2022 First-Class Forever Stamp,Shel Silverstein

US #5683
2022 Shel Silverstein

• Commemorates famous children’s author Shel Silverstein

Stamp Category:  Commemorative
Value:  First Class Mail Rate (Forever)
First Day of Issue:  April 8, 2022
First Day City:  Chicago, Illinois
Quantity Issued:  20,000,000
Printed by:  Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd.
Printing Method:  Offset
Format:  Panes of 20
Tagging:  Nonphosphored type III, block tagged

Why the stamp was issued:  To commemorate famous illustrator, songwriter, and children’s author Shel Silverstein.

About the stamp design:  Pictures Silverstein’s illustration of a boy catching an apple from his children’s picture book The Giving Tree.

First Day City:  The First Day of Issue Ceremony was held at Darwin Elementary School in Chicago, Illinois.

History the stamp represents:  Shel Silverstein (September 25, 1930 – May 10, 1999) was one of America’s most well-known children’s authors.  However, he did much more than that.  He was also an accomplished illustrator, songwriter, and more.

Sheldon Allan Silverstein was born in Chicago, Illinois, and showed an interest in drawing and writing at a very young age.  He honed his talents and became a published cartoonist during the 1950s in the military newspaper Pacific Stars and Stripes.  Not long after that, he began writing songs.  He is most famous for penning Johnny Cash’s hit song “A Boy Named Sue,” which earned Silverstein a Grammy Award for Best Country Song in 1969.

In the beginning, Silverstein mainly catered his work toward adult audiences, thinking he wasn’t cut out for children’s literature.  However, this changed in 1963 when his friend Tomi Ungerer convinced him to give it a try.  The Giving Tree came soon after, as well as Where the Sidewalk Ends, A Light in the Attic, and more.  As they say, the rest is history…

“There are no happy endings.
Endings are the saddest part,
So just give me a happy middle
And a very happy start.”
-Shel Silverstein, Every Thing on It