Ted Seuss, a renowned children’s author, was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, to Henrietta (née Seuss) and Theodor Robert Geisel. His father, Theodor Robert Geisel, was born in 1879 in the home the family kept adjacent to the Kalmbach and Geisel breweries. He married his mother, Henrietta (Nettie) Seuss, in 1901.
Ted’s father worked at Forest Park in Springfield and took care of his children as stepchildren. In the 1950s, parents, teachers, and intellectual readers worried about kids reading less or more junk. Dr. Seuss was born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, and his father managed the family brewery. He never had any biological children, as Helen Geisel was unable to bear children and did not father any children with his second wife.
He was the son of Theodor Robert Geisel Jr. (1879-1968) and his wife, Henrietta Augusta (Seuss) Geisel (1878-1931). He grew up with an older brother, Helen Marion Geisel and Audrey Geisel. When he married Audrey, he had two-step daughters, Leagrey and Lark, both of whom attended boarding school.
Dr. Seuss’s books, such as “The Cat in the Hat”, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!”, “Horton Hears a Who”, and “Green Eggs and Ham”, have become classics. His grandfather and father owned a successful brewery, and he grew up in a bustling, prosperous extended family.
📹 Dr. Seuss A&E Biography
📹 EXPOSING Dr. Seuss: CHEATER and RACIST
Dr. Suess is one of the most popular figures in children’s books, but his past is quite problematic. So, let’s get into it.
I loved Dr. Seuss books but honestly Dick and Jane books are like gold to me. My home was full of abuse and chaos and I lived every moment in fear. As a child of the 60s, Dick and Jane books like Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood were so grounding because there was kindness, acceptance, and order. The order to me was like gold. I would cry when Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood show ended at 5:30. I was in 5 th grade and all I knew was abuse. I didn’t want his show to end. I had to live another 23 1/2 hours before I could see him again. Dick and Jane books were so calming and predictable. They were safe. I was not safe. Dr. Seuss was fun and inspired me as a children’s author (I am published) so I rhymed my books like Dr. Seuss did but I brought order to the chaos and love to the story. I wish I had a parent like Fred Roger’s and I wish I had the life Dick and Jane did.
I actually got emotional when Mr. Geisel passed. I heard Bruce Williams announce it on his radio show. Then Bruce, from cold memory, recited the entire ‘Mulberry Street’ book. He’d read it to his kids/grandkids so many times. Man, to be 7 again, and have everyone back. The Cat In The Hat… Green Eggs and Ham… One Fish Two Fish…
That suicide note was absolutely heart-wrenching. I can respect what he did for children’s literacy, but I can’t respect him. Wiki excerpt about wife #2: When she moved in with Seuss, Geisel sent her daughters to boarding school of which she said “They wouldn’t have been happy with Ted, and Ted wouldn’t have been happy with them.” She also said “I’ve never been very maternal. There were too many other things I wanted to do. My life with him was what I wanted my life to be.” Two selfish POS’s.
Oh, the places you will go holds a place in my heart. I read it while i was an inpatient treatment center for drugs/alcohol. My recovery date was 10/11/00. I relapsed and got back to soberity 10/31 7 or 8 years ago. I truly don’t remember because i finally was doing it day by day. I taught myself how to read by several children’s books…some may have been Dr Suess books. I was around 3 years old, so i don’t remember! Thank you, Dr Seuss!! ❤
When my son was 3 years old, his favorite books were Go Dog Go and One Fish Two Fish. It was this second book that setup an hilarious situation in our home. Our son had 2 gold fish. One had a couple of red marks on it. Since he liked it the best, he called it One Fish. The other was of course Two Fish. One day the fish bowl had a slowly leaking crack. We put the fish into another bowl while we went to the store to find a new fish bowl. Upon arriving home a fish was found dead in the sink. It set us up for a ending with chuckles of the pets death of a young child. It went like this: Kevin had two fish. He called them One Fish and Two Fish after Dr. Seuss’ book. One Fish died, but we still had Two Fish.
One of my favorite childhood memories is being read Green Eggs n Ham in Kindergarten and the teacher making green scrambled eggs in the classroom for us to eat. When my son was little, in pre-school, I read Green Eggs n Ham to him and we made green scrambled eggs. I hope that is a memory he will cherish. Dr. Seuss was a genius.
