Lou Silverstone
{{short description|American satirist}}
Louis Donald Silverstone (May 17, 1924 – March 9, 2015{{Cite web|url=http://obits.nj.com/obituaries/starledger/obituary.aspx?pid=174433714|title=LOUIS SILVERSTONE Obituary (2015) the Star-Ledger}}) was a comedy writer who was one of "The Usual Gang of Idiots" at MAD Magazine{{cite book|last=Bermel|first=Albert|title=Farce: a history from Aristophanes to Woody Allen|url=https://archive.org/details/farcehistoryfrom00berm|url-access=registration|access-date=March 20, 2011|year=1982|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-0-671-25148-2|page=[https://archive.org/details/farcehistoryfrom00berm/page/432 432]}}{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/61534214.html?dids=61534214:61534214&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Nov+06%2C+1991&author=RUSSELL+MILLER&pub=Los+Angeles+Times+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=The+World+Goes+Mad+After+39+Years%2C+the+Zany+Magazine+Gets+Serious+Treatment+in+a+Big%2C+Glossy+Coffee-Table+Book-Just+the+Kind+of+Thing+It+Mocks&pqatl=google|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106031309/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/61534214.html?dids=61534214:61534214&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Nov+06,+1991&author=RUSSELL+MILLER&pub=Los+Angeles+Times+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=The+World+Goes+Mad+After+39+Years,+the+Zany+Magazine+Gets+Serious+Treatment+in+a+Big,+Glossy+Coffee-Table+Book-Just+the+Kind+of+Thing+It+Mocks&pqatl=google|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 6, 2012|title=The World Goes Mad After 39 Years, the Zany Magazine Gets Serious Treatment in a Big, Glossy Coffee-Table Book-Just the Kind of Thing It Mocks|last=Miller|first=Russell|date=November 6, 1991|work=Los Angeles Times|page=E1|access-date=March 20, 2011|quote=Together with his fellow Mad alumnus Lou Silverstone, De Fuccio now edits Cracked magazine...}} from 1962 to 1990.
At MAD, he was primarily, though by no means exclusively, a writer of television and movie parodies. His first-ever contribution was "Bananaz," a parody of Bonanza. It was not until 1968 that he began contributing other kinds of articles, many of which were otherwise related to television and movies. In all, Silverstone had more than 180 bylines for Mad. This included conceiving the idea for "Madde," a 24-page insert purporting to be a typical issue of Mad if it had been published in the year 1776. The insert was published during the summer of the Bicentennial and three of its ten articles were written by "scrivener" Silverstone: "Thou Knowest Thou Art in Troubled Waters When...", "The Madde Revolutionary War Primer," and "Ye Madde Hate Book."{{cite web|url=http://www.madcoversite.com/madss019.html|title=Doug Gilford's Mad Cover Site - Mad Special #19|website=www.madcoversite.com|access-date=September 18, 2018}} In 1983 he created "The Book of Mad," which purported to be excerpts from a Mad issue of Biblical times.https://www.madcoversite.com/mad243.html Doug Gilford's Mad Cover Site Mad 243 December 1983
Silverstone also wrote for television shows including Candid Camera and the animated Jackson Five cartoon. Following his association at MAD, Silverstone moved to its competitor Cracked, where he served several years as an editor and writer.
Silverstone grew up in Plainfield, New Jersey, where he graduated from Plainfield High School, and attended the University of Illinois. He worked as an accountant for several years before becoming a comedy writer "through sheer determination and relentless persistence."{{cite web| url = http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?n=LOUIS-SILVERSTONE&pid=174433044| title = LOUIS SILVERSTONE Obituary (2015) - New York, NJ - New York Times| website = Legacy.com}} He was married for 61 years.
References
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External links
- [http://www.madcoversite.com/ugoi-lou_silverstone.html Complete list of Silverstone's articles for MAD Magazine]
- [http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?n=LOUIS-SILVERSTONE&pid=174433044 Legacy]
- [http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?n=Louis-Silverstone&lc=1725&pid=174362509&mid=6356189 Dignity]
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Category:American comedy writers
Category:American satirical comics writers
Category:American magazine editors
Category:Mad (magazine) people
Category:Plainfield High School (New Jersey) alumni
Category:Writers from Plainfield, New Jersey
Category:People from Long Beach, New York