some of the fascinating historical and literary mysteries of Shakespeare authorship.
I know it’s not easy being president of an association of doubters and skeptics, yet Tom steered the Oxfordian movement with steady, sensible control. He played a major role in uniting two organisations that had sometimes been at loggerheads. All the time, he displayed a quiet sense of humour as well as a restraining eye on some of the more extreme suggestions. His 2015 lecture on evidence was one of the most useful and memorable of lectures of any that I ever attended. A fine, funny and honourable man.
— Kevin Gilvary, President, De Vere Society (U.K.) (Kevin’s condolences were also reported in the De Vere Society Newsletter, July 2020)
Very sorry to hear this news. I read a number of things Tom wrote over the years. A great fella. A real loss to all his friends and our society of truth seekers and lovers of Shakespeare.
— Sir Mark Rylance, Academy Award-winning actor, first Artistic Director of the new Shakespeare Globe Theatre (1995–2005), and Honorary Trustee of the Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship (Sir Mark’s condolences were also reported in the De Vere Society Newsletter, July 2020)
I am shocked by this sad news. Tom was a giant of the Oxfordian movement. This is such a great loss. I will miss him terribly, as everyone who knew him will. Let us redouble all our efforts in his memory.
— John M. Shahan, Chairman, Shakespeare Authorship Coalition (sponsor of the Declaration of Reasonable Doubt)
Like so many people in the SOF and DVS, I knew Tom as a good friend as well as a brilliant colleague. Tom was one of the smartest people I ever met. His knowledge about the law, and all things Shakespearean, was remarkable. He was by common consent the most successful leader of the SOF in our modern history, elected by unanimous acclaim to a fourth year as our president in 2017 (we normally have a 3-year limit).
But what is most memorable is Tom’s gentle and generous enthusiasm for sharing his knowledge and encouraging other people’s interest in Shakespeare and the authorship question. His recorded lectures on the SOF YouTube channel are so engaging, and stand as a permanent memorial. My mother-in-law, who saw Tom speak several times, was very saddened to learn of his passing. I wasn’t sure how much she had ever talked with him personally, but she told me Tom struck up a friendly conversation with her at the SOF conference in Hartford last year. They talked for some time, focusing on her own interests and background. I had not even known this! It reminded me how warmly and generously Tom welcomed me when I first attended an Oxfordian conference in 2012.
I will always treasure the memory of (and enjoy replaying) the podcast episode we recorded in October 2018 for Don’t Quill the Messenger, in which Tom and I, with our friend Mark Andre Alexander, indulged in a total “geek-fest” discussing Shakespeare, law, and the authorship question (scroll down to see Mark’s remembrance of Tom).
Tom did so much, often behind the scenes. He was always modest, never sought attention for himself, and mainly focused on others. We have lost a unique spirit and a rare friend.
— Bryan H. Wildenthal, SOF Trustee and Website Content Editor
I am shattered by this news. The great success of our Hartford conference in 2019 belongs mostly to Tom, who first suggested the venue and advised every step of the way. I have no words at the moment. I can’t imagine our work without him.
— Don Rubin, SOF Trustee and managing editor, Critical Stages (scholarly journal of the International Association of Theatre Critics)
This is a terrible loss to Tom’s family and his Oxfordian community. Most of us do not know a tenth of what he did behind the scenes and in front of groups for our shared cause. His intelligence, integrity, and nobility were palpable, and our loss a great tragedy.
— Earl Showerman, SOF Trustee
In this, our common shipwreck, I hope that all of us can find anchor in the shared respect and collegiality of our fellowship as we mourn the loss of one of the best voices for our cause.
— Julie Sandys Bianchi, SOF Trustee
Tom was not only a great friend, but he was in fact a towering figure in our movement. With his intelligence, grace, and wonderful sense of humor, he was a unifying force that we will all miss a great deal.
— Wally Hurst, SOF Trustee
Tom was a bright light and charming gentleman. I’m very sorry to hear this sad news.
