Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, on March 2, 1904. When Ted was young he liked to draw and enjoyed listening to his mother's "chanting" rhymes at bedtime. Ted and his sister Marnie had a happy childhood despite some hardships his family experienced during the onset of World War I.When Ted was a teenager he left Springfield to attend Dartmouth College. Ted contributed to the college humor magazine called the Jack-O-Lantern. This is the first recorded time that Ted used the name Seuss when he signed his work. Ted's father wanted Ted to be a college professor, so Ted continued to go to college and attended the Oxford University in England. Bored by his college studies, Ted toured Europe instead of attending his classes. Even though he did not fulfill his father's dream and finish his doctorate, Ted did meet his first wife, Helen Palmer, while attending Oxford. Helen was the first person who thought that Ted could make a living with his cartoons and drawings.
When Ted returned to the United States he began his career as a cartoonist. He spent much of his time creating advertising campaigns for Standard Oil. In fact, he was an advertising man for the company for 15 years. At the start of World War II Ted's interest and work shifted to political cartooning. Many of his political cartoons appeared in PM Magazine. Ted also helped the U.S. Army make training movies and learned the art of animation while creating films that featured "Private Snafu."
After the war Ted drew cartoons and illustrations for Life, Vanity Fair, Judge and other magazines. He also made his first "break" in the field of children's publishing when he illustrated a book for Viking Press called Boners. The book was not very successful, but people did like Ted's illustrations. Ted wrote and illustrated his first children's book And to Think I Saw It on Mulberry Street, but had trouble getting anyone to publish it. Would you believe that Dr. Seuss was rejected by 27 publishers before his book was finally published by Vanguard Press?!
Ted's career took a turn when Houghton Mifflin and Random House asked Ted to write a children’s primer using 220 new-reader vocabulary words. In response to that request, Ted wrote and illustrated The Cat in the Hat. Schools liked Ted's book because it was fun and easy for children to read. The book helped make Dr. Seuss a famous author and illustrator. Many people do not realize that Ted's wife Audrey was also a children's writer. She was a founder of Beginner Books, a young reader’s division of Random House Children’s Books. Helen's health had always been rather frail; she died in 1967 after battling cancer.
Ted married Audrey, a woman who had been a long-time friend of the family. Audrey helped Ted overcome his shyness and the couple became more social in their community. Ted and Audrey also began to travel to places like Africa. Ted's imagination soared as his books become more colorful. Audrey and Ted were very happy as Ted continued to write and illustrate books. When Dr. Seuss died on September 24, 1991 over 200 million copies of his books had been sold and translated into 15 different languages. The final line in Ted’s final book, Oh, the Places You’ll Go! seemed like a special good-bye message of hope...“You’re off to great places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So . . . get on your way!”
I used information from the following sites when I wrote this biography:
- Seussentennial - This site offers a lot of information about Dr. Seuss. Read this biography to learn even more about Theodore Seuss Geisel. The site also includes photographs of Dr. Seuss.
- Dr. Seuss National Memorial - This biography was posted by the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden at the Springfield Museums.
- NEA Dr. Seuss Biography - This is a brief biography, but it comes from a dependable source.