Walter Russell Mead
Wall Street Journal Global Affairs Columnist; Author of Special Providence: American Foreign Policy and How It Changed the World
Allison Silver is the editor who made me an opinion journalist.
The lessons I learned from her about news hooks, structuring an op-ed, writing for intelligent lay readers instead of academics, and making your pieces punchy without dumbing them down gave me skills I still use today. As an editor and as a teacher, she is as good as it gets.
Kathryn Cramer Brownell
Author of Showbiz Politics: Hollywood in American Political Life; Assistant Prof. of History, Purdue University
Allison has taught me analytical and writing strategies to translate my academic scholarship in American history into accessible pieces for the public.
She has shown me how to transform an academic chapter or a peer-reviewed journal article into a hard-hitting opinion piece that communicates historical nuance and complexity with vibrant and clear prose.
David M. Kennedy
Pulitzer Prize Winner;
Donald J. McLachlan Prof. of History, Emeritus, Stanford University
I have published opinion pieces in scores of publications and worked with dozens of editors over four decades. I can say without qualification that Allison Silver was the savviest and most skilled editor with whom I have ever collaborated.
She has a superb nose for both topic and take, and brings to bear a lifetime’s love affair with the excellencies of the English language.
Fred Wertheimer
President of Democracy 21, a nonpartisan group working to strengthen U.S. democracy through government integrity, accountability and transparency.
If you ever have a chance to be edited by Allison grab it. She is a brilliant editor with an unerring touch and has always strengthened and improved my pieces. She knows what publishers want and gets you there without fail. She does not edit for editing’s sake, but rather with a skilled hand that invariably takes your writing to a clearer, more concise place. Her edits have left my work far better off than where I started.
Daphne Eviatar
Director, Security with Human Rights Program, Amnesty International USA
Allison is that exceptional editor who improves your work while making you feel it's still your own and says just what you wanted to say--only far more effectively.
She taught me how to write about the law in ways that were not only informative, but engaging and accurate—three difficult things to combine in legal reporting. Allison understands complex subjects and why they're important. But she also knows what will matter to a general audience and how to engage readers while informing them.
Julian E. Zelizer
CNN, Columnist, Fierce Urgency of Now; Prof. of History, Public Affairs, Princeton University
Allison Silver is a brilliant editor. Early in my career, I always tell colleagues, she really taught me how to transform my ideas from the academy into pieces for the press.
She had a major influence on my work and enabled me to become the public intellectual I am today. Her guidance still influences how I write my columns.
If you can work with Allison—don't miss the opportunity
Marilia Arantes
Master student at the Central European University, International Relations Dept.
After a BA and MA, my writing had the limited contours of academia. Then I had a seminar with Allison, who introduced me to op-eds, a critical and more direct way to express my views to a broader audience. She is an amazing teacher and an even better editor, who had the generosity of indiscriminately sharing the knowledge she built up over her career. She inspired me to be more confident and creative. The result is a landmark in my career: I published my first opinion piece -- the first of three so far.
Bennett Ramberg
Former State Dept. policy analyst in Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs; Author of Nuclear Power Plants as Weapons for the Enemy
I’ve worked with editors on op-eds about international politics for virtually all the major news outlets. Without hesitation, Alison Silver is the best of the best. Far more than a copy editor, she has challenged my thinking, factual foundations and narrative -- turning competent copy into far more. She is dogged in getting things right with creativity and clarity.
One adjective describes her editorial skills: superb!