“Don't
cry because it's over, smile because it happened.”
---
Dr. Seuss
The
great advantage of books is that people like Homer, Aristophanes, or
Donald Trump can speak to people born thousands of years after they
have ceased to convert O2 to CO2. While I wouldn’t necessarily
inflict Donald Trump on the people of the forty-first century, I wish
them Dr. Seuss with all my heart.
“I
like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary
ingredient in living.”
---
Dr. Seuss
His
first publication was a series of four chapbooks that were combined
into The Pocket Book of Boners, (1931) a title which (sadly)
doesn’t translate well for the modern children’s market, but nine
years later, he introduced us to the wonderful Horton
in Horton
Hatches the Egg (1940). Horton re-appeared over a decade later
in Horton Hears a Who! (1954). Horton was, and continues to
be, one of the great teachers of my life in the areas of kindness,
patience, perseverance, and acceptance of others.
“I
meant what I said and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful
one-hundred percent!”
“A
person's a person, no matter how small.”
---
Horton
It also helped that the Horton books are smashing reads.
Speaking of smashing reads, how about How the Grinch Stole
Christmas (1957), The Cat in the Hat (1957), The Cat in
the Hat Comes Back (1958), Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories
(1958)?
Courtesy of Joe T. can you decipher this 1960 Dr. Seuss book title?
Then came Green Eggs and Ham (1960).
What is it about this
classic that drives so many of us to commit it to memory? Could it
be that we recognize that there are secrets and insights children
know that are forgotten as adults?
“Adults
are just obsolete children and the hell with them.”
---
Dr. Seuss
Dr.
Seuss created books to help children read (Hop on Pop –
1963), develop vocal dexterity (Fox in Socks – 1965),
connect visual skills with verbal (I Can Draw It Myself –
1970), and appreciate their environment (The Lorax – 1971).
“Sometimes
the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.”
---
Dr. Seuss
During the turbulent times of the late 60s and early 70s, Dr. Seuss
had a way of looking beyond the conflict that divided people…
“Fantasy
is a necessary ingredient in living, it's a way of looking at life
through the wrong end of a telescope.”
---
Dr. Seuss
…and
taught us to appreciate the wonder of our existence…
“Why
fit in when you were born to stand out?”
---
Dr. Seuss
…and how each of
us makes the choices that give our lives meaning. As he said in Oh
The Places You’ll Go (1990), the last book published before his
death in 1991.
“You
have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer
yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know
what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go...”
---
Dr. Seuss
Over the years I’ve heard a number of
publishers say words along the lines of – Don’t give me anything
like Dr. Seuss. No rhymes. No nonsense words. It’s been done –
we don’t need any others.
What I hear is – Don’t give me anything
like Jesus. No Gandhi. No Dr. King. We’ve heard about peace –
the world doesn’t need to hear any more.
And the publishing industry is wondering why
it’s in such trouble.
And so – for being a great writer,
illustrator, philosopher, maker of nonsense, and a lover of
child-like wonder, I induct Theodor Dr. Seuss Geisel into the Headley
Hauser Hall of Honor (pronounced Hawner.)
“Remember
me and smile, for it's better to forget than to remember me and cry.”
---
Dr. Seuss
Part 1
Part 2
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