Happy Birthday!

I couldn't let today pass without posting something, but with so much "Shakespeare activity" going on all over the place there has hardly been time. It's Shakespeare heaven out there! So excuse my very theatrical pose in front of his statue in Central Park, taken a few years ago.

Though naturally most of the attention has been connected with the fact that its 400 years today since William died, I have chosen rather to celebrate that it's 452 years today since he was born; because, if truth be told, Shakespeare never really died; he's still with us, and in so many ways, and he still reaches out to us and is relevant and touching and entertaining and endlessly fascinating. It's so moving to see the many, many tributes to him coming from all over the world, and from people of all ages, and I hope today may bring even more people to his work. So tonight's toast will be one of gratitude and continued admiration and deep respect: Happy Birthday, Mr. Shakespeare! Thy eternal summer shall not fade.