— Ben August, SOF Trustee
I am so grateful that Tom offered me opportunities to use my graphic skills on SOF website projects. He was generous and patient, always available with support when I needed it, or just to share an interesting thought. The last email he sent me was that the work I was doing “Looks great so far!” His encouragement meant so much. Rick and I shall greatly miss his fellowship.
— Lucinda Foulke, on behalf of herself and Rick Foulke, SOF Trustee
“To weep is to make less the depth of grief.” — Henry VI, Part III, Act II
Tom was the first to welcome me to the SOF. I’m glad I worked with him on the Communications Committee and on the staging of A Question of Will at our Boston conference in 2016. He played Edward de Vere and I was Bridget. Afterwards, he’d salute me as his “good daughter, Bridget” when emailing about the website. I’ll miss his sense of humor and generous spirit.
My heart is breaking.
— Theresa Lauricella, SOF Trustee
A sensitive, brilliant, and thoughtful person. Words fail.
— Bob Meyers, SOF Trustee (starting July 2020)
Tom was so kind and funny and worked so hard. A generous spirit. What a shattering loss. He was planning to recite Hamlet’s monologue in French during our Ashland conference and we were supposed to work on it together this summer. In secret! He wanted it to be a surprise.
— Catherine Hatinguais, SOF Trustee (starting Sept. 2020)
Dear Oxfordian friends,
Like all of you, I’m heartbroken at Tom’s passing. Others have expressed so well what we are all feeling, that we are Tom’s extended family. I can attest to how incredibly generous Tom was with his time. In addition to helpful advice, he gave me (and I’m sure everyone who contacted him) much appreciated encouragement and general moral support. All I can say is that I miss him so much and always will.
In thinking of Tom, I’ve been looking over his emails that I’ve archived over the years. The one below is his Christmas greeting from a couple of years ago (apparently a popular greeting circulated by many lawyers, but it captures so well Tom’s gentle sense of humor):
Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all, and a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great (not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country or is the only “America” in the western hemisphere), and without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith, choice of computer platform, or sexual orientation of the wishee.
By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms. This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others, and is void where prohibited by law, and revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year, or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and such warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.
This greeting has not been approved by any agency of the federal government, or any state or local government, and you therefore accept this greeting at your own risk.
Subject to the aforementioned restrictions — HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Tom Regnier
— Bonner Miller Cutting, SOF Trustee (starting Sept. 2020)
Tom was a fearless leader, a generous mentor, a brilliant mind, and a true friend. His knowledge of Shakespeare and the law was extraordinary, as was his talent as an actor and lecturer. Like the Earl of Oxford, Tom could captivate an audience with his wit and charm, but he was always modest about his great gifts. He very generously supported my work as filmmaker and I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to work with him and enjoy his friendship. We can only try to live life with the passion and joy he shared with us as a small tribute.
— Cheryl Eagan-Donovan, former SOF Trustee, and director, Nothing Is Truer Than Truth (2018)
Our collective hearts are breaking. There will be many ways in which we must give tribute to this our dear fellow. One I have immediately attempted to seize upon is a tribute podcast episode of Don’t Quill the Messenger. When my wife Annie made her first appearance on the podcast, she spoke about how it was Tom’s presentation that finally convinced her that she was an Oxfordian. She was so looking forward to finally meeting him in Ashland this fall.
— Steven Sabel, SOF Director of Public Relations and Marketing, and host, Don’t Quill the Messenger
It is hard to accept that Tom is no longer with us. Simply a terrible, terrible loss. But we were lucky to have him with us for so long. Tom, may “flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.” (Hamlet, Act V)
— Tom Rucker, former SOF Trustee
The next publication in the SOF Brief Chronicles book series will be a volume on Shakespeare, the law, and the authorship question. It will be dedicated to Tom’s memory and will include several of his important essays.
— Roger Stritmatter, Professor of Humanities, Coppin State University (Baltimore), and editor, Brief Chronicles book series
Tom was a hardworking, gracious, and good-humored leader, friend, and colleague. I hope his spirit will help us carry on as he would like us to in all our endeavors.