When my Daughter was little, she was taken shopping with my parents. She spied loafs of “green” colored bread! She asked for a bag of green bread for a treat, Grammy questioned if it was wise but Grampy quickly agreed! He couldn’t wait to get back to me and watch my reaction. He was very surprised when my Daughter asked me for green eggs and ham with her bread; for supper!!!
In the summer of 1966 my grandparents spent their hard earned money on a monthly subscription to the Dr Seuss reading club. I was 5. When the book arrived each month my mother would phone my grandparents who would drive over to our house so my grandmother could read the new book to us. We would beg her to read it a second time. We felt like the luckiest children in the whole world. My mother would tell us to share the book to avoid arguments. I would find out many years later that this subscription was purchased for me because the school’s attempt to teach my older brother had failed. My brother hated school and he hated reading. If I was to love reading something new would have to be done. The books worked, I have always loved to read. It even captured my older brother’s interest and improved his reading. (My grandmother thinks competing with his little sister played a role, as well.)
I didn’t learn to read & write in English until I was 9yrs. old. It was discovered I had learning disabilities. My mum decided I was going to learn to read using Dr. Seuss. I loved his books my favourite was “Green Eggs & Ham”. I absolutely adore “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”, I watch it every year!! When my niece & nephew graduated from high school I gifted them each a copy of “Oh, The Places You Will Go!”
They mentioned at least twice if not more that Helen was 5 years his senior. They say one sentence about the fact that he was 63 and married a 47 year old. Glossed right over it. Just like they did about her death. If it wasn’t for the letter she left she might have gotten 2 sentences about her death and the other woman. She was married to him 40 years and she is reduced to a footnote. They talk about when they were younger and how she was inspirational to him. That she was always there to help him with anything. 40 years and they just brush her aside at the end of her life. She deserved so much more.
Great article, very interesting. The only tragedy is the merchandising of his ideas after his death. I think that is an insult to his memory since he was against it when he was alive. The books do not need the merchandising because they are timeless and will always be available generation after generation. So, imo, the merchandising was just a way to make even more money from Dr Seuss’ genius and against his will. Nasty.
I was good friends with an older gentleman who grew up with Ted Geisel and were classmates in Springfield,Massachusetts and later at Dartmouth college. He told me that Ted would always be doodling these funny looking characters on paper when they were in school and as it turned out they were the characters who would later appear in his books.
Thank you for this beautiful reminder 💜 ❤ 💕 of Love. We can’t let this world of fascination be destroyed, we have so many great writers of all ages. Telling us all kinds of of fascinating stories from all over the world 🌎. What a great Man, who never thought of himself as great but we all thought of him as one of the greatest 🎉🎉🎉
Just found out he is my great uncle and the only reason I bring up that point is the fact that myself as a dyslexic who here as self-taught himself how to write. It kind of makes me feel proud in a way. What is funny is I never had my mom, or my dad as read me his books. He was not really my thing. This was before I knew I were related to him. But I still do not much like his so books at all. But it is lovely that people like the guy as much as they did or do. I never met him. But I am sure he was a nice guy. I come a family of lovely people who my mom and dad were like one of his books. Very simplified people. Me I am here hoping I get published here soon enough. I like working though 9-5 and doing that. But writing is my love.
I’m also enjoying this look into his life. And some of his other material I wasn’t aware that he did or was part of. I’m at 25:08 in the article and more then a little bit disturbed by what was just said before. Thinking most Americans coming from the farms and other places in America other then the “intellectual centers” on booth coasts. Thinking that most Americans where illiterate and simple minded is just ignorance at best.
I’m so disappointed to learn he cheated on his wife Helen and how she killed herself because she didn’t know how to live without him. Especially since Audrey was a friend of the couple for six years! Double betrayal! Then she betrayed him by merchandising his characters! I hope he is spinning in his grave over his poor decisions in life. The schmuck.
The reason “The Five Thousand Fingers of Dr. T” failed at the box office was because of Harry Cohn (Columbia Pictures Mogul). Producer Stanley Kramer had approached Cohn about being let out of his contract. Cohn granted his request but out of spite, Cohn withdrew “Dr. T” after only one week on tour with members of the cast introducing the film and taking questions from the children in the audiences. Cohn sent telegrams to the the cast and told them to come home. He then withdrew the film from circulation. Hans Conried lamented “We didn’t even make back the Technicolor print money”. However, reports from the cast said that at the end of each showing, the children in the audience stood up and cheered. The film was reissued in 1958 with the title “Crazy Music” with little or no advertising (again, spitefulness from Harry Cohn). In the years since then, the film has achieved international cult status and the rental offices at Sony-Columbia report that one of the most popular film rentals on record is “The Five Thousand Fingers of Dr. T”.
