The Life of Shel Silverstein
The number of poets who have captured the hearts of children and adults alike may be counted on one hand, but few have managed to do so with the wit and finesse of Shel Silverstein. His many titles include cartoonist, author, poet, songwriter, recording artist, performer, and playwright. Shel Silverstein, quite simply, took the world by storm.
Silverstein was born on September 25th, 1930 in Chicago, Illinois. As a boy, he wasn’t much of an athlete, and as he jokingly recalled, “luckily, the girls didn’t want me.” To entertain himself, he turned to writing and “doodling” when he was about 12 or 14. Silverstein hadn’t been introduced to any poets, and so his works began to develop their own unique style. In the early 1950’s, Silverstein attended Roosevelt College, where he cautiously experimented with art and writing, but never completely finished a major. Later in the decade, Silverstein enlisted in the U.S. military and went to war, where he worked part-time as a cartoonist for the military paper, the Pacific Stars and Stripes.
Upon his return from the war, Silverstein turned to cartooning as a profession which was largely a work at home venture. In 1956, he dropped off a series of 15 portfolio drawings at a new magazine called Playboy. After two weeks of no reply, Silverstein returned and asked for the drawings back. He was astounded when the Playboy editor scrutinized and bought them for $500 – on the spot. By 1960, over 200 of Silverstein’s cartoons had been featured in the publication. With this new confidence, Silverstein approached editor William Cole of Simon & Schuster and asked about compiling his cartoons into books, three of which were published by 1963. His quirky and mischievous style became instantly recognizable.
In 1964, Shel Silverstein’s book The Giving Tree, while initially not popular due to the ambiguity of the age of the target audience, marked the rise of his climb to fame. A friend encouraged him to write children’s literature, which, while he was initially hesitant, eventually produced such books as A Giraffe and a Half (1964), The Missing Piece (1976), The Missing Piece Meets the Big O (1981), and Falling Up (1996). Encouraged by the success, he began branching out into other fields.
Silverstein began to develop an interest in folk music, and in 1969, he wrote the lyrics to “A Boy Named Sue”, which was eventually performed by Johnny Cash and earned Silverstein a Grammy Award in 1970. In 1980, he released the country album The Great Conch Train Robbery. He wrote several other songs (among which were “Cover of the Rolling Stone” and “I Got Stoned and I Missed It”), and began to expand his area of expertise into yet another field – playwriting. He co-wrote Things Change with David Marmet in the early 1980’s, which led to the eventual adaption of the script for film in 1988. Among his more famous works were one-acts, such as “The Lady or The Tiger Show” and “The Devil and Billy Markham”. An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein (2001) posthumously combined a series of ten one-acts written by Silverstein, and was performed by the Atlantic Theatre Company in New York City. Silverstein also wrote music for movies, varying from Ned Kelly (1970) to Thieves (1977).
His personal life, however, was not always a cheery one. Silverstein’s first child, Shoshanna, was born in 1970 with Susan Hastings, who sadly died five years later and was followed by her daughter, who died of a cerebral aneurism, in 1982. Silverstein’s second child, Matthew, was born in 1983. In the final years of his life, Shel Silverstein made it an active goal to visit his favorite places, including Greenwich Village and Sausalito, California. He died of a heart attack while enjoying Key West in May of 1996.
His fame continues to spread with releases of revamped works, poem adaptations, and compilations of his work. It seems fitting that a man with such a unique view of the world should continue to offer his perspective, even when the man himself is no longer present. Doubtless, the works of Shel Silverstein will continue to entertain and educate the world for many more years to come.
For more information on Shel Silverstein, or for closer examination of his poems and music, the below links have been provided for the convenience of the reader – may the journey be an enjoyable one!
