Shel Silverstein was an American poet, songwriter, musician, composer, cartoonist, screenwriter, and author of children's books. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Silverstein's talents were already well-developed by the time he served in the US armed forces. Silverstein was stationed in Japan and Korea in the 1950s, and while in the military, he was a cartoonist for the Pacific edition of the military newspaper, Stars and Stripes. After serving in the military, Silverstein became a writer, photographer, cartoonist for Playboy in 1956 (and ended up living in the Playboy Mansion for an extended period of time), but he is best known for writing and illustrating his children's literature including The Missing Piece, A Light in the Attic, Where the Sidewalk Ends, Falling Up and The Giving Tree. Silverstein claimed he never studied the poetry of others, and therefore developed his own style. His style was laid-back and conversational. He took his titles very seriously. He did not allow his books to be published in paperback, but this doesn't seem to have affected his popularity: his books sold at least 14 million copies. Silverstein's passion for music was clear early on but as a songwriter, Silverstein kept a low profile but cast a long shadow. He tended to shun publicity and even photographers. Nonetheless, his musical output included many songs which were hits for other artists. Most notably, he wrote the music and lyrics for "A Boy Named Sue" that was performed by Johnny Cash (for which he won a Grammy in 1970); and "The Unicorn Song"; which, despite having nothing to do with Ireland nor Irish culture, became the signature piece for The Irish Rovers in 1968 and is popular in "Irish pubs" all over the world to this day. He wrote the lyrics and music for most of the Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show songs, "Sylvia's Mother" He also wrote many of the songs performed by Bobby Bare, including "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan", recorded in 1979 by Marianne Faithfull. He was nominated for an Oscar for his music for the film Postcards from the Edge. He also composed original music for several other films, and displayed a musical versatility in these projects, playing guitar, piano, saxophone and trombone. Silverstein was posthumously inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002. Shel Silverstein died on 10 May 1999 in Key West, Florida of a heart attack.