He almost certainly had high functioning autism or aspergers, I see all the signs, including marrying a woman older than himself, and who would be like a second “mother” to him. The second marriage would be a need to fill that void as quickly as possible, and any success would likely be due to Audrey not needing much from him except his fame and his money at the end. It doesn’t make either of them bad people as long as there was no deception. It makes sense that he married someone he’d known a long time, as meeting new people is extremely stressful for ASD individuals. But I do not like how she handled his lifework, he wouldn’t be happy. People with aspergers are often genius at their own special interests, disappear at social events, dislike attention, and love animals. Their closest friends are often family members, as they have a hard time trusting anyone else, they don’t read social cues well, and feel like outsiders in a group, hate crowds, and I noticed that he was rocking back and forth in one clip. The life of a person who has ASD and doesn’t know it, is very very hard, it is MUCH much better to know if one has it, so one can coach others on how to handle their quirks and not be offended. Please get assessed if you think you have it. Thanks for this informative doc!
Thank you so much for the history lesson and footage. They don’t teach history or much else in America. Thanks for sharing the early work of our beloved Dr. Seuss (All though I have never been a Cat in the Hat fan, the Grinch still scares me!) The lessons Dr. Seuss taught are needed more than ever since parents have turned their backs on their own kids letting them learn from the internet.
The Washington Post had a contest once to write a campaign speech in the style of a famous writer. I actually memorized this one: I am Sam. Sam I am. Your candidate I am, I am. I do not like green eggs and ham. I do not like them, sir and ma’am. If elected, I would say, “Stronger, tougher FDA.” I would bring you fresher meat. I would make it safe to eat. If elected, I would say, “No green meat for sale today!”
This fine documentary, released in 2003, is over 20 years old now. As it documents and illuminates Ted Geisel’s life, his creativity and originality, it’s also a rather endearing artefact of its own time. That world of 2003, still the world of books, seems so far away … – closer to the times of Dr. Seuss than to our own day in 2024.
I knew folks who were friends and contemporaries of Geisel, his wife and mistress. Turns out ‘the cut direct’ was a real thing. They didn’t judge his morality, since having a wife and mistresses were the ‘done thing.’ They cut him out of their lives because, they were embarrassed by his lack of discretion – which had the effect of judging them. His wife received sympathy, but again, it was thought that she could have been made of sterner stuff, and moved out of the area with more discretion than she did. Lots of people you’d know were a part of this friend group. -There’s really no way to judge people of different classes, across time. Better to remember our piece of his legacy.
My apologies for my last comment. For some reason, I was stricken with sadness and a loss of respect for a beloved figure when the story of his wife’s suicide was told. I had no idea, and loyalty and devotion in a marriage are precious things. It was a distasteful counterpoint to the prior storyline of an abiding love…heartbreaking.
** I do want to add that his wife Helen took her life away after finding out he was having an affair. Then he married the other woman only 8 months later.Audrey Dimond was her name. She passed away in 2018.They was both married when they met & was all friends.She was 18 years younger than him. They had an affair for a long time then Helen found out how he repaid her for being loyal to him:( his 2nd wife(homewrecker) She had 2 daughters. 9 & 14 who she sent away to boarding school after marrying him! She said she’d rather do things with him & she was never maternal (wow) she wanted to do other things in life than be a mom.
A great upload, however, despite all of the good this man gave to the world, I can’t get over his callous betrayal of his sick wife. The biographers conveniently gloss over what amounts to atrocious treatment of someone who was incredibly important to his success. You just CAN’T be a good human being and do something like that, but the biographers mostly ignore it because they want so badly to have a nice, tidy story.
I loved the Dr. Seuss books, but they were not easy for me to read until i was in the 4th grade. The words didn’t make a lot of sense to me as a youngster since they were often “made-up” words that rhymed. When I was about 53 yrs old I got “Yertle the Turtle” as it personified a customer who thought he was king of thr pond 😂
I’ve got a picture under the glass on my dresser. It’s a clipping of 6 first graders sitting and reading. You can tell by my wrinkled brow chose a book too hard for me. Lol. I see this through the lens of a retired third grade teacher of 34 years. Watch The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T. I’ve read that Seuss hated it, but it’s wonderful Cold War film, a musical. I love it. Apparently Suess did too. If you watch a clip, you want to see the whole thing.
