the first Republican to serve as governor since early 1975. Publications Silber wrote four books. Straight Shooting: What's Wrong with America and How to Fix It (Harper & Row, 1989), Architecture of the Absurd: How "Genius" Disfigured a Practical Art (Quantuck Lane, 2007), Kant's Ethics: The Good, Freedom, and the Will (DeGruyter, 2012) and Seeking the North Star (David R. Godine, Publisher, 2013). Straight Shooting is part autobiography and partly a statement of Silber's concern that the United States has experienced a decline in moral and spiritual values traceable to excessive avarice and materialism. He also faults society with excessive reliance on litigation to settle disputes. Architecture of the Absurd discusses Silber's view that certain celebrity architects frequently fail to meet the needs of their clients because they consider themselves primarily sculptors and do not adequately consider financial constraints, the physical needs of building occupants or the urban environment. He is critical of architects Josep Lluís Sert, Le Corbusier, Frank Gehry, Daniel Libeskind and Steven Holl. In 1976, BU published a 32-page article by Silber called "Democracy: Its Counterfeits and Its Promise". Other of his articles have been published in Philosophical Quarterly, Philosophical Review and Kant-Studien where he served as editor. Legacy On May 14, 2008, Sherborn Street, which bisects the main BU Campus from Commonwealth Avenue to Back Street, was officially renamed by the City of Boston. Mayor Thomas Menino said that it was fitting to rename the street John R. Silber Way. "Was there any other way?" Menino quipped, referring to Silber's four decades of influence on the BU campus. Death Boston University announced Silber's death on September 27, 2012. He was 86. At a memorial service on November 29, 2012, writer Tom Wolfe spoke to the 750 people who gathered, saying that Silber was a man who "couldn't bring himself to flatter." References Further reading Aeschliman, Michael D., (13 October 2012). "Dr. Valiant-For-Truth", National Review Aeschliman, Michael D., (16 April 2014). "A Texan to the Rescue", National Review Allis, Sam, (August 28, 1989). "The Ivory Tower Triggerman", Time,69 Kimball, Roger. "John Silber, 1926–2012", New Criterion (November 2012) Vol. 31, No. 3 online External links Boston University's biography of Silber and Village Voice article accusing Silber of bigotry and homophobia New York Review of Books sequence of letters: Letter from professors at Boston University accusing Silber of violating academic freedom Response to the letter by the Boston University