Brain Snacks: Tasty Tidbits of Knowledge
It took Shel Silverstein four years to get The Giving Tree published because editors were concerned it wouldn't appeal to either children or adults. Ouch. (Source)
Shel Silverstein wasn't just a children's book author—he also wrote more than 800 songs, including "The Unicorn Song," which was made famous by the Irish Rovers. (Source)
Silverstein won a Grammy for writing "A Boy Named Sue," a song made popular by Johnny Cash. (Source)
A Chicago native and lifelong White Sox fan, Silverstein sold hot dogs at Comiskey Park as a teenager and later wrote a poem called "Every Thing on It," about a hot dog that came loaded with some unexpected items. (Source)
A one-panel comic that Silverstein created was used in psychological tests to gauge people's levels of optimism. (Source)
In 1998, when Hollywood was abuzz with admiration for Jennifer Love Hewitt, the actress revealed that what she really wanted to do in life was write like Shel Silverstein. (Source)