A Birthday Wish

     Last Friday, I shared some old pictures from birthday parties from my childhood. Today, I’m sharing the birthday of an icon from everyone’s childhood.

     

     On March 2, 1904, Theodor Geisel was born in Springfield, Massachusetts to Henrietta and Theodor Robert Geisel. The senior Geisel ran the family brewery, but after the brewery closed because of Prohibition, the Springfield mayor appointed him to supervise the public park system. The boy was raised on Fairfield Street which was less than a mile from another street which he would one day make famous.

     He graduated from Springfield Central High School in 1921 and went on to attend Dartmouth College. While in college, he worked his way up to become editor-in-chief of the humor magazine Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern. However, one night he and nine friends were caught in his room drinking gin. Due to Prohibition, it was illegal to possess or consume alcohol. As punishment, the young Theodor was told he had to give up all extracurricular activities, including the college humor magazine. So that he could continue working on the Jack-O-Lantern publication, he began signing his work with a pen name, using his middle name which was also his mother’s maiden name.

     

     He graduated from Dartmouth in 1925 and went on to graduate school at Oxford University, hoping to earn a PhD in English literature. While there he met Helen Palmer, the first person to really encourage him to become an illustrator. After two years, he dropped out and returned home, where he created cartoons and illustrations for several magazines and advertising firms. It was lucrative work, enough so that he and his wife Helen were able to live comfortably and travel extensively.  In 1936, returning home from one such trip, the rhythm of the ship they traveled on inspired Theodor to write a poem. He borrowed the title from that street in his childhood neighborhood and after being rejected by over 20 publishers, it would become his first published book.

     

     He would eventually write 48 books, mostly for children. Over 200 million copies of these books would be sold and they would be translated into many languages. A few books he published under the pen name Theo LeSieg, his last name spelled backwards. But most people probably recognize him by the pen name he first adopted during college.

     

     Happy Birthday, Mr. Geisel. Thanks for giving us and our kids all those wonderful words.  

(Hunting for a picture that’s right, to give this subject light. 

But if I posted it here, the man’s name would be too clear.)