For Silver, giving back is worth its weight in gold
PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — While last Tuesday’s court session at Presque Isle High School may have been “business as usual” for his peers on the bench, it was a trip back in time for the Hon. Warren Silver, associate justice of the Maine Supreme Court.
Silver graduated from PIHS in 1966.
“I love coming back to Presque Isle, and I love reconnecting with this high school. Even though I do come up here, I haven’t been in this high school in years, and it brings back a lot of memories … all good memories. I loved going to school here,” said Silver. “I met with several of the teachers last week, and I’m so impressed by them. They’re a bright, energetic group and the kids are lucky to have them.”
On Oct. 23, 2014, Silver visited the school where he spoke to 7-8 classes about “the judicial system, how it works, what we do as an appellate court, careers in law, and how my career has gone.”
“I probably spent time with a couple hundred kids by the time the day was over. It means a lot to me to be able to do that,” he said. “I think aspirations are a really important thing, and kids should start to think about what they want to do, so the way I can give back is to talk to them about my life, my path and how they could have the same kind of path … how any kid from Presque Isle can go do anything they want to do. I believe in that strongly, and that’s why I do it. I think it’s a good thing when alumni come back and participate with the kids.
Recognizing that the Court has been traveling to high schools throughout the state for 10 years, Silver said the PIHS visit was their 36th high school.
“What’s significant about that for me is — obviously — it’s my alma mater, but it’s also my last high school because I’m retiring from the court in December,” he said. “We started with Caribou in 2005 and I’m ending with PIHS.”
With no specific plans made for his retirement, Silver said he hopes to return to the Star City.
“The first few months I’m going to be in Florida; we have a place in Sarasota and I’ll spend the winter there figuring out what I’m going to do next,” he said. “I’ll do something, I just don’t know what.
“My wife and I have established a scholarship fund at the University of Maine for kids from Aroostook County. I want to do anything I can to promote kids from The County going to school and doing things that we need as a society that will benefit us all,” said Silver. “I would love to work with the schools. I’ve been invited back to PIHS to do more, and I recently got an invitation to go to Easton High School. I want to do things with kids to motivate them and get them to do good things in life. I’m also a road biker and I’d like to do some biking up here.”
Silver was appointed to the Court by Gov. John E. Baldacci in 2005. In addition to PIHS, he is a graduate of Tufts University. He received his law degree from the Washington College of Law at American University in 1973, and opened his private practice in Bangor in 1977. In addition to an active trial practice, Silver served on the Board of Governors, was president of the Maine Trial Lawyers Association and was chair of the Court’s Civil Rules Committee and the Governor’s Judicial Selection Committee.
