Ray Sipherd

Ray Sipherd with his wife Anne Marie Foran.

Ray Sipherd (1935-2020) was an early Sesame Street writer, working on the show from 1969 to 1986. His work on Sesame Street earned three Emmy awards. He wrote song lyrics and authored several Sesame Street books.

Sipherd, a graduate of Yale University, created the award-winning NPR program All Things Considered. In addition, he has penned a number of mystery novels for adult audiences, such as Dance of the Scarecrows, and published a collection of short stories titled The Christmas Store. Sipherd later served as a senior staff editor for Reader's Digest Condensed Books.

Known Segments

• The Story of Ira and Inez (First: Episode 0034)
• Ernie's Telephone Call (First: Episode 0305)
• The King's Problem (First: Episode 0407)
• The King's Picnic (First: Episode 0419)
• Ernie and Bert: Electric Fan (First: Episode 0544)
• Life Without Bert (First: Episode 1034)

Song lyrics

• "Big and Small"
• "Blow Like the Wind"
• "Can Do"
• "Children of the World"
• "Elevator Song"
• "Evensong"
• "Home Is"
• "How Do You Walk"
• "It Takes Some Time"
• "Just a Little Baby"
• "Just Around the Corner"
• "May I Be Your Friend"
• "Mud"
• "My Home is the Country"
• "Plink-a-Plink-a-Plink"
• "Trashbag Waltz"
• "Trying Song"
• "You Are the Car I Adore"

Books

• The Sesame Street Storybook (1971)
• The Count's Poem (1978)
• Ernie's Telephone Call (1978)
• Down on the Farm with Grover (1980)
• Sherlock Hemlock and the Creatures from Outer Space (1981)
• Big Bird's Animal Alphabet (1987)
• When Is My Birthday? (1988)

External links

• Newtown Bee obituary