You’d think that “Shakespeare” is a relatively unique name, but trust me, if you monitor the newsfeed like I do, you’d realize just how wrong that is(*). For months I’ve been distracted by headlines like “Shakespeare is Missing” and “Foul Play Suspected in Shakespeare Disappearance”, and more recently “Digging for Shakespeare’s Body.” That last is a particularly tricky one, since there is in fact an archaeological dig going on over in Stratford as we speak. This story, though, is the unfortunate demise of lottery winner Abraham Shakespeare, who disappeared some months ago. His body was just recovered this week. Cases like these are sad, as you realize that his body was found under a concrete slab. Meaning that somebody put it there. Meaning that, no doubt, somebody killed the poor guy. I mean, it’s sad when you find remains anyway – but it’s different if somebody falls in the river, or gets lost in the woods, or other unfortunate but accidental deaths. This guy was murdered, almost certainly having to do with his money. Hope they catch whoever did it. Apparently there’s a suspect in a neighbor/”friend” who claims he gave her a million dollars. (*) I’ve learned to ignore the ironically named Shakespeare fishing rods. When I think of people who take their fishing seriously, I do not picture them bringing a copy of the complete works out on the boat with them to read while they wait.
I have the exact same problem. I have a subscription to "Shakespeare" news for my Shakespeare podcast.
I have to say I sat up in my seat for "Shakespeare's Body Found" when I first saw it. I was pretty sure we already knew where his body is. 😛
I actually do keep a copy of “The Portable Shakespeare” with me when I fish. I fish with Shakespeare Rods and Reels. Shakespeare makes good mid-range gear but I will admit that I use it because of the name. I get to the lake set up my rig and sit back and read. If I am alone I even read out loud and change my voice for each character.
"A man may fish with the worm that hath eat of a king, and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm."
A Side Note:
1896 – William Shakespeare, Jr., an avid fisherman of 27 years, wanted to improve on existing fishing reels so he came up with a device for winding fishing line evenly back on the spool. William patents the level-wind reel and his new design was superior to anything on the market. As a result, this feature is now common on most fishing reels.
The funny thing, Brian, is I can't help but think of some academic whitehead citing your Hamlet reference and saying, "See! Clearly this is an indication that whoever wrote the plays is an avid fisherman, and yet there's no evidence that William Shakespeare from Stratford ever fished in his life! Therefore he can't have written the plays!!"