Kenneth Silverman

Kenneth Silverman (1936-2017) was an American biographer specializing in Colonial American literature and prominent historical figures. His most notable works include The Life and Times of Cotton Mather (1984), which won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography and the Bancroft Prize, as well as acclaimed biographies of Edgar Allan Poe (1991, Edgar Award), Harry Houdini (1997, Christopher Literary Award), Samuel F.B. Morse (2003), and John Cage (2010). A professor emeritus at New York University, he was a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Pulitzer.org, NYTimes obituary