9 things you didn't know about Dr. Seuss

If Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss) were alive today, he'd be turning a sprightly 110 years old. So, in honor of the man who breathed life into countless characters and made it cool to rhyme irreverent and absurd clauses with other, even more absurd clauses, we dug up a whole bunch of stuff you probably didn't know about him. Oh the crazy things you'll learn!


 

1. He had a thing for weird pen names.
He began using a pseudonym in college following an incident that forced him to step down as editor of Dartmouth's humor magazine (he got caught with gin in his dorm room — the horror!). In order to continue writing for the publication, he started going by his mother's maiden name Seuss (pronounced "soyce" by the way), later adding the prefix "Dr." to appease his father, who'd wanted him to become an M.D. Throughout his career, he also intermittently published under the names Theo LeSieg and Rosetta Stone.

2. He introduced the word "nerd" into the lexicon.
It's first documented usage was in his 1950 book If I Ran The Zoo, in which he introduces the character Nerd "from the land of Ka-Troo." And the fuzzy little dude sort of resembles someone you might see at ComicCon, so it all makes sense.

3. Green Eggs and Ham was the result of a bet.
His editor at the time — founding Random House partner Bennett Cerf — bet Seuss he couldn't write a book using only 50 words. Not only could he, but he could turn it into a classic.

4. His success was a long time coming.
To support himself and his wife during the depression, he worked as an advertising illustrator on campaigns for everyone from GE to Narragansett Brewing Co. And his initial jaunt into the world of children's publishing was more than a little discouraging, having his first manuscript — And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street — rejected by 27 different publishers before Vanguard Press took a risk and agreed to print 15,000 copies.

5. He was never awarded the full Caldecott Medal or Newbery Award.
He received honor status a few times, but seriously, WTF guys!?!?

6. He hated kids.
Despite being beloved by them, he was not a fan and never had any of his own. In fact, according to his widow, he was actually scared of kids with absolutely no clue how to interact with them.

7. Many of his biggest books were war-related allegories.
For example, Horton Hears A Who is not really about a big ol' pachiderm hearing voices, but rather America's relationship with post-war Japan. After witnessing the Hiroshima devastation firsthand on a visit, he recognized just how much the country would have to depend on the U.S.A to recover. Pretty dark, huh?

8. He had a book pulled from shelves.
Published in the thick of the Cold War, The Butter Battle was a thinly veiled eye-for-an-eye parable about the nuclear arms race between the U.S. and Russia. It was actually banned by several public libraries at the time due to its critical stance on mutually assured destruction.

9. He put his artistic talents to use for the war effort.
Not only did he help write some Academy Award-winning propaganda for the Army, but he railed against the Axis powers via (oft racist) political cartoons published wide in newspapers of the time.


Joe McGauley is a senior editor for Supercompressor where he heads up Home coverage and red hair-having.