Richard Kennedy (author)
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
He was educated at Portland State University (B.A., liberal arts, 1958) and earned a teaching certificate in elementary education from the University of Oregon.[2] Teaching elementary school proved unsatisfactory, so he tried other jobs, including bookstore owner, deep sea fisherman, moss picker, custodian, cabdriver, and archivist, before turning to writing.[3][4]
Shakespeare authorship question
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]
Works
- The Parrot and the Thief, illustrated by Marcia Sewall, 1974
- The Contests at Cowlick, illus. Marc Simont, 1976
- The Porcelain Man, illus. Sewall, 1976
- Come Again in the Spring, illus. Sewall, 1976
- The Blue Stone, illus. Ronald Himler, 1976
- Oliver Hyde's Dishcloth Concert, illus. Robert A. Parker, 1977
- The Dark Princess, illus. Donna Diamond, 1978
- The Rise and Fall of Ben Gizzard, illus. Sewall, 1978
- The Mouse God, illus. Stephen Harvard, 1979
- Delta Baby and Two Sea Songs, illus. Lydia Dabcovich, Charles Mikolaycak, and Jim Arnosky, 1979 – poetry
- The Lost Kingdom of Karnica, illus. Uri Shulevitz, 1979
- The Leprechaun's Story, illus. Sewall, 1979
- Inside My Feet: The Story of a Giant, illus. Himler, 1979
- Crazy in Love, illus. Sewall, 1980
- The Song of the Horse, illus. Sewall, 1981
- The Boxcar at the Center of the Universe, illus. Jeff Kronen, 1982
- Amy's Eyes, illus. Richard Egielski, 1985
- Richard Kennedy: Collected Stories, illus. Sewall, 1987
- Little Love Song, illus. Petra Mathers, 1992 – poetry
Musicals by Kennedy and Mark Lambert:
- Camelot, God Wot! or What a Woman Wants, 1989
- Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen: A Christmas Pageant, adapted by Kennedy, music by Mark Lambert, illus. Edward S. Gazsi (Laura Geringer Books, 1996), LCCN 95-52211
Awards
- 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
- ↑ Niederkorn, William S. (June 20, 2002). "A Scholar Recants on His 'Shakespeare' Discovery". The New York Times.
- ↑ Harrison, John (March 12, 1977). "It's a gift". Eugene Register-Guard: pp. 5A, 7A.
- ↑ Harrison.
- ↑ "(Jerome) Richard Kennedy." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2001. Literature Resource Center. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
- ↑ Vickers, Brian (June 30, 2006). "Stratford's Wool Pack Man". Times Literary Supplement (5387): p. 17.
External links
- Camelot, God wot! or: What a Woman Wants
- The Snow Queen, a Christmas Musical
- Come Again in Spring, an animated telling of Come Again in the Spring. Directed, designed and animated by Belinda Oldford, produced by the National Film Board of Canada
- "The Woolpack Man"
- Richard Kennedy at Library of Congress Authorities, with 21 catalog records