OK, so I promise this will be the last entry on William Shakespeare for awhile (probably).

In the news this week...

A death mask discovered in 1842 England is now believed to be that of Mr. Shakespeare. It bears the date of 1616, the year in which the playwright and poet died. Also, according to New York Times reporting, it appears to have the same "high forehead, prominent nose, and beard associated with Shakespeare."

Hmm... what do you think?

Too close to call, right? WRONG!

(Warning: unauthorized editorial approaching.)

It is him! Forget science, forget tests, forget all logic and just jump on in. The water's fine. There's too much debate surrounding the man. There has been for too long. People wonder whether Shakespeare was really Shakespeare. Maybe he was some other dude named Christopher Marlowe, maybe he was Sir Francis Bacon (mmm Bacon), maybe he was a group of writers pulling a fast one over centuries of readers ... I'm not going to get into all that here, we pretty much covered it already in READ issue 12. All I want to say now is ... come on, let's let the great one rest in peace and give him back his good name.

The death mask looks like him to me, and frankly, I never needed proof. From the first time I picked up Romeo and Juliet in middle school all the way up to last weekend when I saw a surprisingly strange and silly slapstick performance of As You Like It, I've always believed that Shakespeare is Shakespeare. No matter how much the naysayers nitpick, I will tell you, Shakespeare is Shakespeare. Just as you are you and I am preaching too much.

(Rant over. Probably.)

Anyway, to get back to the point, this is a pretty cool story. You can check out the facts without my idiotic ramblings here.

Have a great weekend.
Word.