— Shelly Maycock
So tragic, so terrible. Tom was an engaging and brilliant man — one whose many contributions to the movement which brings us all together only make it all the harder to consider his loss. Too young, too soon, it all feels so wrong.
My last conversation with Tom, at the Hartford conference last October, was about his meeting and getting to know Justice John Paul Stevens before Stevens passed away in July of last year. Tom spoke highly of Stevens’s facile legal mind, even as Stevens was almost 90 when Tom met him.
And there is no doubt that Stevens was a great scholar of both the law and Shakespeare. And yet so too was Tom.
Tonight I’ve been re-reading Tom’s 2003 article, “Could Shakespeare Think Like A Lawyer? Inheritance Law in Hamlet,” and have just been struck again by how sharp and honed Tom’s legal arguments are and how insightful his perspective is. And yes, Tom’s arguments “are” and his perspective “is.” This is present-tense and ongoing. And will forever be so. Like the man he studied and spent so much time writing and reading and arguing about.
Tom was a tremendous person who touched many lives and will be greatly missed. He connected us all with his leadership in and advocacy for the SOF. And he was a good and lively friend to many in this group. I am so sorry to see him go. My thoughts and best wishes are with his family and friends at this truly sad time.
— Mark Anderson, author, “Shakespeare” By Another Name (2005)
What truly terrible news. To lose someone of Tom’s caliber so suddenly is a shock to the system, for he departed the world far too early. Tom was a true gentleman — polite and soft spoken, always with a generous spirit. He exhibited intellectual courage on any subject he focused on.
He had a brilliant mind with a sweet gentle soul and, as so many have testified, he was an utter joy to be with. Just days after my mom passed away in March, he invited me to lunch to help assuage the pain. I knew him as a leader of our organization, which he advanced with skill for almost twenty years as website editor, member of the board of trustees, and president. We are left with wonderful memories and the many victories he led us to as the leader of our movement.
Now he is with the angels. God Bless You. R.I.P.
— Gary Goldstein, editor, The Oxfordian
Tom was both a sweet and brilliant man who had great years ahead of him. It is shocking news, very difficult to digest or to accept. I have been at several conferences with Tom and shared joy, serious exchange, and impishness with him. He was a major steering force in the Oxfordian movement, helped to keep us sane in many ways, and helped to give us a presence in the Americas and internationally. I lament and mourn him personally and also share condolences from all of us at the De Vere Society.
— Heward Wilkinson, De Vere Society (U.K.) (Heward’s condolences were also reported in the De Vere Society Newsletter, July 2020)
I made Tom’s acquaintance at the SOF Conference in Hartford, Connecticut last October 2019, and found him immensely knowledgeable and agreeable — a fellow lawyer for whom Alexander found the right words [see Alexander Waugh’s condolences above], to which I would add: a light touch, a heavy punch, a willing ear, and no ‘side’. After the last session in October 2019, in the conference reception area, people were saying goodbyes and a few went to the microphone to say a few words. Tom, however, sang a gentle song which was most apposite and well-delivered.
— Oliver Kinsey, De Vere Society (U.K.) (Oliver’s condolences were also reported in the De Vere Society Newsletter, July 2020)
I am very sorry to hear this news. We will publish a tribute to Tom Regnier in the forthcoming newsletter of the Shakespearean Authorship Trust.
— William Leahy, Professor of Shakespeare Studies and Vice Provost, Brunel University (London), Chair of the Shakespearean Authorship Trust, and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (Professor Leahy’s condolences were also reported in the De Vere Society Newsletter, July 2020)
We were honored to have Tom as a house guest for several days six years ago. He was in our area to give a wonderful talk about Shakespeare’s legal knowledge in Hamlet. His presentation inadvertently led to the creation of a Shakespeare authorship group in our private club. Tom was steadfast in his support of the Oxfordian movement. He was the glue who held us all together. He was a brilliant, warm, funny man. As others have noted, he was a talented actor, as all of us at the Chicago annual meeting saw when he acted scenes from A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
How wonderful that several of his talks are on the SOF YouTube channel, where they have been seen and will be seen by thousands of people. That will be part of his legacy — continuing to inform and excite people about Edward de Vere (Earl of Oxford) in the years to come.
