Howard Burton "Chip" Silverman, Ph.D., M.P.H.,

M.S. A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medicine ...

, C.A.S., was the author of five books, coached the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

's only

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

college

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

team and was the former head of the

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

Drug Abuse Administration.

Background

Silverman was born on June 3, 1942, in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

, United States, the son of a grocer and a homemaker, and grew up on Queensberry Avenue in the city's Pimlico neighborhood. Silverman's exploits growing up in Forest Park during the 1950s and 1960s were later immortalized in the 1982 film ''

Diner A diner is a type of restaurant found across the United States and Canada, as well as parts of Western Europe and Australia. Diners offer a wide range of cuisine, mostly American cuisine, a casual atmosphere, and, characteristically, a comb ...

'', which was directed by

Barry Levinson Barry Lee Levinson (born April 6, 1942) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Levinson won the Academy Award for Best Director for '' Rain Man'' (1988). His other best-known works are ''Diner'' (1982), '' The Natural'' (1984 ...

. He attended the Forest Park High School where, among other things, he played

. In one of his books he describes himself as "a very uncoachable, selfish and lazy player." He and Levinson graduated in 1960, they would remain lifelong friends and collaborate on several other projects. Silverman attended the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD i ...

and earned a bachelor's degree in history from the University of Baltimore in 1966. In 1975 he was awarded an M.S.from

Morgan State University Morgan State University (Morgan State or MSU) is a Public university, public historically black colleges and universities, historically black research university in Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland. It is the largest of Maryland's historically bla ...

and later, earned another master's degree in public health from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and a doctorate in health care management from Century University in Albuquerque, N.M.

Career

Silverman was an assistant dean and acting dean at

during the 1970s and during his time at Morgan Silverman realized that many of the city's black high school lacrosse players had matriculated to Morgan but could not play lacrosse because Morgan had no team. In 1970 he founded and coached a lacrosse club at Morgan and in 1972 it was invited to join the United States Small College Lacrosse League. Silverman gradually augmented the team with black players from other hotbeds of lacrosse like

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

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and upstate New York and his teams regularly beat the likes of Notre Dame. In 1975, he led the Morgan Bears lacrosse team to a stunning victory over top-ranked Washington and Lee. His fifth book, ''Ten Bears'', co-written with Dr. Miles Harrison, a Baltimore surgeon, is about that team and was recently optioned to Warner Bros. A movie based on the book is currently in production. In 1991, Silverman was inducted into the Morgan State University Hall of Fame.
Silverman was also a Special Advisor to Maryland Governor William Donald Schaefer for Substance Abuse Policy and the Director of the Drug and Alcohol Administration; he worked for the state for 26 years. Silverman was also a part-time journalist, having written for the '' Baltimore News-American'', and produced and hosted segments of the ''Evening/PM Magazine'' television program on Baltimore's WJZ-TV.
On March 6, 2008, Silverman died of melanoma in Baltimore.

Other books

In addition to ''Ten Bears'', Silverman wrote or co-authored ''The Block'', ''The Last Bookmaker'' with Bob Litwin, ''Aloha Magnum'' with Larry Manetti and ''Diner Guys''.

Filmography

Silverman appeared in the American films ''

'' and '' Tin Men'', as well as two episodes of the American television series ''Homicide: Life on the Street''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Silverman, Chip 1942 births 2008 deaths 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American male writers American male novelists American male screenwriters College men's lacrosse coaches in the United States Baltimore Bees men's lacrosse coaches Lacrosse players from Baltimore Johns Hopkins University alumni University of Maryland, College Park alumni University of Baltimore alumni Jewish American novelists Jewish American screenwriters Writers from Baltimore Morgan State University alumni