Sunday, March 07, 2021

Dr. Seuss - "His credits include two Academy awards, two Emmy awards, a Peabody award, and a Pulitzer Prize."

Hugh Turley

The real name of Dr. Seuss, the children’s author, was Theodor Seuss Geisel. At Dartmouth, he was editor of the humor magazine Jack-O-Lantern. When Geisel was banned from extra-curricular activities for violating school rules he adopted the pseudonym “Seuss” to continue at the magazine, defying the administration.

Upon graduating, Geisel told his father he had been awarded a fellowship to Oxford. His proud father had the news published in the hometown newspaper, only to discover later there was no scholarship. The embarrassed father paid his son’s way to Oxford, believing he would earn a doctorate in literature. Geisel soon returned without earning a degree and simply added the title “Dr.” to his pen name.

 Geisel enjoyed some success as an advertising artist. He tried a comic strip in 1935, but it soon folded.

Well before Pearl Harbor, Geisel drew propaganda cartoons advocating U.S. entry into World War II. He targeted, especially, prominent anti-war Americans like Charles Lindbergh.

His cartoons deplored Nazi racism against Jews. They also touted equality for black Americans; that helped the war effort. Japanese Americans, on the other hand, he depicted savagely as traitors and saboteurs. Many of his comics point to this.

A strong supporter of President Roosevelt, Geisel routinely attacked FDR’s critics as well as critics of our war allies Joseph Stalin and the Communists.

Geisel’s career skyrocketed in the 1950s. His most famous book, The Cat in the Hat, was published in 1957. His credits include two Academy awards, two Emmy awards, a Peabody award, and a Pulitzer Prize. LINK

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