— Rick and Elisabeth Waugaman
I’m beginning to realize I’m more affected by Tom’s passing than I’d have thought. I met him at three different conferences. I first became aware of him when he cited my article in The Oxfordian, “Shakespeare’s Knowledge of Law,” in a University of Miami Law Review article he wrote.
I thought, “What a nice man.” And meeting him, I found him brilliant, affable, and a true pleasure to converse with, an all-around gentleman. Gone much too soon.
— Mark Andre Alexander
Editorial Note: A podcast episode of Don’t Quill the Messenger, in which Tom discusses Shakespeare, law, and the authorship question with Mark and Bryan H. Wildenthal, is available here. For more resources on Shakespeare and the law, click here.
I’m shocked and saddened, and really at a loss for words. I’d known Tom since 2004 and worked with him on various Oxfordian projects. I’m sitting now just staring out the window. After all the news of these past two months, the reality of this crisis has now struck home.
— Bill Boyle
Nothing except time will ease the anguish of losing Tom, an endearing brother-in-spirit and absolutely-to-be-counted-on committee member and leader. Erasing his name from a mailing list feels premature, shocking, while his spirit is alive in memory. What to do except cry? I dedicate my SOF efforts in 2020 to him (and anyone else we may lose this year).
Remember his wise, quiet counsel.
Sit down at the piano and play Duke Ellington’s “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore.”
Tommy, this one’s for you.
— Kathryn Sharpe
Tom was so influential at the SOF and so dedicated to the cause, he was truly an inspiration. I will miss having him on our team.
— Heidi Jannsch
Tom was the first to write me a personal note of welcome to the Oxfordian community years ago. At the time, my husband and I were living in far-off Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where I taught at an international school. I was able to find that early letter Tom wrote to me, dated Friday, April 12, 2013. The quote I like best: “It’s good to know that we have supporters all over the globe!” Since there were actually no books in our large school library that referenced Edward de Vere (Earl of Oxford), Tom’s enthusiastic welcome and list of book suggestions was much appreciated.
I have referred numerous times, in talking with friends, to the presentations Tom gave on the law and various aspects of Shakespeare. He provided such common sense and clarity, which I have already passed along to a grandson who is attending law school. He will be on the lookout for a course on Shakespeare and the law, so I can advise him and share with him Tom Regnier’s legal insights.
Of all the tributes and comments, the one that touches me the most is Alex McNeil’s story in the Spring Newsletter of the mug Tom made for him, with the photo of them with Justice Stevens in 2009. Such an especially thoughtful gesture by Tom. That story brought new tears to my eyes and still does as I write this.
Honestly, Tom’s death has greatly affected me on several levels. I listened to Steven Sabel’s podcast about Tom, where Cheryl Eagan-Donovan mentioned that Tom had recently fallen in love. It fills me with such sadness, but also some peace, that at least he had found his “fair youth.” Hopefully, Tom’s last year was a happy one for him and for Angel.
— Patricia Carrelli
Editorial Note: The podcast episode that Patricia mentions is available here. For a photo of Tom and his surviving partner Angel Acosta, see Tom’s full SOF obituary here.
To the SOF and the family of Tom Regnier,
Though I’ve been an SOF member for years, I attended my first conference this past October in Hartford. I met Tom Regnier in line at a lunch buffet. He was so gracious and welcoming, and probably had no idea how starstruck I was. To me he was a legend, and his death breaks my heart. I can’t imagine what the grief must be like for those who knew him well.
— Paula Sharzer
I was extremely saddened to hear, this melancholy afternoon, of Tom Regnier’s recent passing from Covid-19. I believe none spoke so well on my favourite subject as Tom. I’ll miss his comments in these pages and I’ll return to his thorough, insightful, and sweetly amusing YouTube dissertations often. It was one particular YouTube video that made me seek out and read Mark Anderson’s wonderful book, which, in turn, brought me here. My heartfelt condolences go out to Tom’s family and to all those that knew and loved him.