Fubby just how many of his books I had forgotten that I read as a child. I was perusal this and thinking “I remember reading one or two but not being a big fan” this viseo had proven me wrong. I have read most of these! They gave me a love of reading and even now I still enjoy reading even though they are audible books that I “read” now due to poor vission but I will always love a good story and am thankful for the books I enjoied so muchQ
Some of my fondest of childhood memories was when i first was introduced to Dr Sues in elementary school 1st grade with the library teacher in the school library. To me that class was one of the most looked forward to weekly experience. I was always excited to know what fun reading adventure story it would be, even more so around holidays. It was almost like recess and therapy. I couldn’t believe i could read for the first time so fluently at age 5 due to when i got my Dr Sues book and my parents were so proud they bought me tons of Dr Sues books for Christmas as i of course was elated to bits about it. However, even though the words and pictures of Dr Sues’ books were delightfully entertaining, i couldn’t help but notice how somewhat off the cartoon characters were in each of his books. It sort of was edging towards a strange perversion but done so subtly that it still was considerably child safe. I to this day tend to not want to know of any dark things about Dr Sues, as i want to preserve my warm innocent childhood memories and experiences that came about all because of Dr Sues’ master piece writings for children. So i came to peace with it that if there were any corrupt things about Dr Sues in his personal life, i can at least know that i can admire the books while not liking the actual author.
After perusal this tonight, I wrote this off the top of my head to cheer up an anon, alone in his bed. I posted it online and linked your vid. Merry Christmas. We’re never alone with Jesus in our hearts. You say it’s the worse? The worse Eve of all? But it’s only one evening, one evening that’s all! There’s plenty of days that’s all that matters! So what if you don’t hear some clash and some clatter! An evening alone! I’m here with you too! Along with the Dr! and Thing One and Thing Two! Forgive me this post of Christmas Eve’s ghost I’m wishing you Merry! The Merriest of Most!!!!! That’s it from me, and what would it matter! Tomorrow will bring Christmas Day chatter! Merry to You! And back to you Sir! Merry to everyone all over the world! See how easy it is! To just change the world! Wish a Merry Good Christmas to each boy and girl!!!!!!!
Interesting movie and man. I have hated all the modern movie makes of his books! Hate Jim Carrey as the Grinch; too frantic and didn’t like Myers as the Car in the Hat. Suggestive remarks about the children’s mother; disgusting. The best show was the one he had carte blanc with; the original How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Hollywood ruins everything it touches; and Ted knew it!
As a kid I read way above the usual kid books, in fact my parents had to get permission from the local Library for me to read the Adult books. Seuss was cute, but other than a couple books, they were actually boring. I could read “Cat in the hat” in about five minutes. But his “Private Snafu” and more adult fare was fun to view.
I love the dr Seuss books (that I have read) . Its insulting to imply that without trashy merchandise he would be forgotten. The cat in the hat film was repulsive..the little that i could bear to watch The books tthat i bought for my children were kind, inspiring and fun.(Horton and the egg, the lorax, TCITH,TCITHCB, hop on pop, one fish…,and of course green eggs
My maternal grandpa would read Green Eggs and Ham to me when I was very young. I’ve been told I insisted he read this one above any others….. apparently, from what I’ve been told, grandpa would try to skip a page (he got tired of reading it ALL the time ) but I wouldn’t let him get away with that lol.
Sort of OT.. but, thet dont make documentaries like this anymore, and it’s a damn shame! They’re more like biographies instead of documentaries, but they have this certain, 90’s cable TV sort of flavor that reminds me of all the great programs i watched as a child about the world wars, the oil barrons, the automobile in the 20th century, and so many other great topics that i never would have set out to learn about on my own, but since they were the only thing that seemed worth perusal on TV at the time, i ended up getting the best accidental education one could ever hope to get! I really miss 90’s TLC, Discovery website, and the other cable networks that aired stuff like this when i was a kid. Oh and the non-cable networks like PBS, Englands BBC, and the Canadian CBC! TV/media today is just so low-iq and trashy. There is no good educational programming anymore.