· "Where the Sidewalk Ends", by Shel Silverstein
· Biographical Humanities - Shel Silverstein
· Silverstein Remembered - Audio Presentation
· Kidspoint Silverstein Biography
· "Underwater Land" Album Review
|
The number of poets who have captured the hearts of children and adults alike may be counted on one hand, but few have managed to do so with the wit and finesse of Shel Silverstein. His many titles include cartoonist, author, poet, songwriter, recording artist, performer, and playwright. Shel Silverstein, quite simply, took the world by storm. Silverstein was born on September 25th, 1930 in Chicago, Illinois. As a boy, he wasn’t much of an athlete, and as he jokingly recalled, “luckily, the girls didn’t want me.” To entertain himself, he turned to writing and “doodling” when he was about 12 or 14. Silverstein hadn’t been introduced to any poets, and so his works began to develop their own unique style. In the early 1950’s, Silverstein attended Roosevelt College, where he cautiously experimented with art and writing, but never completely finished a major. Later in the decade, Silverstein enlisted in the U.S. military and went to war, where he worked part-time as a cartoonist for the military paper, the Pacific Stars and Stripes. Upon his return from the war, Silverstein turned to cartooning as a profession which was largely a work at home venture. In 1956, he dropped off a series of 15 portfolio drawings at a new magazine called Playboy. After two weeks of no reply, Silverstein returned and asked for the drawings back. He was astounded when the Playboy editor scrutinized and bought them for $500 – on the spot. By 1960, over 200 of Silverstein’s cartoons had been featured in the publication. With this new confidence, Silverstein approached editor William Cole of Simon & Schuster and asked about compiling his cartoons into books, three of which were published by 1963. His quirky and mischievous style became instantly recognizable. In 1964, Shel Silverstein’s book The Giving Tree, while initially not popular due to the ambiguity of the age of the target audience, marked the rise of his climb to fame. A friend encouraged him to write children’s literature, which, while he was initially hesitant, eventually produced such books as A Giraffe and a Half (1964), The Missing Piece (1976), The Missing Piece Meets the Big O (1981), and Falling Up (1996). Encouraged by the success, he began branching out into other fields. Silverstein began to develop an interest in folk music, and in 1969, he wrote the lyrics to “A Boy Named Sue”, which was eventually performed by Johnny Cash and earned Silverstein a Grammy Award in 1970. In 1980, he released the country album The Great Conch Train Robbery. He wrote several other songs (among which were “Cover of the Rolling Stone” and “I Got Stoned and I Missed It”), and began to expand his area of expertise into yet another field – playwriting. He co-wrote Things Change with David Marmet in the early 1980’s, which led to the eventual adaption of the script for film in 1988. Among his more famous works were one-acts, such as “The Lady or The Tiger Show” and “The Devil and Billy Markham”. An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein (2001) posthumously combined a series of ten one-acts written by Silverstein, and was performed by the Atlantic Theatre Company in New York City. Silverstein also wrote music for movies, varying from Ned Kelly (1970) to Thieves (1977). His personal life, however, was not always a cheery one. Silverstein’s first child, Shoshanna, was born in 1970 with Susan Hastings, who sadly died five years later and was followed by her daughter, who died of a cerebral aneurism, in 1982. Silverstein’s second child, Matthew, was born in 1983. In the final years of his life, Shel Silverstein made it an active goal to visit his favorite places, including Greenwich Village and Sausalito, California. He died of a heart attack while enjoying Key West in May of 1996. His fame continues to spread with releases of revamped works, poem adaptations, and compilations of his work. It seems fitting that a man with such a unique view of the world should continue to offer his perspective, even when the man himself is no longer present. Doubtless, the works of Shel Silverstein will continue to entertain and educate the world for many more years to come. For more information on Shel Silverstein, or for closer examination of his poems and music, the below links have been provided for the convenience of the reader – may the journey be an enjoyable one! · "Where the Sidewalk Ends", by Shel Silverstein · Biographical Humanities - Shel Silverstein · Silverstein Remembered - Audio Presentation · Kidspoint Silverstein Biography · "Underwater Land" Album Review |