In Memoriam: Jeff Silberman

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This past Spring semester, I was also enrolled in a Digital Collections course. As part of our last project, we were tasked with creating a digital collection hosted on Omeka, an open-source web publishing platform. We were asked to find a group or institution that wanted to create a digital collection and help them out. However, I took a bit of a different path. My partner's Uncle Jeff died suddenly last fall. He led a very interesting life, and left a lot of papers behind. I reached out to Jeff's son, Will, and asked him what he thought about digitizing Jeff's archive. Will dropped off a rubbermaid tub full of Jeff's personal and professional writing on my front porch in the middle of a global pandemic. Thank you, Will!

Jeff was a real character--he had a career in music journalism and radio, and even spent a short time getting a small record label off the ground. I'm sad he didn't live to finish his memoir of the early punk scene in LA. In addition to serious writing chops, he had a viciously self-deprecating sense of humor. He had also survived cancer in his late 20's. He is pictured above posing with Exene, the lead singer of the California punk band X. Here are a few obituaries published after his death:

Variety:
https://variety.com/2019/music/obituaries-people-news/jeff-silberman-music-journalist-dies-dead-1203361334/

Inside Radio:
http://www.insideradio.com/free/radio-industry-trade-veteran-jeff-silberman-has-died/article_ca04caca-e917-11e9-adca-0791fae1ed16.html

 All Access:
https://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/190033/all-access-veteran-jeff-silberman-has-passed-away

 Radio and Music Pros:
https://ramp247.com/condolences/remembering-jeff-silberman/

 While the collection was created on a free trial version of Omeka, I'm still really proud of what I was able to do in a month. Here is a link to the collection. I still have a lot of ideas, and way more items I could scan and add. I'd love it if you'd take a look and let me know what you think! 

My favorite sub-collection is the group of letters Jeff sent his parents after he moved out to Hollywood. Letters are such a lost art these days. Jeff regales his parents with news of his budding and then busy music journalism career, and he also shares quite a bit about his equally busy love life!

 My favorite item in the collection is the Low-Fat Mother's Day card. It's only one example of Jeff's unique sense of humor, and undying love for his family.

 Rest in Peace, Jeff <3

Comments

  1. Jake the LibrarianMay 2, 2020 at 1:05 PM

    I love this so much. This is touching and meaningful. Digitization has its benefits and I'm glad so many people are catching on and seeing why.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LibrarishannMay 2, 2020 at 1:14 PM

      Thank you, Jake! I recommend checking out Omeka if you have time, it made the process so straightforward for a beginner like me, but it has a lot of bells and whistles to play with if you're more experienced, too.

      Delete
  2. Erin CataldiMay 5, 2020 at 7:41 AM

    That is SO WONDERFUL! Thank you so much for sharing - what you've accomplished is very impressive you should be very proud of yourself!

    ReplyDelete

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