I enjoyed this article. I too have always loved his books. I grew up just down the road from where he lived. I knew he lived their from a really young age and at times I have wished that I had tried at least once to meet him. I have huge amounts of respect for his one of a kind talent and the way his mind worked but I am so disappointed and angry to learn what he did to helen. I know its none of my business but wtf! She gave him 40 years of her life….. her entire youth and everything else!!I hate knowing this and i wish I had never heard that he did that especially at the end of her life. He could have waited for her to pass he at least could have given her the security and pride of being with him completely until her last breath. Her note was so sweet and so loving, when she asks him to please remember the fun they had, that was a woman so deeply crazy in love with her husband and he didnt give a shit just like the majority of men he just used her broke her and that is what she gets thinks as she from him just tossed away like trash. Nothing takes away the good he did but nothing will ever make me think of him as i once did and i dont like that not one little bit!!
dr seuss wrote the books that my mom learned her english my ancestry is dutch on my dad”s side. my mom has dutch and german. i was born in 1956 and my parents moved to connecticut some time in 1958 before my brother was born in the usa in december 1958. mom was the home maker of those days. she could not talk much english yet had to teach english to her brood of three children and get them ready for th 1960s grade school on north street elementary school a block north from the windsor locks homestead of 1959. springfield Massachusetts is north of us. we went to forest park when it existed. now the park has no animals. the park is now home of bright lights for christmas lights. i have been to dartmouth college in hanover new hampshire. one year the winter carnival was dedicated to dr seuss and rge star was a cat in the hat snow sculpture.
OH The Places You Will Go!!! & The Lorax. And the Grinch. Three my of my fav Dr. Suess books. I grew up reading Dick & Jane books along with Spot. My children grew up with his books. I honestly didn’t know his personal history. His first wive’s death was awful. Now, when my childrenwere still minors some of his books were not appropriate for them Like the Butterbattle. The theme still too adult like. So here ge was a children’s author & was uncomfortable with them. How ironic is that?😮
I saw some of those great army films, and of course I heard Bugs Bunny’s iconic voice. Who could miss it! But I never knew Dr Seuss was part of it. That 1 fact alone makes this so worthwhile. There’s also other info the other Seuss docs leave out, so this well worth your time, as is everything Seuss related! The man is such a gem! I want to read all his books again, but I have no-one to read them to, and you need a child with you to see how they delight in it! I thought the Dick and Jane stuff was just awful. So boring! With no reason whatsoever for a 6 year old to want to sit in a stuffy classroom and read it! No color, no emotions, no humor. Repetitive. Ok the repetion is necessary, but really! No effort at all went into that. I sure hope they’re not still using that garbage. If their methods are still what they were, then it’s no wonder today’s young people are so illiterate!
He didn’t like exploitation in life; why would he have condoned it in death? So, the statement “some may call it exploration” is obtuse. The former ‘dearth” of merchandise speaks of Ted’s wishes. I suppose the pro-life groups can start using the statement, “A child is a child no matter how small.” he would have wanted it that way. “Some may say.”
Never did and still don’t like Dr. Seuss. Can’t understand the attraction to him. I don’t like to read and didn’t as a kid. It’s much more enjoyable to watch it or have some tell the story. But even when they made movies of his books they still suck to me. The only thing fun about them was the actors and the joke from the them or the writers. Sorry but Mr.Rogers Sesame Street all those were boring stupid and made no sense to me. They never made learning fun or exciting. I could learn more from perusal one looney Tunes or three stooges show then I could any of those shows.
I find it ironic that a guy like him wrote children’s books for a career, but he hates/is afraid of children. And he cheated on his wife with one of her closest friends Audrey, who abandoned her husband and two daughters to be with him. The thing that I find the most infuriating is the fact they married a year after Helen died. Overall, shame on both of them.
Finding out someone who you admired as a child because of his books…. is racist? This is so disappointing smh 🤦🏾♀️. This is why they say don’t admire celebrities. Edit: some of y’all need to chill lol. I haven’t followed anything related to dr Seuss since I was in elementary school and I’m in college now. So I’m sorry I didn’t pay much attention to him like I should have.
