Shel Silverstein

Sheldon Alan "Shel" Silverstein (September 25, 1930 – May 10, 1999) was an American poet, songwriter, musician, composer, cartoonist, screenwriter and author of children's books. He sometimes styled himself as Uncle Shelby especially for his early children's books.

Silverstein confirmed he never studied the poetry of others, and therefore developed his own style: laid-back and conversational, occasionally employing profanity, and slang.

Personal life

Sheldon Allan Silverstein was born in Chicago in 1930, and grew up with athletic aspirations before settling on more artistic endeavors. In his 1975 interview with Jean F. Mercier for Publisher’s Weekly, he described his childhood:

"When I was a kid—12, 14, around there—I would much rather have been a good baseball player or a hit with the girls. But I couldn't play ball, I couldn't dance. Luckily, the girls didn't want me; not much I could do about that. So, I started to draw and to write. I was also lucky that I didn't have anybody to copy, be impressed by. I had developed my own style, I was creating before I knew there was a Thurber, a Benchley, a Price and a Steinberg. I never saw their work till I was around 30. By the time I got to where I was attracting girls, I was already into work, and it was more important to me. Not that I wouldn't rather make love, but the work has become a habit."

In the 1950’s Silverstein served in the Korean War. During this period, he contributed his cartoon artwork to “Pacific Stars and Stripes,” a U.S. military publication. The experience allowed him to transition into a new role as staff cartoonist for “Playboy” in 1956.

Silverstein had two children. His first child, with Susan Hastings, was daughter Shoshanna (Shanna), born June 30, 1970. Hastings died five years later, on June 29, 1975, in Baltimore, Maryland. Shoshanna was raised by her aunt and uncle, Meg and Curtis Marshall, from age 5 until her death of a cerebral aneurysm in Baltimore on April 24, 1982 at the age of 11. Shanna was attending the Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore at the time of her death. Silverstein dedicated his 1983 reprint of Who Wants a Cheap Rhinoceros to the Marshalls. Silverstein’s A Light in the Attic was dedicated to Shanna, and he drew the sign with a flower attached. Shoshanna means lily or rose in Hebrew. Silverstein’s second child, Matthew, was born on November 10, 1983. Matthew's mother is alleged to be the "Sarah" mentioned in the acknowledgments in Falling Up, which was dedicated to Matthew.

Silverstein was fond of spending time in Greenwich Village, Key West, Martha’s Vineyard, and Sausalito, California. He died in Key West in May 1999, of a heart attack. His body was found by two housekeepers on Monday, May 10. It was reported that he had most likely died on either May 8 or May 9.

Literary career

Silverstein's skill in writing was already largely developed by the time he served in the U.S. army. Silverstein was stationed in Japan and Korea in the 1950s, and while in the military, he was a cartoonist for the Pacific edition of the military newspaper, Stars and Stripes.

His name is most commonly known for writing and illustrating his children's literature including The Missing Piece, A Light In The Attic, Lafcadio, Where the Sidewalk Ends, Falling Up, The Giving Tree, A Giraffe and a Half, and The Missing Piece Meets the Big O. For adults he wrote Uncle Shelby's ABZ Book, a satirical mock children's book, and created Different Dances, a coffee table book of wordless, adult-themed cartoons. He continued to write colloquial poetry on occasion throughout his life, including a rap version of Shakespeare's Hamlet that was published (on yellow-beige specialty paper) in Playboy magazine in 1998. He also co-wrote the screenplay Things Change with David Mamet.

In 2005, Silverstein's last book, Runny Babbit: A Billy Sook, was published posthumously. As the title suggests, every poem and illustration in the book consists of spoonerisms. In an NPR interview, Mitch Myers, Shel Silverstein's nephew, who wrote the liner notes for a "Best of Shel Silverstein" CD and helped compile the new collection of poems, said, "I think he wasn't sure about how it would be received. It is and was very different. And it's not easy, even for adults to read. I think, actually, younger children have a better time at it because they're not so preconceived in their notions of how words work. And the playfulness of it really comes across." Silverstein said "I did not have any inspirations, my talent formed, because that was what I loved to do....(and forever will)" "Many kids should know their talents from in their heart and soul."

Silverstein's goals did not include writing for children when he first began his career, but his editor and friend Ursula Nordstrom encouraged Silverstein to write children's poetry. After having used his clever, silly ideas in his first book, Silverstein decided that he enjoyed the product and wanted to do it again.

