Dr. Seuss, pseudonym of Theodor Seuss Geisel, (born March 2, 1904, Springfield, MA, U.S.—died September 24, 1991, La Jolla, California), American writer and illustrator of immensely popular children’s books, which were noted for their nonsense words, playful rhymes, and unusual creatures.
After graduating from Dartmouth College (B.A., 1925), Geisel did postgraduate studies at Lincoln College, Oxford, and at the Sorbonne. He subsequently began working for Life, Vanity Fair, and other publications as an illustrator and humorist. In addition, he found success in advertising, providing illustrations for a number of campaigns. Geisel was especially noted for his work on ads for Flit insect repellent. Some of his characters later appeared in his children’s works.
EARLY LIFE & EDUCATION
After illustrating a series of humour books, Geisel decided to write a children’s book, which was reportedly rejected by nearly 30 publishers. After his chance meeting with a friend who was an editor at Vanguard Press, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street was finally released in 1937. The work centres on a young boy who transforms his ordinary walk home from school into a fantastical story. Later, however, he describes only the facts of his walk to his father, who frowns on the boy’s imaginative nature. Geisel used the pen name Dr. Seuss, planning to publish novels under his surname; the Dr. was a tongue-in-cheek reference to his uncompleted doctorate degree. However, his first book for adults, The Seven Lady Godivas (1939), fared poorly, and thereafter he focused on children’s books, which he preferred. According to Geisel, “Adults are obsolete children, and the hell with them.”
After publishing several more children’s works, Geisel released Horton Hatches the Egg in 1940. With it, he introduced the features that would come to define his books: a unique brand of humour, playful use of words, and outlandish characters. It centers on an elephant who is duped into sitting on the egg of a bird who goes on vacation. Despite various hardships, Horton refuses to leave: “I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant’s faithful one hundred percent!” In the end, he is rewarded when the egg hatches, and a creature with bird wings and an elephant’s head emerges.
During World War II Geisel’s focus shifted to politics. In the early 1940s he was an editorial cartoonist at PM magazine in New York City. He then served (1942–46) in the U.S. Army, where he was assigned to the documentary division. In 1945 he wrote Your Job in Germany, which was directed by Frank Capra; it was later remade as the Academy Award-winning Hitler Lives (1945), though Geisel was not credited. After his service ended, he continued to make films. With his first wife, Helen Palmer Geisel, he wrote the Oscar-winning documentary feature Design for Death (1947). His animated cartoon Gerald McBoing-Boing (1950) also won an Academy Award.
The Cat In The Hat, How The Grinch Stole Christmas!, And Other Classics
In 1947 Geisel returned to children’s books with McElligot’s Pool, about a boy who imagines a fantastical marine world while fishing. The work was especially noted for Geisel’s inventive creatures, which would come to populate his later stories. In addition, he continued to use his whimsical rhymes to convey important life lessons. In Horton Hears a Who! (1954), the loyal pachyderm returns to protect a tiny speck of a planet known as Whoville. A discussion about minority rights and the value of all individuals, the work features Horton repeating “a person’s a person, no matter how small.” In 1957 Geisel published two of his most popular works: The Cat in the Hat and How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. The former features a mischievous talking cat who entertains two bored children on a rainy day, while the latter introduces the Scrooge-like Grinch, who wants to ruin Christmas in Whoville but ultimately discovers that the holiday is more than just its material trappings. How the Grinch Stole Christmas! was later adapted (1966) for television, and it became a holiday staple.
READ MORE AT SOURCE: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dr-Seuss
QUOTE BY HORTON
“I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant’s faithful one hundred percent!”
WHAT I WISH FOR YOU TODAY
To do as you say, and say as you do; to mean what you say and say what you mean…yeah, to be THAT kind of friend, family member, partner, & colleague.