Shout out to his family that decided to take some of his work out of rotation. A lot of people came for them but they stood their ground. I was only about “The Cat In The Hat” because that was the only book of his that was in my childhood home. Found out about him 2 years ago (I think) when his family spilled the tea and I was disgusted. But that is what happens when you get older and start to truly understand things. Though a lot of his work is gross…thank goodness it was in rotation as long as it was and will continue to be with the just the information released and the folks that own a lot of his work. Crap like this absolutely SHOULD NOT be hidden. History should be always be revealed; good, the bad, and the ugly.
This is just so sad to me because we took Dr Seuss so serious at our school. We always read his books, we had and celebrated Dr Seuss day every year where we’d do nothing but read his books all day, and we’d get snacks that were based on his characters. Our lunches were based on his books as well. Every single year in elementary school, and I never knew any of this. Childhood slightly ruined.
For the record (and I’m trying to be careful what I say bc I know how the internet can be and I’d get super anxious about it) he ended up regretting creating those racist imageries and changed his views. He even created books that talked about tolerance, diversity, equality, and anti-authoritarianism, and several other topics on social issues. By no means am I defending everything about what this man has done, but it is important to note to get all facts straightened when doing research. I also think it’s important that those books shouldn’t be forgotten either. Those books are a window about the USA’s past and a piece of history we learn that way they aren’t repeated again. Apologies if anything I said was wrong or rude!! Nonetheless, great article as always.
This is so upsetting. I feel for Helen😢💔 I cant believe so many schools, including mine, grew up celebrating his life and books on “Dr.Suess” day. We had green bagels and eggs and would read his books, and wear the long hats. We were celebrating a racist monster. I will never read these books to my future kids.
Just gross to think he was so heartless towards his dying wife. Some men like this exist. She was far too lovely for him and loved him no matter how he ripped her heart out. He wasn’t worth dying for at all especially knowing he was sleeping with her fake friend. The racism is unsurprising not really shocking when this is how people like him perceived us. What really made me sick was how he betrayed his wife. His books seemed strange and cannot see why parents purchased them.
I’ve never liked Seuss. He wasn’t a real doctor he gave very super Narcissistic personality disordery vibes. He’s basically a self perclaimed doctor wich is Erie. He seemed to be cold uncaring especially to children so why you writing books for children. Now I know I was always correct cuz adults tried talk me out of not reading his books as a very young child. I was very hard nosed about it for a little kid. I remember going no I don’t like him. I’m not reading that. I just refused him. It sounds like his marriage is equivalent to a real life version of the little mermaid without being a mermaid by the way. In the real version she takes her own life.
Yeah, but if you can’t separate the art and the artist, you really can’t appreciate anything. The ONLY ones we can hold accountable are the ones still living, it sucks, but even artists you love will have stuff going on behind the scenes, so unless you’re ready to never listen to music, view a painting, or watch a movie ever again, we unfortunately have to separate them, as sucky as it is.
Watching this did not ruin my child hood. I never ever liked these books. I was force to read these books in school and force to celebrate his birthday. I straight up don’t know why schools force this on to children. Anytime my children schools celebrate this man work. I make sure my kids know what type of person he is.
In the 40s you were racist, you were anti sem or you were the ones torched. I (as an older viewer) do wish we’d not apply 2023 rules of conduct to almost a hundred years ago. I feel you’re like 5 articles away from “exposing” Genghis Khan for being someone that did bad things. “To the moon, Alice” was in shows back then bc women didn’t have the rights we have now. But…… We also had a bunch of black widows that as 2 and a half men line “I didn’t know you couldn’t keep fish in a drawer” came from. This needs to be a reflection of how far we’ve come, not “he’s evil by today’s standards”. People were different back then-its not right but, it’s the way it was
Wow! I am absolutely shocked. I was never a fan of Dr, Seuss books as a child. Even though I was an avid reader when I was young. But I did buy his books for my son when he was a baby. I will no longer purchase his books anymore. Thank you for sharing this awareness. I am disgusted how he treated his first wife. But am also incensed with her best friend. I don’t have any kind words to convey.
