While Dr. Silverman's character is not delineated in Diner, he does make a cameo appearance, playing a guy selling pants out of the trunk of his car, Mr. Levinson said.
Recalling those years, Dr. Silverman told The Sun in 1989, "I don't live in the past, but there was something special about this group of guys in Northwest Baltimore. Many of them have stayed close to home and we've stayed friends."
In Diner Guys, Dr. Silverman wrote about the real-life characters in the group and used their names. In the book's foreword, Mr. Levinson wrote:
"Chip ... keeps the memories better than anyone else and he just loves to tell stories ... Although Chip wasn't as funny as Ben, as good-looking as Hurd, as smart as Bill, or tough as Boogie or the Gripper, or as uniquely odd as Fenwick and Yussel, he still impacted on the guys. That was because he had a good memory and instigated and initiated a lot of things that happened."
Mr. Weinglass added: "Chip had never-ending stories about everyone and they came from a funny place. He was a great storyteller and never vindictive."
Dr. Silverman attended the University of Maryland, College Park and earned a bachelor's degree in history from the University of Baltimore in 1966. He subsequently earned a master's in public health from the Johns Hopkins University and his doctorate in health care management from Century University in Albuquerque, N.M.
Dr. Silverman taught briefly before going into the health field. In 1970, he joined the state health department, rose to deputy director and was named director of the state's Drug Abuse Administration in 1985.
In 1987, he became the first director of the merged Alcohol and Drug Abuse Administration. From 1988 until 1990, he was Gov. William Donald Schaefer's adviser for substance abuse policy.
After stepping down from that post in 1990, he became vice president for government relations and addictions programs for Green Spring Mental Health Services Inc., which later became Magellan Health Services Inc.
He was the recipient of two national awards: The David E. Smith Award for Career Achievement and Pioneering in the Field of Addictions, and the Dole-Neyswander Award for Achievement in the Methadone Treatment Field.
Additionally, Dr. Silverman began the first publicly funded treatment program in the nation for compulsive gambling in 1978.
He retired in the mid-1990s.
