Timeline of Shel Silverstein
1930 - September 25, 1930 Shel Silverstein was born in Chicago, Illinois.
1950 – Enlisted in the US Army and served in Korea and Japan
He was a cartoonist for the magazine Stars and Stripes.
1950’s – After the Army he drew cartoons for magazines such as Look and Sports Illustrated.
Shel started writing music, adult poems and published his own book of cartoons.
1959 – Recorded his first album of more than a dozen over his career.
1963 – Started writing for children
1964 – Published The Giving Tree, probably his most popular book.
1970’s - Continued to compose music for other musicians, one of his most famous “A Boy Named Sue” for Johnny Cash, for which he won a Grammy Award.
Wrote motion picture soundtracks and won a Golden Globe for “I’m Checkin’ Out”
1974 – Published Where the Sidewalk Ends, his first collection of poetry, which later won the Michigan Young Readers’ Award.
1976 – Published The Missing Piece
1980’s and 90’s – Published A Light in the Attic (1981), Falling Up (1996), Draw a Skinny Elephant (1998)
1999 – Shel Silverstein passed away on May 10, 1999
2005 – Runny Babbit, A Billy Sook, published posthumously
2011 - Every Thing On It published posthumously
1930 - September 25, 1930 Shel Silverstein was born in Chicago, Illinois.
1950 – Enlisted in the US Army and served in Korea and Japan
He was a cartoonist for the magazine Stars and Stripes.
1950’s – After the Army he drew cartoons for magazines such as Look and Sports Illustrated.
Shel started writing music, adult poems and published his own book of cartoons.
1959 – Recorded his first album of more than a dozen over his career.
1963 – Started writing for children
1964 – Published The Giving Tree, probably his most popular book.
1970’s - Continued to compose music for other musicians, one of his most famous “A Boy Named Sue” for Johnny Cash, for which he won a Grammy Award.
Wrote motion picture soundtracks and won a Golden Globe for “I’m Checkin’ Out”
1974 – Published Where the Sidewalk Ends, his first collection of poetry, which later won the Michigan Young Readers’ Award.
1976 – Published The Missing Piece
1980’s and 90’s – Published A Light in the Attic (1981), Falling Up (1996), Draw a Skinny Elephant (1998)
1999 – Shel Silverstein passed away on May 10, 1999
2005 – Runny Babbit, A Billy Sook, published posthumously
2011 - Every Thing On It published posthumously