Shel Silverstein’s houseboat Image by evrealestate.com

(JTA) — Famed Jewish writer Shel Silverstein is best known for iconic children’s books such as “The Giving Tree” and poetry collections like “Where the Sidewalk Ends.” Less-known about the famous children’s author? He lived on a houseboat named “Evil Eye” in Sausalito, California, from around 1967 to 1975.

And you can now buy that houseboat.

Silverstein died in 1999 of a heart attack at age 68, and he owned the 1,200 square foot houseboat until his death. After he died, artist Larry Moyer — a friend of Silverstein’s — took over as owner, until Moyer’s death in 2016.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

The boat is a decommissioned World War II balloon barge that Silverstein converted in 1967. It’s stylish, whimsical and zany — there are two bedrooms, one of which has a hanging bed.

Here’s the listing, if you’re curious. The boat is listed for $783,000.

Silverstein, who was born in a Jewish family in Chicago in 1930, was drafted into the U.S. Army. While serving in Japan and Korea, he drew cartoons (eventually published in his first book, “Take Ten,” in 1955). After leaving the army, he drew illustrations for Playboy magazine. He never “planned to write or draw for kids,” until a friend convinced him to give it a try.

In the years he lived there, the boat served as Silverstein’s workspace. According to his biographer Lisa Rogak, writing in “A Boy Named Shel,” the boat “was a place that made Shel’s imagination run wild.”

Yet, ironically, wrote Rogak, Silverstein became seasick “at the drop of a hat.”

The post Shel Silverstein lived in a houseboat for almost 10 years. You can now own it. appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’re near the end of our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we have a very ambitious goal of $127,000 by April 21.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Make a Passover Gift Today!

$90 $180

$360

Other amount