Aging Wisely... Wisdom Of Our Elders

Irving I. Silverman was born in 1920, the son of immigrant parents, and visually handicapped from birth. He attended a special sight conservation class in elementary school, then went on to high school and the City College of New York’s Baruch School of Business, where he majored in Advertising and Publishing. Following his graduation from college, Irving began a 45 year career at National Knitwear Association (NKA), a trade association in the knitting industry. But his proudest achievements came in his community service. After the death of his first wife, Henrietta, at the age of 35, he established and led the Long Island chapter of Parents without Partners; and it was through that organization that he met Nancy, his second wife. At age 56, he became President of the New York Region of United Synagogue, the governing body of the Conservative Jewish movement, and in 1980 he led an effort to allow Jews to emigrate from the Soviet Union. After retiring from NKA, Irving created the Kosher Food and Jewish Life Expo which “brought kosher out of the closet.” He also indulged his collector instincts by establishing collections of antique printers’ wood type, lighthouse replicas, and giraffe figurines. Along with Nancy, Irving vacationed in Maine for almost five decades. Nancy had a lighthouse built on their property and following her death in 2002, Irving designated the lighthouse as a wedding chapel, officiating at 35 wedding ceremonies there. Irving’s previous book, A Trilogy . . . Three Hearts . . . One Soul, contains his autobiography and tributes to each of his wives. He now lives at NewBridge on the Charles in Dedham, MA and is 97 years old. Ellen Beth Siegel, JD, Psy.D. is a clinical psychologist and a former lawyer. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard Law School, and William James College (formerly, Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology) and currently serves as a Teaching Associate in Psychology at Harvard Medical School. For many years on staff at Cambridge Health Alliance in Cambridge, MA, she now maintains a private practice with offices in Cambridge and Newton. She is on the Advisory Board of the Endowment for the Advancement of Psychotherapy at Mass. General Hospital and the Alumni Advisory Board of William James College. Ellen is also a poet. Her poems have been published in Bellowing Ark, The Christian Science Monitor, Concrete Wolf, Poetpourri, and The Warwick Anthology. A nominee for a coveted Pushcart Prize, she is a co-editor of Do Not Give Me Things Unbroken (2002), a poetry anthology, and co-author of Unlocking the Poem (2009), a collection of poetry “assignments” illustrated by selected poems, her own and from 101 other poets. Ellen’s chapbooks Remembering Endymion and The Sweet Moth Kisses Never Traded have been finalists in various chapbook contests and are looking for a publisher; she is also hoping for enough time to put together a full-length volume of her poems. Ellen lives in Waban, Massachusetts with her husband Don and has three grown children who delight her every single day. She is also Irving Silverman’s daughter.