Dr. Seuss
Theodor Seuss Geisel was born 2 March 1904 in Springfield, Massachusetts. He graduated Dartmouth College in 1925, and proceeded on to Oxford University with the intent of acquiring a doctorate in literature. At Oxford he met Helen Palmer, who he wed in 1927. He returned from Europe in 1927, and began working for a magazine called Judge, the leading humor magazine in America at the time, submitting both cartoons and humorous articles for them. Additionally, he was submitting cartoons to Life, Vanity Fair and Liberty. In some of his works, he'd made reference to an insecticide called Flit. These references gained notice, and led to a contract to draw comic ads for Flit. This association lasted 17 years, gained him national exposure, and coined the catchphrase "Quick, Henry, the Flit!"
In 1936 on the way to a vacation in Europe, listening to the rhythm of the ship's engines, he came up with And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, which was then promptly rejected by the first 43 publishers he showed it to. Eventually in 1937 a friend published the book for him, and it went on to at least moderate success.
During World War II, Geisel joined the army and was sent to Hollywood. Captain Geisel would write for Frank Capra's Signal Corps Unit (for which he won the Legion of Merit) and do documentaries (he won Oscar's for Hitler Lives and Design for Death). He also created a cartoon called Gerald McBoing-Boing which also won him an Oscar.
In May of 1954, Life published a report concerning illiteracy among school children. The report said, among other things, that children were having trouble to read because their books were boring. This inspired Geisel's publisher, and prompted him to send Geisel a list of 400 words he felt were important, asked him to cut the list to 250 words (the publishers idea of how many words at one time a first grader could absorb), and write a book. Nine months later, Geisel, using 220 of the words given to him published
The Cat in the Hat
, which went on to instant success.
In 1960 Bennett Cerf bet Geisel $50 that he couldn't write an entire book using only fifty words. The result was
Green Eggs and Ham
. Cerf never paid the $50 from the bet.
Helen Palmer Geisel died in 1967. Theodor Geisel married Audrey Stone Diamond in 1968. Theodor Seuss Geisel died 24 September 1991.
Also worked under the pen name:
Theo Le Sieg
“From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere!”
“This is not good. This is not right. My feet stick out of bed all night. And when I pull them in, oh dear! My head sticks out of bed out here!”
“Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!”
“Big Z, little Z, what begins with Z? I do.I'm a zizzer zazzer zuzz, as you can plainly see.”
“You're off to Great Places!Today is your day!Your mountain is waiting,So... get on your way!”
“If things start happening, don't worry, don't stew, just go right along and you'll start happening too.”
“When beetles fight these battles in a bottle with their paddles and the bottle's on a poodle and the poodle's eating noodles......they call this a muddle puddle tweetle poodle beetle noodle bottle paddle battle.”
“I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead and some come from behind. But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready you see. Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!”
“You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.”
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”
“Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.”
“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,Nothing is going to get better. It's not.”
“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living.”
“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”
“I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees. I speak for the trees for the trees have no tongues.”