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VOICE ONE:
This is Phoebe Zimmermann.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember with People in America in VOA SpecialEnglish. Today we tell about Shel Silverstein. He was a poet,writer, composer, singer, musician and artist.
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VOICE ONE:
Shel Silverstein wrote hundreds of poems and published manybooks. He is most famous as a writer of books for children. He wonseveral awards for his children’s books. But he also wrote manystories and created many drawings for adults.
Shel Silverstein was born in Chicago, Illinois innineteen-thirty. His birth name was Sheldon Allan Silverstein.Sometimes he called himself Uncle Shelby. He never planned to writechildren’s books. Still, he is most famous for writing them.
Shel Silverstein once told a reporter that when he was growingup, he wanted to be a good baseball player. He also said he wantedto be popular with girls. But he could not play baseball, and girlsdid not like him. So he started to draw and write. Shel Silversteinsaid he developed his own way of writing. By the time girls wereinterested in him, he found that work was more important.
VOICE TWO:
Shel Silverstein served in the United States Army in the earlynineteen-fifties. He worked as an artist for the American militarynewspaper, Pacific Stars and Stripes. He wrote his first book innineteen-fifty-five. “Take Ten” was about life in the army, andincluded drawings.
After leaving the army, he worked for Playboy magazine for almosttwenty years. He wrote stories and drew funny pictures for thepublication.
Shel Silverstein was also a musician. He released his first albumin nineteen-fifty-nine. It is called “Hairy Jazz.” He began writingfolk music in the nineteen-sixties. Famous artists have recorded hissongs. The Irish Rovers, Johnny Cash, and Loretta Lynn have sung hissongs. Ten years later, he released “A Boy Named Sue and His OtherCountry Songs.” The most famous song from the album is called “A BoyNamed Sue.” It is about a boy whose father gave him a name usuallygiven to girls. Johnny Cash made the song famous.
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VOICE ONE:
Shel Silverstein is best known for his books for children.However, people of all ages like his poems and stories. He publishedhis first children’s book in nineteen-sixty-three. It is called”Lafcadio, the Lion Who Shot Back.” It is about a lion that eatshunters and lives like a human. The lion has to make some importantdecisions.
One year later, Shel Silverstein published what may be his mostpopular book. It is called “The Giving Tree.” This story is about aboy and a tree that loved him. The tree gives the boy everythinguntil it can give no more. Both adults and children have enjoyedreading this book. This book is still very popular today. It hassold more than five-million copies. Listen as Faith Lapidus readsfrom the beginning of “The Giving Tree.”
VOICE THREE:
“There was once a great apple tree and a little boy. They wouldspend hours and hours together. The boy would play in the tree’sbranches, sleep at her roots and eat of her apples. And the treeloved the boy.
One day, the boy came to the tree. The tree was delighted andbeckoned, ‘Come and play!’ But the boy was no longer a boy; he wasnow a young man, and he was interested in making a living, but hedidn’t know how.
‘Here,’ the tree said, ‘take my apples and sell them.’ The youngman did just that, and the tree was happy.
VOICE TWO:
In the nineteen-seventies, Shel Silverstein produced music forseveral movies. His first movie soundtrack was for the film “NedKelly.” It is based on a true story about a famous Australiancriminal. Here is a song from the album. It is called “Ned Kelly.”
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VOICE ONE:
Shel Silverstein is also famous for his poetry. His firstchildren’s poetry book was “Where the Sidewalk Ends.” It waspublished in nineteen-seventy-four. It contains more thanone-hundred poems, and many drawings. The poems and drawings arecreative, funny and wise. In the book, readers meet a boy who turnsinto a television set. They meet a girl who eats a whale.
Imaginary creatures like the Unicorn and the Bloath live there.So does a girl called Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout who will not takethe garbage out. “Where the Sidewalk Ends” is a place where you canwash your shadow. You can plant a garden of diamonds. It is a placewhere shoes can fly. And a crocodile goes to the dentist because histooth hurts. Silverstein reads one of the poems in his book, called”Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me, Too.”
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Shel Silverstein’s second children’s poetry book is called “ALight in the Attic.” It also contains many funny poems and drawings.This book was so popular that it was on the New York Timesnewspaper’s list of best-selling books for more than three years.Listen as he reads his poem “Ations.”
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VOICE TWO:
In the nineteen-eighties, Shel Silverstein began writing plays.He wrote about twenty of them. His first play is called “The Lady orthe Tiger Show.” It is a funny play about a game show. The game showplayer has to choose between two doors. Behind one door is abeautiful woman, and behind the other door is a tiger.
VOICE ONE:
Shel Silverstein died of heart failure in nineteen-ninety-nine.He was sixty-eight years old. Some of his works were released afterhis death. Shel Silverstein once said: “I would hope that people, nomatter what age, would find something to identify with in my books.”He hoped people would “experience a personal sense of discovery.”
Shel Silverstein once said that he wanted to go everywhere, lookat and listen to everything. He said people could go crazy with thewonderful things in life. And he communicated this in all of hiswritings, drawings and songs. We leave you now with a song by ShelSilverstein that was a huge hit around the world. The Irish Roverssing “The “Unicorn.”
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VOICE TWO:
This program was written by Chi-Un Lee and produced by LawanDavis. Our studio engineer was Bill Barber. This is Steve Ember.
VOICE ONE:
And this is Phoebe Zimmermann. Listen again next week for Peoplein America in VOA Special English.