Dr Seuss
About Author
Dr. Seuss was born Theodor Seuss Geisel on 2 March 1904 in Springfield, Massachussets, USA. As a student at Dartmouth College he took an active role contributing cartoons and articles to the college magazine, eventually becoming Editor-in Chief a career which was abruptly ended after the college authorities decided he'd held one loud party too many and he was asked to step down!
After graduating, Ted went to Oxford University in 1925 to study for his doctorate in literature. Deciding that the halls of academia were not for him, he returned to New York in 1927 and began working as a freelance cartoonist for various magazines. Once established, he married his fiancee, Helen.
Ted's father was disappointed that he hadn't earned his Ph.D and become a Professor of Literature, so Ted added the 'Dr.' to his pseudonym as a joke. In fact, by the end of his career, Ted had received honorary doctorates from seven universities, so he really was a doctor, after all! He was also awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1984 for his contribution to American education.
One of Ted's cartoons mentioned an insecticide called 'Flit'. The cartoon came to the attention of the manufacturers, and Ted was hired to draw comic advertisements, thus beginning a career in advertising.
Ted's first children's book was written in 1936, as he was travelling by ship from Europe. Inspired by the rhythm of the ship's engine, he composed And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street. Literary success, however, did not come overnight: the book was turned down by 27 publishers! Then an old college friend who worked in publishing intervened, and it was finally published in 1937 to glowing reviews.
During World War II, Captain Geisel served in a unit commanded by the director Frank Capra which made training and documentary films for the army. After the war, he remained in California, participating in two Acadadmy Award-winning documentaries and creating the Acadamy Award-winning cartoon Gerald McBoing-Boing.
Ted resumed his writing career, and in 1957 Ted's publisher issued a challenge: to write a story using a list of the words first grade children needed to learn to read. Children's literacy was a topic of debate at the time, the belief being that most early reader books were too dull to encourage children to read. Using just 225 words, Ted wrote The Cat in the Hat. It was a huge success, and Dr. Seuss became a household name, (Seuss was his mother's maiden name.) In 1967 Helen died and Ted later married his second wife, Audrey.
His books have sold over two hundred million copies in twenty languages, making him the biggest-selling children's writer ever. He died in 1991, aged eighty-seven, having written 48 books. The final line of his last book, Oh, The Places You'll Go! seems an appropriate farewell:
'You're off to great places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting! So get on your way!' .
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