Profile Text
Birth Name: Sheldon Allan Silverstein
Date of Birth: September 25, 1930
Place of Birth: Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States
Date of Death: May 10, 1999
Place of Death: Key West, Florida, U.S.
Ethnicity: Ashkenazi Jewish
Shel Silverstein was an American writer, poet, cartoonist, singer, songwriter, musician, and playwright. He is known for his books “The Giving Tree,” “Where the Sidewalk Ends,” “A Light in the Attic,” and “Uncle Shelby’s ABZ Book.” He wrote the Johnny Cash song “A Boy Named Sue.”
Shel was born in Chicago, the son of Helen and Nathan Kushvatsky/Silverstein, who ran a bakery together. His father was a Russian Jewish immigrant. His mother was born in Illinois, to Hungarian Jewish parents. Shel was raised in Albany Park, Chicago. He served in the U.S. Army in Japan and Korea. He had a daughter with Susan Taylor Hastings; and a son, songwriter and producer Matthew De Ver, with Sarah Spencer.
Shel’s paternal grandmother was named Fannie Silverstein.
Shel’s maternal grandfather was Sigmund/Sigmond Balkany (the son of Jakob Farkas Balkányi and Maria Kohn). Sigmund was born in Kisvárda, Kisvárdai, Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg, Hungary.
Shel’s maternal grandmother was named Rosie/Rae Goldberg.
Sources: Genealogy of Shel Silverstein – https://www.geni.om
Shel’s mother on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org