Michael Silverstein, whose work often appeared in The Moderate Voice, died of cancer near his home in Philadelphia on September 27, 2016. He was a writer, editor, poet, humorist, social commentator and humanitarian. ON TMV, he was known for his early contributions as The Wall Street Poet, funny and exceedingly clever poetry about current events and the financial world, and then later for more serious or satirical posts. His official title at TMV was “Wall Street Columnist.”
Mike was born on July 10, 1941 in Brooklyn, N.Y., and might have stayed there had he not been inducted into the Army. He served honorably as a Military Policeman in West Germany, for which he remained proud the rest of his life. Upon discharge, he went on to live in a lighthouse in Spain, in London, New York again, and Boston, before finding his home in Philadelphia. His varied career included serving as a Senior Editor of Bloomberg News and writing a dozen books, serious and comic, fiction and non-fiction, in poetry and prose, on a variety of subjects ranging from politics, to the financial derivatives market, to the environment, to solar energy, to parking ticketing. His work included three comic novels and one alternative history novel. Hundreds of his articles and Op Ed pieces appeared in publications such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Atlanta Constitution, and Christian Science Monitor. He was a columnist for the Los Angeles Times and Boston Phoenix, and a regular commentator on National Public Radio. Favorable reviews of his writing appeared in media such as The New York Post, The Washington Post, USA Today and The Philadelphia Inquirer.
He was known for his wry humor which managed to find the absurd in every situation, and for his gentle spirit which belied his towering frame and deep, sonorous voice. He was an original thinker- one of the first people to see the potential of solar energy and the one of first to see economic opportunities in sustainable green business. He was almost certainly the only person to ever covet the title “America’s Best-Loved Financial Poet.” But, he was always more interested in promoting good ideas than in personal advancement. So he would move on to something new whenever he saw that others were catching on, never sticking around long enough to take credit or cash in.
His final book was his entertaining personal memoir, Gorilla Warfare Against the Bureaucratic State, Confessions of a Lefty Libertarian.
Mike is survived by his beloved wife of thirty years Kay Wood, his son Jonathan Silverstein, and his daughter-in-law Paula Herrmann. His family wishes to express their gratitude for the excellent care he received in his final days at the Philadelphia VA Hospice Facility.
TMV EDITOR’S NOTE: I first found Michael Silverstein’s incredibly witty and thoughtful work when I visited his Wall Street Poet blog. You can read his work HERE. I asked I could run one as a Guest Voice. He agreed and then (as often happens on The Moderate Voice with talented people who contribute), I offered him the codes. I never met or talked with Michael personally. It was all email. But he srtuck me as someone in love with life, and full of creativity. It came across in emails.
Here is one post I’ll republish here from 2007:
Another poetic gem from TMV’s favorite poet, Michael Silverstein, aka Wall Street Poet:
Father Dollar
“You grow weak, Father Dollar,” the trader said,
“And now sag ‘gainst euro and yen;
Perhaps I’ll seek elsewhere for safety instead,
Then come back, though there’s no telling when.”
“What’s all this,” Father Dollar cried out in deep shock?
“How you loved me in recent times past;
You’d buy all my bonds and collect all my stock,
I felt sure it was destined to last.”
“That was then,” shrugged the trader, “we live in today,
Your current account is a mess;
Your people will not their consumption delay,
Why should we pay ’cause they won’t spend less?”
“Don’t be cruel,” pled the Dollar, “why can’t you be nice?
You know in my day I was kind.
I squeezed with a smile, and gave free advice,
Be a sport: help me ride out this bind.”
Copyright 2007 Michael Silverstein
In 2012 he asked me if I’d review a fiction book he wrote on Amazon. I read Fifteen Feet Below Manhattand and it was SUPERB. GO HERE to read about the book and you’ll find my review.
GO HERE and you can read a lot of the work he published on The Moderate Voice.
Witty. Thoughtful. Energetic.
A kind, and gifted, soul.
He will be missed and he enriched The Moderate Voice — and made people think as they chuckled — every time the seemingly effortless work of his that took talent and a lot of time graced our website.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.