| Shel wrote several songs for Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show, notably Cover of the Rolling Stone, Sylvia's Mother, and I Got Stoned and I Missed It. A lot of people are surprised when they reach a certain age and discover that Shel Silverstein, the author of The Giving Tree and the books full of silly poetry that they read as children also wrote pornographic poetry and epic drug poems (See The Smoke-Off and The Perfect High),drew cartoons for Playboy Magazine, and wrote incredibly sad and heartfelt love songs (I Never Got To Know Her). Looking back, though, it's not as surprising; his children's books had a certain goofy maturity hidden within them as well. For years I've maintained that I met the man as a young boy and he signed one of my books. My parents say it didn't happen, and also I can't find the book, but I still insist it happened. | 
