A 50-year-old manuscript by the late Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, is being released this week, captivating nostalgic readers who grew up on seven decades of children’s books from the prolific author. Here are some highlights from Dr. Seuss’ life and work:
- 1913: A 9-year-old Geisel first begins cultivating his interest in animals by killing and dissecting a stray cat
- 1948: Whittles down 580-page manuscript on horrors of WWII into If I Ran The Zoo
- 1954: Spends 15 months researching ultrasonic acoustics and auditory perception to develop accurate storyline for Horton Hears A Who!
- 1957: Accidentally creates Mike Myers starring vehicle
- 1960: Green Eggs And Ham delights children worldwide with its timeless message about caving in to repeated harassment
- 1982: Feels immense embarrassment after seeing image of actual cat for first time in life
- 1990: Hastily writes and illustrates Oh, The Places You’ll Go! in days before grandson’s commencement as graduation gift
- 1991: Crushed to death by falling Truffula Tree
- 1992: Seuss’ autobiography, The Depths Of Despair: A Life Wasted Writing Books For Little Children, debuts at No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list
- 2005: A doctoral student taking a course in children’s literature reads way too much into Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?
- 2008: The Seuss estate rejects what would have been a really fucking tasteful and poignant Coca-Cola campaign featuring Yertle the Turtle
- 2015: Local dad John Reardon powers through his 54th reading of Fox In Socks