— Grant Heaton
Conveying to Tom’s family my deepest sympathy for the passing of this Noble Spirit. What a shining light he was. We will ever cherish him. As Edward de Vere (Earl of Oxford) believed, so do we know, that the spirit of a man lives on, and we will all be reunited in Days Ahead. My love to all of you.
— Richard Shipp
My friend, lawyer, Shakespeare lover, and great resource person, Tom Regnier, has died of Covid-19. It is a terrible loss. I saw Tom last in October 2019 at the Mark Twain House and Museum where he gave his great lecture on what Shakespeare meant by “Kill All the Lawyers.” It is a tribute to a wonderful man who will be greatly missed by his many friends.
— Keir Cutler, Ph.D., playwright, actor, and leading spokesperson for Shakespeare authorship doubt (see Keir’s YouTube channel)
Tom and I first met at a Boston Oxfordian conference. The setting was an austere law library, and Tom was his special combination of calm and excited, learned and courteous. We spoke about The Merchant of Venice and its range of legal references.
Tom’s many gifts included a gentleness … the ability to listen, to offer his ideas without bombast or meanness. We have lost a true Renaissance man.
— Ren Draya
Such an immense loss we suffer with the passing of Tom, our former president, such a nice, sensitive person, eloquent speaker, actor, with such a sense of humor and dignity. I now realize, in our grief, what a treasure it was to have spent several hours with him at his alma mater, Trinity College, after the Hartford conference. In particular it was showing me the chapel with its intricate carvings of the choir benches, which he told me stories about.
— Jan Scheffer (from the Netherlands)
Editorial Note: Jan kindly shared with us the following photos he took of Tom at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, on October 20, 2019, the day the SOF conference concluded at the Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford.
Sadly, I must take pen to paper, so to speak, and write about a great friend of all of us. Tom’s death is a great loss for me personally, as well as for the Oxfordian world in general. In 2013, Tom was instrumental, along with John Hamill, in uniting the Shakespeare Fellowship and the Shakespeare Oxford Society into the current Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship, and Tom served for four very productive years as SOF president from 2014 to 2018. His work as chair of the Communications Committee of the SOF, during that time, and continuing after he left the SOF board, has — along with that of many other hard-working people — resulted in a great website and robust social media outreach. Tom has been, in many ways, the face of the SOF. We regret the loss of future great work from Tom.
On a personal note, I counted Tom as a great friend. In addition to collaborating on plans for the future of the SOF while he and I served on the Board of Trustees together, we had many communications on countless topics — not only Shakespeare, although that was an important subject for us. In addition to seeing Tom every year at the annual conferences, I always made a point of visiting with Tom at his home in Florida every year for over seven years, whenever I was there to visit my family and other friends. Yes, Tom was truly special.
It will certainly be hard to carry on without him as one of the “towering figures of our movement” in the words of Wally Hurst, but I know we must do so. I can only be comforted with the knowledge that at last Tom knows the truth about the origins of the Shakespeare canon, a truth we should, with Tom’s example, continue to pursue for ourselves.
Now cracks a noble heart. Goodnight, sweet Prince,
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.— Hamlet, Act V
— Richard Joyrich, former SOF Trustee
And in closing, very fittingly, a Shakespearean sonnet …
In Memory of Thomas G. Regnier, J.D., LL.M.
Past President, Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship
Great scholar of our “William Shake-Speare,” love
For that exemplar of the Renaissance
Bone-deep in all you spoke or wrote — above
Mere orthodox Bard-worship, skill and nuance
Your touchstones — antique curiosities
Led you toward him by traces, yours the will
To pursue him down trails where only the keenest sees;
There you met de Vere on even terms; your fill
Absorbed (his darks, his lights), you yet explored.
Our thanks; a Prince of Denmark, his desires,
His motives, you could decipher, did record:
How Hamlet’s griefs and grievances require
Their answer, in English law. Now rise, report
Where earls and all meet equal, in utmost Inns of Court.
— Tom Goff
[published May 27, 2020, updated 2021]
