On this day (September 25) in 1930, poet, songwriter and all-around renaissance man Sheldon Allan “Shel” Silverstein was born in Chicago, Illinois. You might recognize him from his quirky children’s classics. Examples include A Light in the Attic, Where the Sidewalk Ends, and The Giving Tree. Less well known is Silverstein’s surprising connection to country music. Inducted posthumously into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002, Johnny Cash’s 1969 novelty mega-hit “A Boy Named Sue” came solely from his pen.
Beyond that, Silverstein also gave us Tompall Glaser’s “Put Another Log on the Fire”. Other compositions include Loretta Lynn’s “Hey Loretta”, and “The Cover of ‘Rolling Stone’” by country-rock outfit Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show.
On May 10, 1999, Shel Silverstein died at age 68 of heart failure at his home in Key West, Florida. Today, we’re celebrating what would have been his 96th birthday with a trip through his unconventional career — from the glossy pages of Playboy magazine to kindergarten teachers’ classrooms.
Shel Silverstein Got His Start in the U.S. Army
Shel Silverstein’s earliest artistic inspiration was Li’l Abner creator Al Capp, whose work he began tracing at age seven…