Shepard Sherbell

SHARON — Shepard Sherbell, photographer, photo journalist and visual artist, was born in New York City in 1944. He died of heart failure on Aug. 3, 2018, at Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. He was 73. He had most recently lived in Sharon and Winsted.

His wide-ranging interests led him from the Lower East Side of New York, where in 1966 he published a poetry magazine, East Side Review, whose contributors included Le Roi Jones, Norman Mailer and Allen Ginsberg, to Soviet Era Russia, American and British rock and roll, the Middle East, American politics and human interest stories.

In the late 1960s, he moved to London, where he immersed himself in the rock and roll scene. His subjects included music greats such as Ringo Starr, The Who, Keith Moon, Cat Stevens, Jimi Hendrix, Badfinger, the Rolling Stones, Deep Purple, Frankie Valli, Humble Pie and Grand Funk Railroad. 

In the early 1970s, Sherbell returned to the USA and lived for a time in California, covering the music scene in Los Angeles. In the mid-70s, he moved to Washington, D.C., where he became a photo journalist covering the White House and Capitol Hill. 

In Washington, Sherbell did all of the photography for various editions of the Almanac of American Politics, which included photographs of all 535 members of the House and Senate. 

He also covered several Republican and Democratic national conventions for The National Journal. 

He was the official photographer for Congressman Morris Udall’s 1976 presidential campaign. Sherbell admired Udall greatly. “Mo Udall was a superior human being,” he said. When Udall lost, Sherbell quoted the late Dick Tuck, who said, “The people have spoken. The bastards.”

On 9/11/2011, Sherbell was living in Manhattan, not far from the World Trade Center. He immediately rushed to the scene. The photographs he took that day were published all over the world. Many of his photographs from this event can be seen on the website of Sherbell’s agency, Getty Images.

Sherbell traveled extensively overseas, covering conflicts and news stories in Grenada, Libya, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Moldovia, Lithuania, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Hamburg, Paris, Rome, Haiti, Iran and more. He lived in the Soviet Union from 1991 to 1993. His book, “Soviets: Pictures from the End of the USSR,” was published by Yale University Press in 2001.

In the United States, Sherbell took a particular interest in the lives of working people, portraying the struggles, danger and sometimes boredom that came along with their work.

He is survived by his friends, Bill Brodhead and Richard DiLello; his sisters, Rhoda Sherbell-Honig and Jeannine Oldak; and his cat, Petunia. Married and divorced twice, he had no children. 

His parting words were, “What a long, strange trip it has been. And there is still lots of stuff to do.”

 

 

 

Latest News

Barbara Meyers DelPrete

LAKEVILLE — Barbara Meyers DelPrete, 84, passed away Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, at her home. She was the beloved wife of George R. DelPrete for 62 years.

Mrs. DelPrete was born in Burlington, Iowa, on May 31, 1941, daughter of the late George and Judy Meyers. She lived in California for a time and had been a Lakeville resident for the past 55 years.

Keep ReadingShow less
Shirley Anne Wilbur Perotti

SHARON — Shirley Anne Wilbur Perotti, daughter of George and Mabel (Johnson) Wilbur, the first girl born into the Wilbur family in 65 years, passed away on Oct. 5, 2025, at Noble Horizons.

Shirley was born on Aug. 19, 1948 at Sharon Hospital.

Keep ReadingShow less
Veronica Lee Silvernale

MILLERTON — Veronica Lee “Ronnie” Silvernale, 78, a lifelong area resident died Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025, at Sharon Hospital in Sharon, Connecticut. Mrs. Silvernale had a long career at Noble Horizons in Salisbury, where she served as a respected team leader in housekeeping and laundry services for over eighteen years. She retired in 2012.

Born Oct. 19, 1946, at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, she was the daughter of the late Bradley C. and Sophie (Debrew) Hosier, Sr. Following her graduation from high school and attending college, she married Jack Gerard Silvernale on June 15, 1983 in Millerton, New York. Their marriage lasted thirty-five years until Jack’s passing on July 28, 2018.

Keep ReadingShow less
Crescendo launches 22nd season
Christine Gevert, artistic director of Crescendo
Steve Potter

Christine Gevert, Crescendo’s artistic director, is delighted to announce the start of this musical organization’s 22nd year of operation. The group’s first concert of the season will feature Latin American early chamber music, performed Oct. 18 and 19, on indigenous Andean instruments as well as the virginal, flute, viola and percussion. Gevert will perform at the keyboard, joined by Chilean musicians Gonzalo Cortes and Carlos Boltes on wind and stringed instruments.

This concert, the first in a series of nine, will be held on Oct. 18 at Saint James Place in Great Barrington, and Oct. 19 at Trinity Church in Lakeville.

Keep ReadingShow less