5 Things You Didn't Know: Dr. Seuss

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Theodore Geisel is best known by the pseudonym Dr. Seuss (the correct pronunciation of Seuss rhymes with "voice" not "loose"), perhaps the most recognizable name in literature. Every December we’re treated to How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and each year young kids are introduced to classics like Green Eggs and Ham and The Cat in the Hat, yet the wider public does not appear to know much about the man behind these famous works.

To gear up for the release of the CGI-animated film Horton Hears A Who!, we aim to change that by presenting five things you didn’t know about Dr. Seuss, the most familiar and beloved pen name in children’s literature.



1- Dr. Seuss adopted his pseudonym by drinking gin

Geisel’s father and grandfather were both brewmasters in Massachusetts prior to prohibition. While he was a senior at Dartmouth in 1925 — during the prohibition era — he served as a contributor to and editor of the campus humor magazine. That year he decided to throw a party , and he and his friends were drinking gin when they were caught.

In violation of the era’s prohibition laws, campus officials demanded he resign not only from the staff of the Jack-O-Lantern but from all other campus activities as well. In an effort to continue contributing to the magazine, Geisel adopted a number of pseudonyms, most notable among them was his own middle name and his mother’s maiden name "Seuss."

The addition of "Dr" came later, as Geisel wrote for another humor magazine, The Judge.



2- Dr. Seuss invented the word "nerd"

Geisel’s 1950 children’s bookis typically credited with creating the word "nerd." The book is narrated by Gerald McGrew, a child who is bored by the animals at the zoo and dreams of populating it with alternative creatures:

And then, just to show them, I'll sail to Ka-Troo

And bring back an It-Kutch a Preep and a Proo

A Nerkle a Nerd and a Seersucker, too!

While some believe the word to be a variation of ventriloquist Edgar Bergen’s dummy, Mortimer Snerd, If I Ran the Zoo features the first known appearance of the word in the English language. How it gained its current meanings and associations — since that much is clearly not suggested by Geisel — is a subject of some debate and the history of the English language.



3- Dr. Seuss used to brag about his imaginary child

It is a somewhat sad irony that the foremost author of children 's books never had any children of his own. According to Philip Nel, author of, the primary reason was because Geisel’s first wife, Helen, was unable to bear children.

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