Press release from Monday July 02, 2007
SAC News Releases
- February 15, 2018
- University of London now offers free online Shakespeare authorship course
- December 9, 2016
- SAC News: What we've accomplished; what's next after the 400th anniversary?
- November 22, 2016
- Droeshout engraving in First Folio has Shakspere wearing impossible doublet!
- May 4, 2016
- Doubts about Shakespeare go international for the 400th anniversary
- April 25, 2016
- Sir Derek Jacobi and Mark Rylance revive the debate over Shakespeare's identity in an interview with NPR's Renée Montagne.
- April 24, 2016
- Doubters claim victory on Shakespeare 400th Anniversary, and renew their challenge to Stratfordians to participate in a mock trial.
- March 23, 2016
- The SAC at Age 10; Six New Notables; 400th Anniversary International Events
- December 27, 2015
- Declaration of Reasonable Doubt still un-rebutted after more than eight years
- November 22, 2015
- Droeshout engraving in First Folio has Shakspere wearing impossible doublet!
- May 31, 2015
- RSC removes Stanley Wells' article on “Authorship Debate” from its website!
- September 28, 2014
- SAC Update through September, 2014
- December 6, 2013
- SAC challenges the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust to a mock trial, to prove that Shakspere wrote Shakespeare, offering a £40K donation to the winning side.'
- November 21, 2011
- Actor Michael York and Shakespeare Authorship Coalition challenge the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford-upon-Avon with new reasons to doubt the identity of the author William Shakespeare in the wake of Sony Pictures’ heretical film, Anonymous.
- April 30, 2011
- Over 2,000 sign Declaration of Reasonable Doubt
- September 18, 2010
- Theater professionals sign Shakespeare Authorship Declaration
- April 20, 2010
- Happy Birthday and Retirement, Justice John Paul Stevens!
- April 19, 2010
- Shakespeare Authorship Coalition updates Declaration signatory lists
- November 15, 2009
- U.S. Supreme Court Justices John Paul Stevens and Sandra Day O'Connor (retired) sign the Declaration of Reasonable Doubt.
- April 13, 2009
- Award-winning Shakespearean actors Sir Derek Jacobi and Mark Rylance joined by growing list of declared Shakespeare authorship doubters. Michael York joins fellow actors as SAC Patron. Shakespeare Authorship Coalition marks 2nd aniversary of Declaration of Reasonable Doubt. Seven signatories added to SAC “notables” list.
- November 17, 2008
- Huntington Library staff sign Declaration.
- June 3, 2008
- Sir Derek Jacobi joins the Shakespeare Authorship Coalition as a SAC patron.
- December 1, 2007
- First annual report of the Shakespeare authorship coalition: the Coalition’s strategy is working! Over 1,200 people have signed the Declaration of Reasonable Doubt, and we’ve attracted enormous attention to the authorship issue. With each new signatory, it becomes more difficult for orthodox scholars to continue claiming that there is “no room for doubt” about the identity of William Shakespeare.
- September 23, 2007
- Nearly 800 additional signatories have signed the “Declaration of Reasonable Doubt About the Identity of William Shakespeare” in the two weeks since prominent Shakespearean actors Sir Derek Jacobi and Mark Rylance, former artistic director at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London, gave the Declaration its launch in the U.K.
- July 2, 2007
- SAC adds 100 signers to the list of signatories of the “Declaration of Reasonable Doubt”.
- April 23, 2007
- SAC releases its first list of signatories of the “Declaration of Reasonable Doubt”, on the 391st anniversary of William Shakspere's death.
- April 14, 2007
- SAC and the Shakespeare Authorship Roundtable hold a signing ceremony to issue the “Declaration of Reasonable Doubt”
- April 11, 2007
- SAC and Shakespeare Authorship Roundtable to issue historic “Declaration of Reasonable Doubt”
SAC contact person: John Shahan at (909) 896-2006, or online.
Claremont, California, July 2, 2007 — Today the Shakespeare Authorship Coalition (SAC) posted on its website the names, and other relevant information, for another 100 signers of its "Declaration of Reasonable Doubt About the Identity of William Shakespeare," bringing the total number to 233. The new group includes 32 college or university faculty members, 25 signers with doctoral degrees, and 24 with master's degrees. This increases the total number of current or former faculty members to 65, the total number with doctoral degrees to 59 and the total number with master's degrees to 55. Most signers continue to be from the fields of English literature, law, theater arts and social sciences.
Three prominent signers have been added to the list of "Notable" signatories on the SAC's website. Michael William Cecil is the 8th Marquess of Exeter, 17th Earl of Exeter, and 18th Baron Burghley. He is a direct descendant of the 1st Baron Burghley, William Cecil, principal minister to Elizabeth I. Robin Fox is University Professor of Social Theory at Rutgers University. A leading anthropologist, poet and essayist, Fox founded the Department of Anthropology at Rutgers University in 1967. He is best known as author of Kinship and Marriage, the most widely-used anthropology text in the world. Louis Fantasia is President of Deep Springs College. He has produced and/or directed over 100 plays and operas worldwide. He served on the board of trustees at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London, and was also Director of the Globe Centre's "Teaching Shakespeare Through Performance Institute."
We should note that in signing the Declaration, Louis Fantasia wrote that "Personally, I believe Shakespeare is Shakespeare; but I welcome the discussion." We at the SAC welcome this attitude. The Declaration itself states that, "We (the signatories) make no claim, in signing this declaration, to know exactly what happened, who wrote the works, nor even that Mr. Shakspere definitely did not. Individual signatories will have their personal views about the author; but all we claim here is that there is 'room for doubt,' and other reasonable scenarios are possible." The Declaration is highly ecumenical in its wording, and in its aims. We merely hold that the authorship issue should not be regarded as a taboo subject within academia. Those who wish to pursue it should feel free to do so.
Credit for the largest single contingent of academic signatories belongs to Concordia University in Portland, Oregon, home of the Shakespeare Authorship Studies Conference for the last eleven years. Ten of Concordia's faculty members and high-ranking administrators have signed since the annual Awards Banquet at this year's conference. Most notable among their ten signatories are Professor Charles Kunert, Dean of the College of Theology, Arts and Sciences; Professor Joseph C. Mannion, Dean of the College of Education; Dr. Johnnie Driessner, Executive Vice President and Professor of Biology and Science Education; Gary A. Withers, J.D., Executive Vice President; and Dr. Daniel L. Wright, Professor of English and Director of Concordia's Shakespeare Authorship Research Center.
The complete list of signatories, plus separate lists of academic and notable signatories, is available at the SAC's website. Go to www.DoubtAboutWill.org and click on "Signatories." The Declaration provides a detailed presentation of the reasons why so many prominent people have long doubted the traditional attribution of The Works of William Shakespeare to Stratford's Mr. William "Shakspere." The Declaration can be read and signed online, or downloaded in PDF format at the SAC's website. The next signing deadline is Sunday, October 14; and the list will be updated Monday, October 15.
SAC contact person: John Shahan at (909) 896-2006, or online.