Shel Silverstein was not an easy man, but he was a passionate and spectacular man and artist.

Shel Silverstein was an iconoclast but he was disciplined, particularly about his work, which always came first. He developed some interesting rules for living his life:

“Comfortable shoes and the freedom to leave are the two most important things in life.”

“To me, freedom entitles you to do something, not to not do something.”

“I’m not content when I’m traveling but I’m not content when I’m not traveling. So I guess I’ll keep traveling.”

Shel Silverstein’s thoughts on . . .

Fashion: “Who is this ‘they’ and what difference does it make what they’re wearing? I’ll wear what I want to wear.”

Explaining his work: “You should never explain the philosophy behind anything you do, it’s not important. If your work is weak and needs to be explained, it’s not clear enough.”

Timing: “It’s just as disastrous to be way ahead of your time as to be way behind.”

The disclaimer found at the front of political novels is generally trivial boilerplate. It implies that the novelist, or his publisher at least, is a bit chicken. Coy allusions to real people and events may be made but vaguely and behind the blast wall of imagination.