March 2nd was a very important day in the United States: in addition to being Oscar Sunday, it was also Dr Seuss’ birthday. If he were still alive he would be 120 years old. He was born on March 2nd, 1904 in Springfield, Massachusetts. His real name was Theodore Seuss Geisel, he began using the name Dr Seuss while in college at Dartmouth in the 1920s. After being caught drinking gin in his room with friends, Geisel was placed on probation from his position as cartoonist for Dartmouth’s humor magazine Jack-O-Lantern. Being caught with alcohol was considered more serious offense than it is today, as this was during the nation-wide Prohibition era. Geisel began using the penname “Seuss” so he could continue to put his cartoons in the magazine without the Dean knowing it was him.
After Dartmouth, Seuss went to Oxford to study literature from 1925-1926, although he actually spent most of his time doolding in his notebooks during class. He never actually studied for a PhD, he added the “Dr.” onto Seuss while working as a magazine cartoonist in New York. He did, however, receive honorary PhDs from Dartmouth and Princeton in 1955 along with other honory degrees. He and his wife Helen met in Oxford, England and moved back to the United States after getting married in 1927. It took some time for Seuss to actually become successful; he spent 30 years working as an advertisment cartoonist before publishing The Cat in the Hat and finally making it as children’s author.
The Cat in the Hat was published in 1957 and was actually the thirteenth children’s book that Seuss wrote, And to Think That I saw it on Mulberry Street was the first, but The Cat in the Hat was the first book that really made him money and earned long-time success. Seuss and his wife were never able to have any children of their own but Seuss invented a whole group of imaginary Geisel children and even asked kids in his neighborhood to pose for a “family” Christmas card one year. He married his second wife, Audrey in 1968 and gained two stepdaughters but still never had any children of his own. Seuss passed away on September 24, 1991 at the age of 87. Happy belated birthday!
Photo Credits:
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/02/05/article-2274016-175DFEC9000005…
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http://childrensbookalmanac.com/wp-content/uploads/And-to-Think.png
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