A Hug-o’-War With Shel Silverstein

Since Shel Silverstein’s death in 1999, the whole world is missing a piece.

Was there ever an artist more contradictory than Shel Silverstein? Endowed equally with child-like whimsy and adult perversity, Silverstein existed — thrived, even — in two very different worlds. In this episode of NOTES, we look back at the cartoonist, songwriter and performer who gave us Lucy Jordan, the Unicorn, Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout, the Missing Piece and a boy named Sue.
