The New York Post is reporting that actor and fellow PajamasXpress blogger was 62:
Actor and longtime political activist Ron Silver died this morning, succumbing to a long battle with cancer, friends of the liberal Democrat-turned-GOP stalwart told The Post.
“Ron Silver died peacefully in his sleep with his family around him this morning,” said Robin Bronk, executive director of the Creative Coalition, which Silver helped create.
“He had been fighting esophageal cancer for two years and his family is making arrangements for a private service.”
Friends of Silver first told Post columnist Cindy Adams of the native New Yorker’s death.
The steely-eyed, blunt-talking Silver, 62, enjoyed a long career on the stage, TV and in movies, and most recently hosted a public affairs talk show on Sirius satellite radio.
Silver might be best known for playing legal scholar Alan Dershowitz in “Reversal of Fortune,” about the successful appeal of Claus von Bulow’s conviction for putting his socialite wife into a permanent coma.
Once a self-identified lifelong Democrat, Silver was a founding member of the liberal-leaning Creative Coalition in 1989. But he made a breathtaking political transformation, going from far left to radical right after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Silver had been hosting a show on Sirius-XM Satellite radio; he also contributed a backcover blurb to Pajamas CEO’s Roger L. Simon’s Blacklisting Myself in late 2008.
Update: Much more from Roger himself.
Update: John Podhoretz and Roger Friedman also share their memories.
I am so sorry to hear that. He will be missed. Mr. Silver was a great actor and a great American. To his family and friends, all of us wish you the best in your grief. God bless you all.
This is very sad.
..a man brave enough to stand up and speak his mind despite being in a business that demands lockstep adherance to a leftist mantra.
He will truly be missed.
My prayers and condolences to the Silver family, we have lost a friend and a true Patriot. Rest in Peace Ron, you left us way too soon. God be with you.
RIP Someone who as #2 said had the guts to speak up. He will truly be missed by his family, fans and those who enjoy hearing the truth.
I will say a prayer for the consolation of Mr. Silver’s family and friends. We have lost a patriot. He was a guy humble enough to change when in the profession he is in such a thing is not popular. I respect the man for that.
I loved Ron Silver. He was an awesome actor and an incredibly intelligent man. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.
RIP
I’m so sorry to hear this! What a shame, and what a loss. Condolences to his family and friends. He will be sorely missed.
When cruel time only clings
to forgotten memories
these things long remembered
are perfunctory words upon the breeze.
Oh how I rail against this death
with my bones and with my breath
I am tortured in the stife
Of this pretending of a life.
I am tired but I am wired
to live my very last gasp
but when the end finally comes
it’s a concept hard to grasp.
I am afraid of life.
I am afraid of death.
I am……….afraid.
Terribly sad news…. his was a tremendous voice of courage in recent years.