The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 18.0178 Wednesday, 7 March 2007
From: Hardy M. Cook <
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Date: Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Subject: Are you now or have you ever been . . .
Dear Members (of the Struggle),
I have just learned from one of our own in the underground that after
five centuries of carrying out the greatest literary/historical hoax
ever conceived, we may be on the verge of being exposed.
The New York Times (or, at least, The New York Times Education Life
section under the able generalship of William Niederkorn) has "randomly
selected" Shakespeare professors from U.S. colleges and universities to
complete a survey to help them find out what you think "about the
Shakespeare authorship question -- that is, about the question as to
whether the works of Shakespeare were mainly written by William
Shakespeare of Stratford-on-Avon, or by one or more other authors."
The results from those who help "will be used in an article in The New
York Times. All answers will be kept confidential and reported only as
percentages. You and the school you represent will remain anonymous,
unless you agree to offer your views for the record."
As you will surely agree, this survey presents a formidable obstacle to
our maintaining the secret we hold so dear, that William Shakespeare was
William Shakespeare. Now, our colleagues who have opposed us will no
longer have to subject themselves to the scorn and derision they receive
when they attempt to reveal our secret through the scholarly venues of
publication and peer-review. Now, all they will have to do is
anonymously complete an online survey, reveal their (until now) hidden
numbers, and triumphantly claim our places for themselves, while
righting a 500-year-old wrong in the process.
Dark days are ahead.
Yours in the name of William Shakespeare,
Hardy M. Cook
[PS: I have been sick and am catching up. I will start tomorrow getting
back to submissions. Also, let me remind you to keep those Roundtable
contributions coming. Past week's digests can be found at the following:
http://www.shaksper.net/archives/2007/0065.html
http://www.shaksper.net/archives/2007/0091.html
http://www.shaksper.net/archives/2007/0128.html
http://www.shaksper.net/archives/2007/0155.html
http://www.shaksper.net/archives/2007/0168.html
--HMC]
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Hardy M. Cook,
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