To those who knew Mike I cannot offer anything in the way of contact info. His Son posted a notice on Facebook on his father's account. I am not on facebook myself. All I know is Mike had knee surgery and a fews days later was found dead at his home. The assumption is that a blood clot took him out. An unfortunate loss of a pretty sepcial person. Here are some photos of his work that he shared with me. These are knives featured in my book "X-Daggers. The Long Road From Shanghai"

​Michael W. Silvey
Knifemaker, Author & Vietnam Vet.
It’s embarrassing how insular I have become. Over the past decade I have become more introverted and prefer time with my wife and cats to being out in the public. As a result my news comes mostly from YouTube or friends whom I text or email with. So it was, by email from a friend in New Zealand, that I learned of the passing of one of today’s late great knifemakers, Michael W. Silvey.
Michael Silvey might not be a knife household name like Bagwell, Randall, or Moran, but his work was exemplary. I deeply regret not having bought more of Michael’s knives while I could. That is always a problem when there are so many talented makers and only so much cash. I purchased several of his excellent books on knives. His books are blessed with great color photographs and informative text. They inspired me when writing my own books. Quite by accident I did come into possession of one of his F-S knives. I saw the knife in an article somewhere and I emailed to ask him how long I would have to wait for him to make me a similar knife. He said that particular one was still available and I bought it without a moment’s hesitation. His work was always clean, polished, with crisp grind lines, perfect proportions and an artistic flair. When I asked him for permission to use photos of his knives in my books he responded with numerous images that made me regret even more that I didn’t pursue his work with more zeal. I guess that’s the way life goes. Today the knifeworld is going to be short one excellent maker, author and man. Join me in saying, "May God be with you Mike." 

Okay, last week I shipped one of the new books to the Netherlands.  It cost me $49.20. That's outrageous but it gets worse. This week I went to the same post office with an identical book, same packaging and going to the Netherlands and the clerk quoted me $83.00. I explained to him the previous weeks shipping and he said that's what the computer is telling me. He said come back tomorrow and talk to the  lady. He also said shipping to New Zealand was going to be $53.00. This was reasonable but I didn't have that book ready to post. I said that does not make sense because New Zealand is a lot farther away than the Netherlands. Same response, thats what the computer says. Okay round three, my third trip to the post office. Now the New Zealand package is $78.00 and the one to the Netherlands is $58.30. SO  until I find out what is going on I am not taking any orders outside of the United States. I have a hard time justifying selling a book to someone for $60 and charging them over $70 for postage. This is the final straw with all of the problems I had with the publisher and now this. It is making me wonder if I want to continue to sell my books anymore. Certainly not overseas. I don't do it for profit but out of a passion for the knives and for those of you who share that passion.