A blurb by Otto Penzler from his crime anthology Murder for Revenge (1998) states:

"The phrase "Renaissance man" tends to get overused these days, but apply it to Shel Silverstein and it practically begins to seem inadequate. Not only has he produced with seeming ease country music hits and popular songs, but he's been equally successful at turning his hand to poetry, short stories, plays, and children's books. Moreover, his whimsically hip fables, beloved by readers of all ages, have made him a stalwart of bestseller lists. A Light in the Attic, most remarkably, showed the kind of staying power on the New York Times chart—two years, to be precise—that most of the biggest names (John Grisham, Stephen King, and Michael Crichton) have never equaled for their own blockbusters.

And there's still more: his unmistakable illustrative style is another crucial element to his appeal. Just as no writer sounds like Shel, no other artist's vision is as delightfully, sophisticatingly cockeyed.

One can only marvel that he makes the time to respond so kindly to his friends' requests. In the following work, let's be glad he did. Drawing on his characteristic passion for list making, he shows how the deed is not just in the wish but in the sublimation."

As a playwright

The Rising Sun Performance Company's production of "The Lifeboat is Sinking" An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein

An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein was produced by the Atlantic Theater Company in New York City in September 2001. The collection of short sketches, directed by Karen Kohlhaas, comprised the following:

• "One Tennis Shoe" - Harvey claims that his wife, Sylvia, is becoming a bag lady, but his wife claims that he is just overreacting.
• "Bus Stop" - Irwin stands on a street corner with a sign reading "bust stop" and uses the opportunity to soliloquize on the subject.
• "Going Once" - A monologue in which an auctioneer shows off a woman, who is putting herself up for auction to the highest bidder.
• "The Best Daddy" - Lisa's got the best daddy in the world. After all he bought her a pony for her birthday. Too bad he shot it dead.
• "The Lifeboat is Sinking" - Jen and Sherwin sit safely on their bed playing a game of Who-Would-You-Save-If... the family was drowning.
• "Smile" - Bender and his henchmen have found the man responsible for the phrase "Have a nice day." and they're going to make him pay.
• "Wash and Dry" - Marianne stops by the laundromat, but she's horrified to discover that her laundry hasn't been cleaned.
• "Thinking Up a New Name for the Act" - Pete hits on the phrase "Meat and Potatoes" as the perfect name for their vaudeville act.
• "Buy One, Get One Free" - Two hookers are offering the deal of the century, offering a golden opportunity to passersby in rhyme.
• "Blind Willie and the Talking Dog" - Blind Willie panhandles as his dog argues that they could use his talent to make some real money.

Shel's Shorts was produced in repertory as two separate evenings under the titles Signs of Trouble and Shel Shocked by the Market Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts in December 2001. Signs of Trouble was directed by Wesley Savick, and Shel Shocked was directed by Larry Coen.

This anthology was the second in a series, which also included Murder for Love (1996) and Murder and Obsession (1999). All three anthologies included contributions by Shel Silverstein.

Songwriting

Silverstein’s talents extended to music as well. He studied briefly at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University and later found success as both songwriter and composer.

Most notably, he wrote the music and lyrics for "A Boy Named Sue," performed famously by Johnny Cash. The song won Silverstein a Grammy in 1970. Other popular songs by Silverstein included "One's on the Way," a hit for Loretta Lynn, "25 Minutes to Go", a song also sung by Cash about a man on death row, and "The Unicorn," which despite having nothing to do with Ireland nor Irish culture, became the signature piece for The Irish Rovers in 1968 and is popular in Irish pubs all over the world to this day.

He wrote the lyrics and music for most of the Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show songs, including "Sylvia's Mother." He also wrote many of the songs performed by Bobby Bare, including one song co-written with Baxter Taylor called "Marie Laveau," which scored the duo a BMI Award in 1975.

Silverstein’s songs and compositions were featured in film as well. The song "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan," recorded in 1979 by Marianne Faithfull and later featured in the films Montenegro and Thelma & Louise, was also by Silverstein, as was "Queen of the Silver Dollar," which appeared on Emmylou Harris' 1975 album Pieces of the Sky and was also covered by "Dave & Sugar." He was nominated for an Oscar for his music for the film Postcards from the Edge. He also composed original music for several other films, and displayed a musical versatility in these projects, playing guitar, piano, saxophone, and trombone.

Silverstein also had a popular following on Dr. Demento's radio show. Among his best-known comedy songs were "Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout (Would Not Take The Garbage Out)," "The Smoke Off" (a tale of a contest to determine who could roll—or smoke—marijuana joints faster), and "I Got Stoned and I Missed It." He also wrote "The Father of a Boy Named Sue," in which he tells the story from the original song from the father's point of view, and the 1962 song "Boa Constrictor" that is sung by a man who is being progressively swallowed whole by a snake, although it is now better known as a children's playground chant.

