Shel Silverstein had a house on Martha's Vineyard, and we used to see him around when I was in high school. We did not talk to him (although we would totally peek over his shoulder when he was doodling on napkins at the coffee shop), because even though he was a beloved author of our childhood, he looked like this:
and we were mildly terrified of him. He also sometimes talked to himself, walked everywhere, and never wore shoes.
So one day my dad and I were driving to Oak Bluffs, and we passed him walking along the bike path. I pointed him out and said, "That's Shel Silverstein. He's a famous children's author."
Dad looks over and says, "Famous? Huh. I thought he was a hobo."
OMG, his photo was on the back of one of his books, and I can distinctly remember taking off the dust jacket so I didn't have to look at it because I thought he was scary looking too!
ReplyDeleteI did that too -- just refused to look at his picture. He really did look like an ex-con. Or maybe not "ex."
ReplyDeleteBut man did I adore "Where the Sidewalk Ends."