Irwin Silber, editor of folk journal Sing Out, dies at 84

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Irwin Silber, the founding editor of the small but highly influential folk music magazine Sing Out, has died. He was 84.

Silber’s stepdaughter Nina Menendez says he died Wednesday at an extended-care facility in Oakland. She says the cause of death was complications related to Alzheimer’s disease.

Silber founded Sing Out in 1950 with musician Pete Seeger and musicologist Alan Lomax.

Although its circulation was never huge, under Silber’s editorship Sing Out became a bible to the burgeoning American folk music scene of the early 1960s. It was one of the earliest publications to heap critical praise on Bob Dylan.

After leaving Sing Out in 1967, Silber went on to write for other publications and to publish several books.

-- Associated Press