Shel Silverstein, the beloved American poet and author, passed away on May 10, 1999, at the age of 66. He was born Sheldon Allan Silverstein on September 25, 1932, in Chicago, Illinois, and graduated from Roosevelt High School. He subsequently attended Chicago Academy of Fine Arts and studied at the University of Illinois. Silverstein began his professional career in 1955 as a cartoonist for the Chicago Daily News, and his cartoons were soon syndicated in Major League Baseball's magazine, Look. He published his first book, Take Ten, in 1956, the first of many children's books he would write and illustrate, including the ones he is most famous for, The Giving Tree (1964) and Where the Sidewalk Ends (1974). Throughout his lifetime, Silverstein wrote over 50 books and dozens of poems, and won numerous awards and honors, including Grammy awards in 1967 and 1971. He also wrote a number of music lyrics, and he was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1971. Silverstein is survived by his children, Matthew and Sarah, and his nieces, Leah and Joanne. He will be remembered fondly and missed deeply.