Michael Gershman (publicist)

This article is about the writer, publicist, and music producer. For the cinematographer/director, see Michael Gershman (director).

Michael Gershman (October 11, 1939 – January 4, 2000) was an American writer, publicist, and music producer.

Michael Gershman
Born	October 11, 1939 Brooklyn, New York, US
Died	January 4, 2000(2000-01-04) (aged 60) Westport, Connecticut, US
Occupation(s)	Screenwriter Publicist Music Producer
Spouses	Barbara Corday ​ ​ (m. 1966; div. 1969)​ Suzy Kalter ​ (m. 1975)​
Children	1

Biography

Gershman was born in Brooklyn, New York. After graduating from Brown University, Gershman worked briefly as a newspaper reporter before joining the Dorothy Ross Agency in New York City. There, he served as a press agent for comedians Woody Allen, Dick Cavett, and Joan Rivers.

In the late 1960s, he moved to California to focus on clients in the music business. Among his clients were the Doors, Jefferson Airplane, Neil Diamond, Elton John, and James Taylor. He left the business to manage and produce the band Looking Glass. Among the songs he worked on was the 1972 single Brandy (You're a Fine Girl), which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Gershman would later return to work as a publicist, representing musicians like Mel Torme and Lionel Richie. He moved back to the east coast in the 1980s and became a prolific baseball writer authoring 16 books on the subject.

His 1993 book, Diamonds: The Evolution of the Ballpark, received the CASEY Award.

With John Thorn, he formed the book packaging company called Baseball Ink, and produced the groundbreaking reference work "Total Baseball", which would eventually become the official encyclopedia of Major League Baseball. Thorn and Gershman went on to found Total Sports Publishing.

Personal life

In 1969, he divorced his first wife Barbara Corday; they had one daughter, Evan.^[1]

In 1975, he married his second wife, Suzy Kalter.^[2][3] His widow, who died on July 25, 2012, from brain cancer at age 64, was a journalist and the author of the Born to Shop book series.^[2]

Gershman died at his home in Westport, Connecticut, in 2000.

Further reading

• Light My Fire: My Life with the Doors, by Ray Manzarek, Berkeley Publishing Group, ISBN 0-425-17045-4
• No One Here Gets Out Alive, by Jerry Hopkins and Danny Sugerman, Warner Books, ISBN 0-446-60228-0