Dr. Seuss Biography
Article 6 in 16 Biographical Articles
Dr. Seuss
Early Life
Theodor Seuss Geisel was born on March 2, 1904 in Springfield, Massachusetts to Henrietta Seuss and Theodor P. Geisel.[1] He also had two sisters. His father was a parks commander in charge of Queen Victoria Park (Niagara Falls).
As a freshman member of the Dartmouth College class of 1925, he joined the Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern as his primary activity throughout college, eventually rising to the rank of editor-in-chief. However, after Geisel was caught throwing a drinking party (and thereby violating Prohibition), the school insisted that he resign from all extra-curricular activities. In order to continue his work on the Jack-O-Lantern without the administration's knowledge, Geisel began signing his work with the pen name "Seuss" (which was both his middle name and his mother's maiden name). His first work signed as "Dr. Seuss" appeared after he graduated, six months into his work for The Judge (a humor magazine). Alexander Liang, who served with Geisel on the staff of the Jack-O- Lantern and was later a professor at Dartmouth, illustrated this point.
He entered Lincoln College, Oxford, intending to earn a doctorate in literature. At Oxford he met Helen Palmer Geisel, married her in 1927, and went to the United States without earning the degree. The "Dr." in his pen name is an acknowledgment of his father's unfulfilled hopes that Seuss would earn a doctorate at Oxford.He began submitting humorous articles and illustrations to Judge, The Saturday Evening Post, Life, Vanity Fair, and Liberty. He became nationally famous from his advertisements for Flit, a common insecticide at the time. Geisel supported himself and his wife through the Great Depression by drawing advertising for General Electric, NBC, Standard Oil, and many other companies.
During World War II
In 1937, while Seuss was returning from an ocean voyage to Europe, the rhythm of the ship's engines inspired the poem that became his first book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street. Seuss wrote three more children's books before World War II. As World War II began, Dr. Seuss turned to political cartoons, drawing over 400 in two years as editorial cartoonist for the left-wing New York City daily newspaper, PM. Dr. Seuss's political cartoons opposed the viciousness of Hitler and Mussolini and were highly critical of isolationists, most notably Charles Lindbergh, who opposed American entry into the war. Some cartoons depicted all Japanese Americans as latent traitors, while at the same time other cartoons deplored the racism at home against Jews and blacks that harmed the war effort. In 1942, Dr. Seuss turned his energies to direct support of the U.S. war effort, including drawing and writing propaganda posters and films, including Design for Death, a study of Japanese culture that won the Academy Award for Best Documentary in 1947, and the Private Snafu series of adult army training films. While in the Army, he was awarded the Legion of Merit. Dr. Seuss's non-military films from around this time were also well-received; Gerald McBoing-Boing won the Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Animated) in 1950.
Children's Literature
After the war, Dr. Seuss and his wife moved to La Jolla, California. Returning to children's books, he wrote what many consider to be his finest works, including such favorites as If I Ran the Zoo, (1950), Scrambled Eggs Super! (1953), On Beyond Zebra! (1955), If I Ran the Circus (1956), and How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1957).
In May 1954, Life magazine published a report on illiteracy among school children, which concluded that children were not learning to read because their books were boring. Accordingly, Seuss's publisher made up a list of 400 words he felt were important and asked Dr. Seuss to cut the list to 250 words and write a book using only those words. Seuss, using 220 of the words given to him, completed The Cat in the Hat. This book was a tour de force-it retained the drawing style, verse rhythms, and all the imaginative power of Seuss's earlier works, but because of its simplified vocabulary could be read by beginning readers.
Dr. Seuss went on to write many other children's books, both in his new simplified-vocabulary manner, and in his older, more elaborate style. The Beginner Books were not easy for Seuss, and reportedly he labored for months crafting them.
At various times Seuss also wrote books for adults that used the same style of verse and pictures: The Seven Lady Godivas; Oh, The Places You'll Go!; and You're Only Old Once.
During a very difficult illness, Dr. Seuss' wife, Helen Palmer Geisel committed suicide on October 23, 1967. Seuss married Audrey Stone Dimond on June 21, 1968. Seuss himself died, following several years of illness, in La Jolla, California on September 24, 1991.
Death
In 2002, the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden opened in his birthplace of Springfield, Massachuesetts. It features sculptures of Dr. Seuss and many of his characters.
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