Encomium

Conventional wisdom states that it is never a good idea to meet our heroes because doing so would leave us disappointed. When I was Jonathan Gil Harris’s graduate student, I heard Gil quip that he would never want to meet Shakespeare because he would probably be severely underwhelmed. While Shakespeare may not measure up to the fantasy versions we each conjure of him, this was not at all my experience of Gail Kern Paster. It would be an understatement to say that Gail’s reputation precedes her. Humoring the Body. Reading the Early Modern Passions. The Body Embarrassed. Not to mention her countless articles exploring the cosmology of Renaissance England. She has been Director of the Folger Shakespeare Library, Editor of Shakespeare Quarterly, President of the Shakespeare Association of America, and the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for her distinguished services to the arts. Knowing all of this about the woman who was about to be my new boss when I joined SQ’s editorial team, I was—as a newly minted Ph.D. with at least a moderate case of imposter syndrome at this point in my career—all nerves. What would I say to her? What would she think of me? Of my scholarship?