Petition  Reinstate Pat Parker as Arden Editor   To whom it may concern:     We, the undersigned, protest the unjust termination of Patricia Parker as editor of the Arden Shakespeare’s planned third edition of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Professor Parker’s sterling reputation, as well as the wide acclaim her work on the edition has thus far received in both the academic and theatrical worlds, impels us to deplore the possible loss of a major new edition of Shakespeare’s play–-one that promises significantly to enrich critical discussion and theatrical performance. We are concerned as well that a personal and professional injustice has been done to Professor Parker. The circumstances of her dismissal, along with the record of problems emanating from Arden that impeded progress on the edition, cast doubt on the professionalism with which she was treated, and on the editorial transparency and accountabilty of the Arden Shakespeare in this matter. Finally, the fact that the Arden Shakespeare  has recently been purchased by a private equity company in the latest of a series of corporate publishers, raises concerns that commercial profitability may be trumping a commitment to scholarly thoroughness and diligence. We fear that the excellent repute of the Arden Shakespeare, on which generations of scholars and Shakespeare lovers have come to rely, may be tarnished by this episode.    For all of the above reasons, we the undersigned urge the publishers of the Arden Shakespeare to reinstate Patricia Parker as editor of this play, and to give her the necessary time and editorial cooperation to bring her important new edition to a successful completion.  Sincerely, The undersigned The content below was added by the petition author on August 12, 2008 at 12:57 pm and may not reflect the views or opinions of signatories prior to that date. A number of people have encountered problems with the verification code needed to sign the petition. It seems to be the case that using Internet Explorer or Firefox as your browser to view the petition increases your chances of signing successfully. It is recommended that you copy any comments (highlight comments,  click on “edit” in your browser toolbar, then click “copy” on the dropdown menu) before attempting to sign. If you cannot read the verification code, click the line that says “read code out loud.” If this doesn’t help, click the “refresh” function (usually indicated by a circular arrow or arrows in your browser) to get a new verification code and try that. This may take a couple of attempts. Finally, if this doesn’t work, close the window, reopen the petition, and use the paste function (Situate cursor in comment box, then click “edit” and “paste”) to reproduce your comments, and try again. This usually works.    If none of these methods suffice and you cannot sign, please contact Richard Halpern at r.l.halpern@att.net The content below was added by the petition author on September 15, 2008 at 8:03 pm and may not reflect the views or opinions of signatories prior to that date. Some people who have tried to sign without adding comments have run into an additional technical problem: an error message stating that improper symbols or characters have been entered into the comment box when in fact nothing has been entered into the box. This problem can be solved by typing anything into the box: a comment or even just a single period. Sign this petition! Petition Author Richard Halpern Sir William Osler Professor of English Department of English Johns Hopkins University 3400 N. Charles Street Baltimore, MD 21218 Petition Information Current Signatures: 1032 Petition Views: 7725 Created: August 7, 2008 at 10:12 pm

		Current Signatures Showing Signatures 1013-1032 of 1032 Browse all signatures 1013. Kim Pilot January 15, 2010 at 12:58 am Please reinstate Dr. Parker. 1014. Geoff Rheingarten January 28, 2010 at 1:57 am I strongly support this petition! Academics and scholarly integrity should always come first, not whatever backroom politics inspired this regrettable decision. 1015. Irina Dannon February 7, 2010 at 4:26 am I also support this petition! 1016. Gillian Campbell February 7, 2010 at 4:27 am Please reinstate Patricia Parker as Arden Editor as soon as possible. 1017. Michael B. Luskin February 17, 2010 at 3:41 pm Please reinstate Dr. Parker as editor,her work is thought provoking. 1018. Lynne Kinder March 1, 2010 at 3:54 pm . 1019. Mark Valencia March 2, 2010 at 12:13 pm I support this petition 1020. Frank Morris March 4, 2010 at 4:22 pm I support her reinstatement. Questions answered: Title and institution: UMass Boston 1021. Anna Maria Cimitile March 5, 2010 at 3:22 pm (No comment) Questions answered: Title and institution: Associate Professor, Univ. of Naples 'L'Orientale' 1022. Jennifer slattery March 14, 2010 at 4:26 pm I support this petition. 1023. Brenton Ragello March 18, 2010 at 4:43 pm Please reinstate Dr. Parker immediately. 1024. Michael Stinchcombe April 10, 2010 at 2:27 pm Do the right thing and reinstate Dr. Parker immediately. 1025. James Palantir April 21, 2010 at 12:07 pm I support this petition!!! 1026. Andy Lancaster April 29, 2010 at 4:13 pm (No comment) 1027. Damon May May 12, 2010 at 11:00 am Reinstate Pat Parker 1028. Shirith Cohen May 27, 2010 at 10:05 pm I support this petition 1029. Paul Daniels-Davies June 17, 2010 at 4:16 pm I also support this petition! Please reinstate Pat Parker as Arden Editor. 1030. Teresa Yirgalem July 13, 2010 at 12:55 pm I look forward to Dr. Parker's swift reinstatement and new edition of MND. 1031. Aileen Berming July 21, 2010 at 10:02 am I look forward to Dr. Parker's swift reinstatement. 1032. Mesele Abeba July 24, 2010 at 9:32 am I support this petition

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