Silverstein was a longtime friend of American singer and songwriter Pat Dailey, with whom he collaborated Underwater Land album, posthumously released in 2002. It contains 17 children's songs written and produced by Silverstein and sung by Dailey. Silverstein contributed his artwork to the album and also appears along with Dailey on a few tracks.

In 2002, Silverstein was posthumously inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Works

Selected bibliography

• Grab Your Socks! (1956)
• Now Here's My Plan (1960)
• Uncle Shelby's ABZ Book (1961). ISBN 067121148X.
• A Playboy's Teevee Jeebies oh la la (1961). ISBN 0743290240.
• (Uncle Shelby's story of) Lafcadio: The Lion Who Shot Back (1963). ISBN 0060256753.
• A Giraffe and a Half (1964). ISBN 0060256559.
• The Giving Tree (1964). ISBN 0060586753.
• Who Wants a Cheap Rhinoceros? (1964). ISBN 0027826902.
• Uncle Shelby's Zoo (1964)
• More Playboy's Teevee Jeebies (1965)
• Where the Sidewalk Ends (1974). ISBN 0060572345.
• The Missing Piece (1976). ISBN 0060256710.
• Different Dances (1979). ISBN 0060554304.
• A Light in the Attic (1981). ISBN 0066236177.
• The Missing Piece Meets the Big O (1984). ISBN 0060256710.
• Falling Up (1996). ISBN 0060248025.
• Draw a Skinny Elephant (1998)
• Runny Babbit (2005) (published posthumously). ISBN 0060256532.
• Don't Bump the Glump! and Other Fantasies (2008, originally published in 1964). ISBN 0061493384.

Silverstein believed that written works needed to be read on paper – the correct paper for the particular work. He usually would not allow his poems or stories to be published unless he could choose the type, size, shape and color of the paper himself. Being a book collector, he took seriously the feel of the paper, the look of the book from the inside and out, the fonts for each poem, and the binding of his books. He did not allow his books to be published in paperback as he did not want his work to diminish in any way.

Music anthology

• Hairy Jazz (Elektra Records) (1959)
• Inside Folk Songs (Atlantic Records) (1962)
• I'm So Good That I Don't Have To Brag (Cadet Records) (1965)
• Drain My Brain (Cadet Records) (1967)
• A Boy Named Sue And Other Country Songs (RCA Records) (1969)
• Freakin' At The Freakers Ball (Columbia Records) (1972)
• Crouchin' On The Outside (Janus Records), collection of I'm So Good... and Drain My Brain (1973)
• Songs & Stories (Parachute Records) (1978)
• The Great Conch Train Robbery (Flying Fish Records) (1980)
• Where the Sidewalk Ends (book) (Columbia Records) (1984)
• A Light In The Attic (Columbia Records) (1985)
• Underwater Land (with Pat Dailey) (Olympia Records) (2002) (released posthumously)
• The Best of Shel Silverstein: His Words His Songs His Friends (Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings) (2005) (released posthumously)

Shel Silverstein also recorded numerous unreleased songs. Some were found at A&R Recording Studio in New York, but never officially released—though bootleg albums of these exist. These songs are generally more vulgar than his other material. Most are thought to have been recorded around 1969-1970, although they resemble the Songs & Stories musical and lyrical style of 1978.Shel also sung poems.

Legacy

• Canadian post-hardcore band Silverstein takes their name from Shel Silverstein, and also recites Where the Sidewalk Ends in its entirety at the end of their song "Forever and a Day." The band's bassist, Billy Hamilton, has a tattoo with a picture from Silverstein's poem Hug O' War.

• In Fox's Family Guy episode "Barely Legal," Quagmire helps Meg overcome her obsession with Brian by giving her a copy of Silverstein's The Missing Piece.

• In the book, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, it is said that Shel Silverstein "looks more like a criminal or pirate than a guy who writes poems for kids."

• A drawing from Shel Silverstein's poem "Hug O' War" can be found in the liner notes of Background by New Jersey hardcore punk band Lifetime.

• In an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, there was a fight scene involving a bald, bearded man—and one of the MST3K robots quipped "Damn you, Shel Silverstein!" when the bald man got punched out.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Lisa Rogak: A Boy Named Shel. The Life and Times of Shel Silverstein (2007). ISBN 0312353596
• Flippo, Chet. (1998). "Shel Silverstein." In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 484.
• Steve Pond: The Magical World of Shel Silverstein. Playboy (US Edition), 1/2006. pp74-78, pp151-153.

External links

• Shel Silverstein's Official Website
• Shel Silverstein at the Internet Movie Database
• Shel Silverstein and other famous poets, their poems, photos, biography.
• Shel Silverstein's Music (Legacy Recordings)
• Shel Silverstein
• The Aardvark Interview

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