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 < back to authors list Frank Silverman:
"My main motivation is to influence the direction of the field," Silverman said in an interview. He has done this with his textbooks, his teaching and by starting training programs all over the world. His 1992 textbook, Stuttering and Other Fluency Disorders, was a first. "Now everyone else who is writing a stuttering book is altering it to add a section on other fluency disorders," he said. Another Silverman text, Computer Applications for Augmenting the Management of Speech, Language and Hearing Disorders, published in 1997, was the first published on the subject since 1987. Some Silverman innovations are are either avant-garde or a tad offbeat, like 3-D stereo illustrations that he used in a Fundamentals of Electronics for Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists published by Allyn and Bacon in 1999. After 15 books, Silverman had so much advice to give other textbook authors that he wrote a book. The second edition of Publishing Books and Materials for Students, Academics and Professionals was published by Praeger in 1998. The first edition, distributed by Text and Academic Authors since 1993, was the first book of its kind. "It was controversial because it was written from the author's perspective," Silverman said. "It tells authors how it really is." Developed from workshops offered through universities and professional organizations, it has become a traditional part of TAA workshops. It includes information such as:
"The secret to finding time to write a textbook is this: write for a half hour every day and you will come up with the manuscript for a 350-page book in a year or so," Silverman said. "Don't think in terms of having large blocks of time. Get addicted to writing in short blocks of time." Negotiate with publishers, urges Silverman. "You will not lose a contract if you try to negotiate." Silverman says it is important to become involved in marketing your book. Spend a lot of time on the author's marketing questionnaire, he said: "It is your opportunity to make an impact on how the book is marketed." After all that he's accomplished in higher education, it's a wonder Silverman ever once contemplated not attending college. He had wanted to be a photographer. After working for five years for $1 an hour, he decided he wasn't going to make a living that way and, he concedes, he wasn't very good at it. On Sundays his family would go to Boston to visit his sister. He usually stayed home, but for some reason, one Sunday he decided to go along. His sister told him that day that he should go to college and become a speech pathologist. She said: "Did you ever notice that the ones who are successful are the ones who have a speech impediment?" Silverman has stuttered for more than 60 years. Said Silverman: "If I hadn't decided to go to Boston that day, I wouldn't be where I am now." Silverman, a Jew, has met with Palestinian leaderYassar Arafat about implementing speech pathology training programs for Palestinians, "My main motivation is to influence the direction of the field," Silverman says. Among his honors is the 1998 Disabled Children's Association of Saudi Arabia , a Nobel-type prize for scientific research on rehabilitation. Silverman says he still has much he wants to do: "I would like to branch out into tradebooks and continue to influence my field by identifying emerging areas. I also would like to be of further help to academic authors." Silverman was president of TAA in 1997. He ran for the TAA Council in 2000. "I will do anything I can to strengthen the organization," he said. He is always willing to help individual members with problems. Silverman sees TAA as a "self-help support group, Everyone works together -- there is no rivalry." He has never missed a TAA convention: "I thoroughly enjoy this organization. I have made many friends here." — reported by Kim Pawlak, 2000 |
