About the SAC
The Shakespeare Authorship Coalition (SAC) is a private, nonprofit 501(c)(3) tax-exempt public charity incorporated in the State of California for charitable and educational purposes. The SAC is dedicated to public education to increase awareness of long-standing doubts about the identity of William Shakespeare. The SAC does not advocate an alternative authorship candidate. We aim to establish reasonable doubt that Stratford's William Shakspere was really Shakespeare. Since there are good reasons to doubt Mr. Shakspere's authorship of the works, the issue should now be regarded as legitimate in academia, and should no longer be regarded as a taboo subject. This is the threshold issue in the authorship debate. The SAC was formed to focus on this issue.
Many declaration signatories will favor an alternative authorship candidate, but the SAC itself is neutral about the true identity of the author, even to the extent of declining to claim that it could not possibly have been Mr. Shakspere of Stratford. Rather, the SAC's position is that there are grounds for "reasonable doubt" about the identity of the author, and the issue should, therefore, be widely regarded in academia as a legitimate subject for research, publication and instruction.
The SAC is not a membership organization, and we have no desire to compete with other non-Stratfordian organizations. On the contrary, we hope that our efforts will help them all to grow. Our only project is the promulgation and defense of the Declaration of Reasonable Doubt. The purpose of this site is to make it widely available, and provide an easy way for people to sign it. We also provide links to other sites for those who wish to learn more about the authorship issue.
We operate no online forum, or blog, to discuss the Shakespeare authorship issue or declaration. There are many online forums for discussing Shakespeare, and some of them (but, interestingly, not all) allow discussion of the authorship issue. Please try to use them to discuss the declaration.
SAC officers and board members serve without compensation. We are a voluntary organization, and we have no plans to become anything else at any time in the future. It has not even come up.
Contact information
Contact person: John M. Shahan, Chairman
The Shakespeare Authorship Coalition
310 North Indian Hill Blvd. #200
Claremont, California 91711
Phone: (909) 896-2006
Email: see "Contact us" page on this website
SAC Patrons
Sir Derek Jacobi
Shakespearean Actor
Associate Artist, Royal Shakespeare Company
Mark Rylance
Shakespearean actor
Former Artistic Director, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, London
Associate Artist, Royal Shakespeare Company
Chairman, Shakespearean Authorship Trust
Michael York
Shakespearean actor
Associate Artist, Royal Shakespeare Company
SAC Board of Directors
John M. Shahan, Chairman and CEO
M.S.P.H., UCLA School of Public Health, Division of Health Services
Former planning analyst, Kaiser Permanente of Southern California (KFHP);
Former research analyst, Governor's Office of Special Healthcare Negotiations, and the California Medical Assistance Commission; former community liaison, The Thalians Community Mental Health Center, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.Virginia J. Renner, Secretary
M.A., Library Science, University of Wisconsin
Former Reader Services Librarian, Huntington LibraryJoan Godley, Treasurer
M.F.A, University of California at Berkeley
M.P.A., University of Southern California, School of Public Administration
Former health planning analyst, Kaiser Permanente of Southern CaliforniaRosemary Shahan, Assistant Treasurer
M.A., English, Case-Western Reserve University
Former college English instructor, La Verne University
Founder and President, Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety (C.A.R.S.)Bonner Miller Cutting
B.F.A., Tulane University
Master of Music, piano performance, McNeese State University
Board of Academic Advisors
Michael Delahoyde, Ph.D.
Clinical Assistant Professor of English
Washington State UniversityRen Draya, Ph.D.
Professor of British and American Literature
Blackburn College, Carlinville, IllinoisBrian Hicks
Master of Education
Education Consultant, Cambridge District Schools
Former chairman of the De Vere Society (DVS) of the United KingdomWarren Hope, Ph.D.
Visiting Assistant Professor of English
University of the Sciences in PhiladelphiaWilliam Leahy, Ph.D.
Professor of English
Brunel University, Uxbridge, U.K.Kristin Linklater
Professor of Theater Arts
Columbia University School of the Arts
Guggenheim Fellow, 1983; author of Freeing Shakespeare's VoiceFelicia Londré, Ph.D.
Curators' Professor of Theatre
University of Missouri–Kansas CityThomas Regnier, J.D., LL.M.
Adjunct Professor of Law
University of Miami School of LawWilliam Rubinstein, Ph.D.
Professor of History
University of Wales, Aberystwyth, U.K.Dean Keith Simonton, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor and Vice Chair, Department of Psychology
University of California at Davis
Sir Francis Galton Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Study of Creativity, 1996Richard F. Whalen
M.A., Yale Graduate School
Former reporter-editor, Associated Press
Former communications executive, IBMDaniel L. Wright, Ph.D.
Director, The Shakespeare Authorship Research Centre
Concordia University, Portland, Oregon