Ira Silverberg

What happened to NBC, wonders Felix Gillette. "In recent days, MSNBC’s president, Mr. Griffin, has told a number of reporters that the change was not made as a result of outside pressure. Still, some TV insiders continue to play the MSNBC parlor game, speculating about how and why the McCain camp appeared to have succeeded in budging MSNBC where Hillary and her democratic supporters had failed."

Cheers! John Koblin reports that The New York Times will celebrate its own coverage of the Beijing Olympics with "Champagne and egg rolls to reward the 'stunning' coverage The Times produced on the Web, and in the newspaper..."

Publishers are clambering to put together books on Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, reports Leon Neyfakh. Plus: After David Carr, Bill Clegg.

PLUS: Femocracy '08... What Has Happened to the Toronto Film Festival?... Ira Silverberg

Last Friday, noted literary agent Ira Silverberg welcomed a son into the world. It is the second child to be born of his seed; the mothers are two, let us say, “literary” women who live in the West Village.

Mr. Silverberg, who this year moved to Sterling Lord Literistic, likes to refer to himself as a father, not a parent. “For years I’ve had one very close friend who always said, ‘When I have a child, I’d like you to think about being the father,’” he told the Transom. “And years later, I was a single man at the time, and she had a girlfriend and they were the people I was spending most of my time with.  read more »

LOS ANGELES, May 30—Ira Silverberg had not seen his former client Laura Albert in almost a year. The last time was in a Manhattan courtroom, when Ms. Albert stood trial for pretending to be a young man with H.I.V. named JT Leroy. She wrote books under this name, and had Mr. Silverberg, a literary agent, sell them to publishers without telling him who she really was. When Mr. Silverberg found out, he was heartbroken and furious. He denounced Ms. Albert publicly and shut down the account.

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Literary agency Sterling Lord Literistic announced today that agent Ira Silverberg will join their team in early 2008, leaving the firm Donadio & Olson, where he has been for 10 years. Mr. Silverberg said in the press release that his clients--among them Ishmael Beah, Dennis Cooper, and Sam Lipsyte--will move with him.

Ron Hogan at GalleyCat has more.