Just by perusing a Shel Silverstein biography we can see that Shel has proven to be a man of many creative talents. He is in all essence of the word a "storyteller". Whether it be through music, poetry, prose or a stage play, Shel is there presenting us with a story.
While this site is primarily focused on presenting relevant information on children's books, the Shel Silverstein biography, touches on all aspects of his career in which Shel does create some works for grownups.
Obtaining enough information to write a Shel Silverstein biography is not easy, since Shel kept his private life –well, private. Out of the three Shel Silverstein biographies that I read to help gather the data presented here on this page, only one contained a substantial amount of helpful information, Who Wrote That? Shel Silverstein by Elisa Ludwig (recommend ages 12 and up).
Shel Silverstein Biography
Shel was born September 25, 1930 to working class parents, Nathan and Helen Silverstein. He and his sister, Peggy, grew up in the immigrant community of Logan Square in Chicago, Illinois.
As a boy, Shel dreamed of becoming a professional ballplayer for his favorite team, the Chicago White Sox. He spent most of his youth trying to avoid household chores and instead concentrating his efforts on drawing and baseball. It wasn't long before Shel realized that he wasn't a great athlete and he would have to settle for being a devoted fan instead of a ballplayer.
As a teenager, Shel attended Roosevelt High School. Although interested, he was not very popular with the girls. With little athletic talent he hoped the girls would take notice of his artistic talents. Shel spent most of his time drawing pictures. With no real role models or teachers to study art from, Shel had the freedom to develop his own style.
After high school Shel attended University of Illinois, to study art. Due to poor grades, Shel was expelled after one year. He transferred to the Chicago of Fine Arts but lasted only a year there as well. Eventually, he ended up at Roosevelt University, to study English. It was here that Shel was able to put his talents to use, contributing to the student paper, the Torch.
Alas, Shel would be forced to leave college without a degree, yet again. This time Shel was drafted into the Army during the Korean War. Shel would later look at his college years as a waste of time; time that could have been better spent, as he puts it, "traveling around Europe meeting people, or going to the Far East of Africa or India, meeting people, exchanging ideas, reading all you wanted to anyway, and instead I wasted it at Roosevelt." (Aardvark magazine, 1963 interview)
Shel spent his time in the Army working as a cartoonist and a reporter for the Pacific edition of the Stars and Stripes publication. Even though, he was not considered a "model soldier", often poking fun at the military and the officers in his cartoons, Shel would look back at his days in the Army with fondness and as an opportunity for him to grow as an artist.
Returning home to Chicago after serving his term in the Army, Shel became a hot dog vendor at Comiskey Park, while doing freelance cartooning work. About a year later, Shel met Hugh Hefner, and got a job cartooning for a gentleman's magazine. It is here that Shel also got the opportunity to travel as he would report stories for the magazine from all over the world.
After a car accident shattered his leg, Shel was forced to stop traveling for a few years to recover. He spent his time on his cartoons and began writing music. Shel Silverstein recorded his first album, Hairy Jazz in 1959.
We are now approaching the time where Shel becomes more familiar with us children's book fans. While Shel never sought out a career in writing children's books, in fact the thought never even occurred to him, the same could not be true for his friend, Tomi Ungerer.
Tomi brought Shel to meet his editor Ursula Nordstrom. Together Tomi and Ursula convinced Shel to try his hand at writing a children's book. Shel, as we all now know, would prove his friends right in their predictions of his success as a children's book author.
Thank you, Tomi and Ursula!
Below is a timeline of significant events in Shel Silverstein's life and multiple creative careers.
