Happy Birthday (Month) Dr. Seuss

3/28/2018 (Permalink)

The Original Lorax Tree in La Jolla, CA.

1. Was Dr Seuss his real name?

Not exactly. His name was Theodore Seuss Geisel - Seuss being his mother's maiden name. He started using it as a pseudonym at university. He added the Dr later, as a joke, because his father had always wanted him to get a doctorate and become a professor.

2. How many books did he write?

Between 1937 and 1991, when he died aged 87, he published more than 40 books, which have sold half a billion copies between them - more even than J K Rowling's Harry Potter books. He nearly burned his first book, And to think that I saw it on Mulberry Street, after it was turned down by 27 publishers.

3. Did he have children himself?

No. He was not particularly fond of spending time with them either. His widow, Audrey, said in a recent interview that he was slightly afraid of them. She said he was always thinking: "What might they do next? What might they ask next?" She added: "He couldn't just sit down on the floor and play with them."

4. Where did he get his ideas from?

This was a question he hated being asked. His mother was one source of inspiration: she worked in a bakery and would sing him to sleep in his childhood with her "pie-selling chants".

One of his most popular books, Green Eggs and Ham, was the result of a bet that he could not write a book using only 50 words.

These are, in order of appearance: I am Sam; that; do not like; you green eggs and ham; them; would here or there; anywhere; in a house with mouse; eat box fox; car they; could; may will see tree; let me be; train on; say the dark; rain; goat; boat; so try may; if; good; thank.

5. Where did he live?

He was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, where his grandparents lived on Mulberry Street - hence the title of his first book. He studied at Dartmouth College (in the US) and Oxford University (in the UK). In 1948 he and his first wife Helen bought an old observation tower in La Jolla, California, where he would shut himself away in a studio for at least eight hours a day, sometimes literally wearing a thinking cap.

6. The Story of the Original Lorax Tree

In Scripps Park, near where Dr. Seuss lived in La Jolla, a lone Lorax tree stands in the sun. OK, so Lorax trees aren’t really real, but some believe the tree might have inspired the creature, since Geisel's studio faced the park. Instead of belonging to the invented Truffula species, the tree is a rare Monterey Cypress native to the California coast. Seuss could see this exact tree from the observation tower he lived in. And while there may be no plaque or official designation,– ask any local La Jollan where the “Lorax Tree” is, and they’ll surely point you there. . Hard to say - but to quote the book, "It's not about what it is; it's about what it can become.”