Theodor Seuss Geisel, famously known as Dr. Seuss, has touched so many young and old souls throughout his many years as an immensely popular children’s book author and illustrator. His books are known to be playful, silly, colorful, and very rhythmic.
Dr. Seuss began his career at Central High School where he was an editor for the school’s newspaper, The Central Record. During his college career at Dartmouth, he joined the humor magazine, Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern. He eventually became the editor-in-chief; unfortunately he was caught drinking gin in his room during Prohibition, which was illegal at the time, and he was forced to resign. He did not let that stop him though! He decided to keep writing for the magazine under the pen name “Seuss.” He graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Liberal Arts in 1925, he attended Lincoln College, Oxford, and at the Sorbonne to pursue his Ph.D. in English literature. While at Lincoln College he met his first wife Helen Marion Palmer.
During his classes at school, Seuss would frequently become bored so he would doodle in the corner of his papers. One day it caught Helen’s eye and she suggested that he try drawing instead of literature, “Ted’s notebooks were always filled with these fabulous animals. So I set to work diverting him; here was a man who could draw such pictures; he should be earning a living doing that.” This changed his whole career and began forming him into the author we all know and love, Dr. Seuss. In February 1927, Theodor returned to the United states and left Lincoln College without earning a degree. He promptly began submitting writings and drawings to magazines, book publishers, and advertising agencies. Seuss pitched a series to Life magazine called Eminent Europeans, but they passed on it.
Seuss’ first nationally published cartoon was in the July 16, 1927 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. The compensation of $25 from that single sale influenced Seuss to move to New York City. He accepted a job as a writer and illustrator at humor magazine, Judge. Here, his first cartoon was published on October 22, 1927. One month later Helen and Theodor were married on November 29, 1927.
The proposal was a little different than most. Seuss asked her to marry him while she was riding on the back of his motorcycle one day. As soon as she said yes, Ted got so excited that he drove off the road and into a ditch. Fortunately, neither of them were injured.
Six months into working for Judge, Theodor’s first work signed with the pseudonym “Dr. Seuss” was published. In early 1928, Seuss was signed into Flit advertising. His first ad appeared on May 31, 1928, with the campaign lasting on and off until 1941.The common catch phrase from his ad, “Quick, Henry, the Flit!” became so popular it was used as a punch line for several comedians and it also led to a song. With the new found popularity, Seuss’ work was in demand and his work started to appear in Life, Liberty, and Vanity Fair. His success led to several advertising jobs for favored companies like Ford Motor Company and NBC Radio Network. In 1936 Seuss wrote his first poem, inspired by the rhythms of a cruise ship’s engine, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street. It was denied by over 20 different publishers; while he was on the way to burn the manuscript, he ran into one of his old Dartmouth classmates who published the poem through Vanguard Press. Seuss went on to write four more books before the United States entered WWI.
During WWII, Seuss drew over 400 political cartoons for the NY City newspaper, PM. Although they were very questionable and many considered them “racist” and “demeaning” to Jews, blacks, and political officials; he turned his work effort around in 1942 by focusing solely on supporting the United States.
Dr. Seuss began writing children’s books from his home in La Jolla, California.
In May 1954, there was a report on illiteracy in school children, which was published in Life magazine, that proved children were not learning to read because the books were boring. William Ellsworth Spaulding, the director of the education division at Houghton Mifflin, compiled a list of 348 words that he felt were important for first-graders to learn. He then asked Seuss to decrease the list to 250 words and write a book using these words only. Spaulding challenged him to “bring back a book children can’t put down”. Nine months later, Seuss completed The Cat in the Hat, using 236 of the 250 words he was given. “I don’t write for children, I write for people. Once a writer starts talking down to kids, he’s lost. Kids can pick up on that kind of thing,” said Seuss.
The Cat in the Hat went on to be one of his most famous books, selling 450,00 copies; while it helped children read books from beginning to end without putting them down.
In 1984 he won his greatest honor, a Pulitzer Prize, “for his special contribution over nearly half a century to the education and enjoyment of America’s children and their parents.” He won several other awards for his children’s books and featured films.
Sadly, Seuss passed away on September 24, 1991 at the age of 87, in his home due to a heart attack along with his battle with throat cancer. Dr. Seuss had many people and organizations recognize him or his brilliant books and better impact on the world. The Dr. Seuss Award is an award that recognizes authors and illustrators for their creativity and imagination that engages children in reading.
He had a Hollywood star named after him in 2004 and Random House, a publishing company, declared May national Dr. Seuss month.
Several of his books were turned into films in the 21st century, including: The Cat in the Hat, The Grinch Stole Christmas, and Horton Hears A Who! In his remembrance, every year on March 2nd America recognizes his talent by reading their favorite Dr. Seuss book with their children. In later years Although he is gone, his legacy will live on forever.
If you’re interested in celebrating his day, The San Bernardino County Library is taking part in Read Across America, sharing the joy of literacy and celebrating beloved author, Dr. Seuss’s birthday.