June 30, 2010 | Adv Children's Lit,Life in General,Movie Queue,Reading is FUNdamental,Road Trip Wednesday
Road Trip Wednesday is a “Blog Carnival”, where YA Highway‘s contributors post a weekly writing or reading-related question and answer it in on our own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody’s unique take on the topic.
You’re more than welcome to participate! Just answer the question on your own blog, and leave a link to it in their comments.
Topic #35: What was your favorite book for the month of June?
A Boy Named Shel by Lisa Rogak
For my ACL course this semester, we have to read an autobiography about a children’s author. The assignment itself isn’t due until July 25th, but I wanted to get a head start so I chose to read about Shel Silverstein. Where the Sidewalk Ends is one of my favorite children’s books and it was given to me by my parents when I was young; I still have it. I actually just finished the autobiography today and am just….blown away. Even though he was most famous for his children’s books, he was first and foremost, a cartoonist (he was a longtime contributor to Playboy). He was also an accomplished singer (although he didn’t have the right voice for it), songwriter (he wrote “A Boy Named Sue” which was first sung by Johnny Cash), playwright (The Lady or The Tiger Show), and screenwriter (collaborated with director David Mamet on the movie THINGS CHANGE in 1998 starring Don Ameche and Joe Montegna). He never married, but fathered two children (his daughter died when she was 11 of a brain aneuerysm).
Last week, I was telling my best friend about all the stuff I’d learned about him so far and she said, “It sounds like you’re having a love affair with this author.” I laugh about it now because she was so right. This man was the ultimate creative being. He dabbled in every creative medium across the board and was very successful at all of them. Shel was a hardcore life observer and everything—and everyone—he came into contact with was inspiration for his work. He would get so in the zone with his creativity that if he wasn’t near a piece of paper to record his ideas, he would find whatever he could at that point in time: his arms, his hands, his clothes, a tablecloth, etc. He’d lived such a full, rich life by the time he passed away of a massive heart attack in May 1999 (he was born in 1930), I was a tad jealous.
He’s the male version of SARK, who’s one of my favorite authors. She has such a presence about her, a positive aura, that every time I left her company, I felt uplifted.
I think I would’ve felt the same had I ever met him.
He was just an amazing, amazing person, who touched so many lives—readers and friends alike. After reading this, I wanted to go out and buy more books that he wrote. As a writer, I liked this quote the best:
“You should never explain the philosophy behind anything you do, it’s not important. If your work is weak and needs to be explained, it isn’t clear enough.”
Technorati Tags: Road Trip Wednesday, YA Highway, A Boy Named Shel, Shel Silverstein, Where the Sidewalk Ends, Playboy, A Boy Named Sue, Johnny Cash, The Lady or The Tiger Show, David Mamet, THINGS CHANGE, Don Ameche, Joe Montegna, SARK
