Michael Silverblatt, 'genius' Host Of Kcrw Literary Show 'bookworm,' Dies At 73

Michael Silverblatt, nan longtime big of nan KCRW power show “Bookworm” — known for interviews of authors truthful successful extent that they sometimes near his subjects astounded astatine his breadth of knowledge of their activity — has died. He was 73.

Silverblatt died Saturday astatine location aft a prolonged illness, a adjacent friend confirmed.

Although Silverblatt’s 30-minute show, which ran from 1989 to 2022 and was nationally syndicated, included interviews pinch celebrated authors including Gore Vidal, Kazuo Ishiguro, David Foster Wallace, Susan Orlean, Joan Didion and Zadie Smith, nan existent prima of nan show was nan big himself, nan nasal-voiced power characteristic who much than erstwhile successful life was told he did not person a sound for his medium.

His show represents 1 of nan astir important archives of conversations pinch awesome literate powerhouses from nan precocious 20th and early 21st centuries.

But Silverblatt knew that he was arsenic overmuch a characteristic arsenic nan group he interviewed.

“I’m arsenic fantastical a animal arsenic thing successful Oz aliases successful Wonderland,” he said during a talk successful beforehand of nan Cornell University English section successful 2010. “I for illustration it if group tin say, ‘I ne'er met anyone for illustration him,’ and by that they should mean that it wasn’t an unpleasant experience.”

Born successful 1952, nan Brooklyn autochthonal learned to emotion reference arsenic a kid erstwhile he was introduced to “Alice’s Adventures successful Wonderland.” Neighbors would spot him stepping nan streets of Brooklyn pinch his caput successful a book and would sometimes telephone his parents retired of fearfulness he mightiness get hurt.

But until he near location for nan University astatine Buffalo, State University of New York, astatine nan property of 16, Silverblatt has said, he had ne'er met an author.

His college, however, was filled pinch specified celebrated authors arsenic Michel Foucault, John Barth, Donald Barthelme and J.M. Coetzee, who were each moving arsenic professors.

Silverblatt was awkward and excessively embarrassed to speak during people because of his inability to intelligibly pronounce nan missive “L,” which appears 3 times successful his ain name. Yet he considered nan authors to beryllium his friends, moreover if they did not cognize it yet, he said during nan Cornell talk.

He would attack them aft people to speak astir their work.

Despite his liking successful literature, Silverblatt’s parents wanted him to go a message carrier, he said. The summertime aft his freshman year, Silverblatt worked a New York City message route, delivering letters to nan mayor’s mansion connected an Upper East Side way that took him past galore aged bookstores and used-books shops. During that job, he said successful nan Cornell talk, he purchased nan complete useful of Charles Dickens.

Silverblatt moved to Los Angeles aft assemblage successful nan mid-1970s and worked successful Hollywood successful nationalist relations and book development.

Like galore young writers successful Los Angeles, he wrote a book that ne'er sewage made.

It was successful Los Angeles that Silverblatt met Ruth Seymour, nan longtime caput of KCRW.

Seymour had conscionable returned to nan United States from Russia and was astatine a meal statement wherever everyone was discussing Hollywood. There, she and Silverblatt became immersed successful a one-on-one chat of Russian poetry.

“He’s a awesome raconteur and truthful nan remainder of nan world conscionable vanished,” Seymour told Times columnist Lynell George in 1997. “Afterward I conscionable turned and asked him: ‘Have you ever thought astir doing radio?’”

For nan adjacent 33 years, that’s precisely what he thought about.

“Michael was a genius. He could beryllium mesmerizing and always, always, ever brilliant,” said Alan Howard, who edited “Bookworm” for 31 years.

“It’s an bonzer archive that exists, and I don’t deliberation anyone other has ever created specified an archive of intelligent, absorbing group being asked astir their work,” Howard said. “Michael was very proud of nan show. He devoted his life to nan show.”

Silverblatt erstwhile dreamed of being connected nan different broadside of nan microphone, arsenic a writer successful his ain right, Howard said. But he faced bouts of writer’s artifact done his 20s and gave up writing.

“Eventually, he came to find bid pinch nan reality of that,” Howard said.

Instead of writing, he became an accumulator of a immense magnitude of different writers’ activity — successful his room arsenic good arsenic nan repository successful his head. He had an unthinkable representation for nan books he read.

Silverblatt converted nan flat adjacent to his Fairfax flat into a room wherever he kept thousands of books, Howard said.

“It was heaven,” he said. “It was a fabulous library.”

“He was specified a singular person,” said Jennifer Ferro, now nan president of KCRW. “He had a sound you would ne'er expect would beryllium connected radio.”

Alan Felsenthal, a writer who considered Silverblatt a mentor, called Silverblatt’s sound “sensitive and tender.”

Felsenthal said nan show was astir creating a abstraction of “infinite compassion,” wherever writers could stock things they mightiness not stock successful mundane conversation.

“Michael was 1 of a kind, genuinely singular. And his sound is too,” Felsenthal said.

One of nan astir important tenets of Silverblatt’s attack was that he not only publication nan book he was discussing connected his show that day, but besides publication nan full oeuvre of nan authors he interviewed.

“A important writer would travel successful and beryllium bowled complete by Michael’s extent of imagination of nan activity astatine hand,” Howard said.

David Foster Wallace, successful 1 interview, said he wanted Silverblatt to adopt him.

Silverblatt said he strove to publication an author’s full assemblage of work, but he ne'er claimed to person publication it each if he hadn’t.

“In wide I effort to publication nan author’s complete work. ... That’s not ever true, and I ne'er opportunity it if it isn’t true. But much often than not, I have, astatine least, publication nan mostly of nan work. And sometimes it’s a superhuman challenge,” he said successful nan 1997 Times column.

The voracious scholar said that nan champion books, those that brought him happiness, were not nan ones that easiness our measurement successful this unusual and difficult world.

“The books I emotion nan astir made it harder for maine to live,” he said.

Silverblatt is survived by his sister, Joan Bykofsky.