Shel Silverstein Biography - Timeline:
September 25, 1930
Born in Chicago, Illinois to parents Helen and Nathan Silverstein
1950
Shel's first cartoon is published in the Torch, a school paper for Roosevelt University
1953
Shel was Drafted into the Army and began work as a cartoonist and reporter for the Pacific edition of the military publication, Stars and Stripes
1955
Grownup Book, Take Ten, published
1956
Shel works as a Cartoonist and travel reporter for Playboy
1959
Shel recorded his first Album, Hairy Jazz released
1960
Grownup Book, Now Here's My Plan: A Book of Futilities, published
1961
Grownup Book, Uncle Shelby's ABZ Book, published
1962
Album, Inside Folk Songs, released
1963
Shel's first Children's Book, Lafcadio, the Lion Who Shot Back, published
Grownup Book, A Playboy's Teevie Jeebies, published
1964
Children's Book, A Giraffe and a Half, published
Children's Book, The Giving Tree, published
Children's Book, Who Wants a Cheap Rhinoceros? , published
Children's Book, Don't Bump the Glump! , published
1965
Album, I'm So Good I Don't Have to Brag released
1966
Album, Drain My Brain released
1967
Album, Shel Silverstein, released
1968
Album, Dirty Feet, released
1969
Grownup Book, More Playboy's Teevie Jeebies, published
Shel writes song, "A Boy Named Sue" for Johnny Cash and won a Grammy for the hit song.
1970
Album, Inside Shel Silverstein, released
Shel had a daughter, Shoshanna, with his girlfriend Susan Hastings.
Shel wrote the score for motion picture, Ned Kelly
1971
Shel wrote the score for motion picture, Who is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Such Terrible Things About Me?
1972
Album, Freakin' at the Freakers Ball, released
Album, Sloppy Seconds, released
1974
Children's Book, Where the Sidewalk Ends, published and
Wins the New York Times Outstanding Book for Children Award
1975
Susan Hastings, the mother of Shel's daughter, dies suddenly in Baltimore, Maryland
1976
Children's Book, The Missing Piece, published
1977
Shel wrote the score for motion picture, Thieves
1979
Grownup Book, Different Dances, published
1980
Album, The Great Conch Train Robbery, released
1981
Children's Book, A Light in the Attic published
Children's Book, The Missing Piece Meets the Big O published
Wins the School Library Journal Best Books for Children Award
Play, The Lady or the Tiger Show, performed
1982
Shel's eleven year daughter, Shoshanna dies of a brain aneurysm in Baltimore, Maryland
1983
Play, Gorilla and Wild Life performed
1984
Play, Remember Crazy Zelda? Performed
Shel wins a Grammy for his recording of Where the Sidewalk Ends
Shel's son Matthew is born
1985
Play, The Happy Hour performed
Play, The Crate performed
Play, One Tennis Shoe performed
Play, Wash and Dry performed
Play, Very Very Serious Plays performed
1986
Play, Happy Endings performed
Play, Empty Room performed
1988
Album, Things Change released
1989
Play, The Devil and Billy Markham performed
1990
Play, Hamlet performed
Shel wrote the score for motion picture, Postcards From the Edge
1992
Play, New Living Newspaper performed
1996
Children's Book, Falling Up published
1998
Play, The Trio performed
May 10, 1999
Shel Silverstein dies of heart failure in Key West, Florida, at the age of 68
Usually when we read biographies we look forward to the fun stories of the subject's personal life, their hopes, successes and failures; we look for the stuff we can relate to. While there is very little of these personal stories to be found in the Shel Silverstein biography, we hope you were able to find what you were looking for here..
Shel Silverstein Biography Books
Here are the Shel Silverstein biography books I read to put together this page:
Who Wrote That? Shel Silverstein by Elisa Ludwig I highly recommend this book for anyone looking for a comprehensive Shel Silverstein biography. Reading level for ages 12 and up.
Shel Silverstein by Cari Meister I recommend this Shel Silverstein biography for ages 8 and up. Simple in text and written in chronological order of the events in Shel's life, this book is a good one for children.
Meet Shel Silverstein by S. Ward This Shel Silverstein biography basically gives you the pertinent dates and facts. Also, you will find some story synopsis's of a couple of his books. The information provided in this book is not broken up in a chronological order but, rather into different career categories. I would suggest a reading level of ages 8 and up for this biography book.
Just for added fun, below we have included a kind of video Shel Silverstein biography that we found online research. The video is a slideshow of pictures of his books, music albums and of Shel himself. The audio for the video slideshow is Johnny Cash singing, A Boy Named Sue, the song Shel wrote for him.
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