Remembering Michael Nicholson
(5/31/50 – 1/31/2026)
“Knowing what I know now, I would still do it all over again. There have been the inevitable ups and downs, but it's been a wonderful ride on the whole, and I'm happy with the way things turned out.”
Michael began showing films along with his roommate, Larry Silverman, in the living room of their Brighton apartment in 1973, soon cutting a hole in the wall to turn Michael’s bedroom into a projection booth. A year later, their screenings had become so popular that they opened Off the Wall Cinema in Cambridge, and for the next dozen years, Michael nursed and nurtured his creative offspring through a number of successes and crises. Eventually the theater garnered an international reputation for its support of filmmakers and artists, as well as a local reputation for its atmosphere, its unique programming, and its concession stand. Michael’s enthusiasm, his ever-expanding cinematic knowledge, and his taste were reflected in every aspect of the theater. Anyone who knew and had affection for Off the Wall, knew and had affection for Michael.
After the theater closed, Michael continued to host periodic Off the Wall screenings in various clubs around Boston, while pursuing a new career working for a nonprofit to support adults with intellectual and other disabilities. He retired in 2020.
In December of 2024, Michael spearheaded a 50th anniversary celebration of Off the Wall’s opening with a program of Off the Wall’s greatest hits, hosted by the Brattle Theatre in Harvard Square, Cambridge. When he stepped up to the stage before the screenings to introduce the show (and, as always, announce corrections to the program notes), the years seemed to fall away. It was 1974 again, and an audience waited with happy anticipation to see what Michael had in store for them next
Not long after the celebration, Michael was asked if there was anything he would have done differently. His reply certainly applied to his experience with Off the Wall, but I’m pretty sure he would have applied it to the rest of his life as well:
“Knowing what I know now, I would still do it all over again. You might only get one chance to do something that makes a difference. This was mine and I took it! No regrets! There have been the inevitable ups and downs, but it's been a wonderful ride on the whole, and I'm happy with the way things turned out.”
A few stories about Michael
This is a picture from 1971 when we were roommates on Cummings Rd in Brighton. Michael loved to post articles, notices, and art on our kitchen bulletin board. This was at a time when Michael actually looked remarkably like James Taylor. Coincidentally, he had a very large poster of the singer/songwriter on the wall. One time, Michael’s mother came to visit and saw the poster. Knowing I was a photographer, she asked me if I took that photo of Michael. His own mother did not realize the poster was not Michael. That’s how close the resemblance was.
—Larry Silverman, co-founder, Off the Wall Cinema
Triskaidekaphobia.
Did Michael Nicholson contend with this dreaded disorder? I wonder, because he referred to it frequently on his Facebook page. I might even go so far as to say he evoked it pretty constantly! What exactly is it, you might ask, that influenced his life so profoundly? Why, it’s the fear of Friday the 13th!
When I began contemplating what I wanted to share about Michael and my long-standing relationship with him, it was actually Friday, February the 13th, only a few days after he had passed earlier this year. Then I realized that March also contained a Friday the 13th! How could this be? Through the magic of one of our friendly AI tools, I learned that, indeed, once every decade, two consecutive months, February and March, will feature two Friday the 13ths! The last time was 2015 and the next will be 2037. As if that weren’t enough, 2026 actually even features a THIRD Friday the 13th, in November, an utter rarity!
But then, I pondered, if Michael really dealt with triskaidekaphobia, how did it come to be that the opening day of Off The Wall Cinema’s public presence began on Friday the 13th in December, 1974? I have concluded that it probably wasn’t he, himself, who experienced the dreaded disorder, but that he delighted in playing on and playing up other’s fears of the day.
Now today, May 31, as I complete writing this tribute, it would have been Michael’s annual Solar return/birthday were he still focused into the physicality. I have been reflecting upon and feeling into what I wanted my contribution to this page honoring him and his legacy to be. We were so much a part of each other’s lives for years, as business colleagues, life partners and friends.
One of the qualities I have always deeply admired in him over the nearly 50 years I had known him, which shone through particularly during the Off The Wall days, was that he always operated unabashedly from his zone of genius, whether it was exercised through conjuring the programming that would be shown at the cinema or right up until his passing, programming the selections and commentating on them for his long running eclectic radio show Lost and Found featured on the MIT campus radio station.
Following his stint with OTW, I assisted him in obtaining his position at the Walnut Street Center where I witnessed his zone of genius expand and morph into being a gentle, kind, loving support and companion over many years for the differently abled folks who attended the day program there.
One of my fondest personal memories and a gift that he gave to me which I so cherished and adored, was that he would read to me at night before sleep. Our favorite bedtime stories came from the pen of the British author P.G. Wodehouse, particularly the delightful and always amusing antics of Bertie Wooster and his reliable and ever unflappable valet, Jeeves. Michael would adopt different voices to match the characters as he read and he was quite proficient at it, as he was at so many endeavors he applied himself to.
I moved away from Boston in 1997 and was so incredibly blessed to be able to return to attend the OTW 50th Anniversary Celebration in December, 2024. Grateful beyond measure that I was also able to visit with and spend quality time one on one with him during that time in Boston. He had only recently a couple of weeks before then, spruced up his photo albums and showed me several pics featuring us together and also various members of his family from our “golden days.”
I cherish and so appreciate the in-person visit we had ever more deeply now knowing that it was our last time to be together.
—ChonaJoy Ananda