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Richard Kennedy (author)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Richard Jerome Kennedy (born December 23, 1932, in Jefferson City, Missouri), is an American writer of children's books and a supporter of the Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship. He was the first to suggest that John Ford was the author of the 578-line poem A Funeral Elegy which in 1995 had been touted by Donald Foster as being written by William Shakespeare.[1]

Life

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Kennedy attended Portland State University, where he graduated with a B.A. in liberal arts in 1958. He additionally earned a teaching certificate in elementary education from the University of Oregon.[2] However, he found teaching elementary school unsatisfactory, so he tried other jobs, including bookstore owner, deep sea fisherman, moss picker, custodian, cab-driver, and archivist, before turning to writing.[3][4]

Shakespeare authorship question

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Kennedy has been a long-time advocate of the theory that Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, was the person actually responsible for writing the works of William Shakespeare. He is a founding member of the Shakespeare Fellowship, and in 2005 he proposed that Shakespeare's Stratford monument was originally built to honor John Shakespeare, William's father, who by tradition was a "considerable dealer in wool".[5]

Notable works

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Awards

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  • American Library Association Notable Book List, 1976, for The Blue Stone
  • American Library Association Notable Book List, 1978, for The Dark Princess
  • Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award, 1976, for The Blue Stone and The Porcelain Man
  • Association of Logos Bookstores Award, 1985, for Amy's Eyes
  • German Rattenfänger (Rat Catcher, i.e. Pied Piper) award as best foreign book translated in 1988 for Amy's Eyes

References

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  1. ^ Niederkorn, William S. (June 20, 2002). "A Scholar Recants on His 'Shakespeare' Discovery". The New York Times.
  2. ^ Harrison, John (March 12, 1977). "It's a gift". Eugene Register-Guard: pp. 5A, 7A.
  3. ^ Harrison.
  4. ^ "(Jerome) Richard Kennedy." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2001. Literature Resource Center. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
  5. ^ Vickers, Brian (June 30, 2006). "Stratford's Wool Pack Man". Times Literary Supplement (5387): p. 17.
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