My Dad (black) used to read these books and even showed them to me. He never saw them as racism, because this kind of cartoons/kids shows were normal back then…there were also Cartoons showing black people like cannibals and stuff…he told me it was just normal back then and they never thought about the racism while reading or perusal such books and Cartoons…when I asked him so what did you thought about the way they draw the black people? He said he didn’t thought something about it he didn’t saw it as an attack on himself as a kid…it was just a drawing and now he don’t feel attacked by it because it was normal in the old days but changed over the years…
Hi SLOAN! OK I get it- but Dr Seuss was merely a sign of the times… Ignorant times. Ignorant and Racist and hateful times. Kind of like today…. But important times to remember BECAUSE of the absolute ridiculousness OF those times. It’s called HISTORY. We should only Learn from it and Never forget it, and strive to be better🇺🇸✌️
thank you slo4n. i’ve heard a tiny bit about this once, but that wasn’t even the tip of the iceberg compared to what you have uncovered here!!! i shudder to think of how his first wife suffered emotionally & physically. i believe her family could have had a successful wrongful death lawsuit against him. i know that kind of lawsuit was not really done back then. it’s absolutely gross how racist images and concepts were just written into his work, like “here’s a new angle for this advertisement.” thank you so much for this research!!! ❤
I wonder how many parts of our childhood media will be exposed for really cruel intentions?!?! Dr Seuss being a horrible husband to his first wife and a racist, person behind Barney was a man who sexually exploits women, person behind voicing Elmo from Sesame Street is a similar situation like Barney, the list goes on and on 😞🤦🏻♀️ It’s crazy that the books or shows we read and watched became so popular we were blinded by the creator’s malicious intentions
Dr. Seuss books were read to me as a child and years later I read them to my own children. I had no idea he was such a hate filled terrible person. You might also want to investigate Disney and the very racist propaganda films they made during WWII. I recall picking up a article from the bargain bin back in the late 80’s. I popped it into the VCR to watch with my 3 year old and was shocked to see Donald Duck marching off to war and terrible racist things being said about Japanese people. I was incensed and took it back to the store for a refund. I now kind of wish I’d kept it for historical purposes. Thank you for the work you do, Sloan, shining the light of truth to expose the evils hiding in the darkness. 🙏
You can’t say doctor phil isn’t a doctor, that’s unfair, he has a doctoral degree and therefore can refer to himself as Dr. Phil McGraw, but no he’s not like a traditional medical doctor, but do not disrespect anyone earning a doctoral level degree as not being able to be recognized by the title they earned. Also Dr. Phil I believe is no longer a licensed therapsit because he effed his client or staff member, otherwise an ethical violation in his career.
You have to remember the time this was especially during the World War II towards the Japanese and Germans. This was a widely accepted view. The article where he’s talking about foreign children is bc that was Americas view on WWII not to get involved until Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. He was public about his affair bc women did overall were viewed as property instead of humans with rights. Nowadays we wouldn’t dare. Why, bc we’ve evolved, more particularly we are far better educated to know better.
I was just thinking about Dr. Seuss the other day when revisiting The Lorax movie. It’s so much worse than I remember. Growing up, I’ve known some stuff about Seuss, such as him not liking kids or being a racist. The cheating part I wasn’t entirely aware. It’s always been a tough case of “separate the art from the artist” for me, due to growing up and liking stuff like The Cat In The Hat or The Grinch. It’s disappointing.
I’m sorry to nitpick, but Dr. Phil can’t be called “not a real doctor”. Just to be fair, He holds a doctorate in clinical psychology, though he ceased renewing his license to practice psychology in 2006. So he had a license and went to school for it, just no longer practices. It’s not like he woke up one day calling himself Doctor, like Dr Seuss. No hate, just wanted to be factually correct. & If someone spent all those years to earn a doctorate, that doesn’t take away from that if he’s not currently renewing his license; So yeah he can actually call himself a doctor.
i find this article really interesting! nice topic sloan! you should do another article like you said! my grammy and pop pop had dr seuss books and i remember them having them in their basement when i was younger(they probably had like old copies cause i remember the bindings were falling apart and my dad was born in the 67). crazy how something like that was in my childhood and we used to celebrate dr seuss’ birthday in school. definitely disappointing but wrong is wrong for sure and it needs to be called out
Hey SLOAN! I love your website and the variety of topics you choose to cover! You always bring us stories that I don’t see anywhere else.Just an FYI, Dr. Phil can be called Doctor. He holds a Doctorate, which gives him the right to be called Doctor. However, he does not hold a PhD. Dr. McGraw earned a Doctorate degree in psychology from the University of North Texas, followed by a post-doctoral fellowship in forensic psychology from the Wilmington Institute. However, he stopped renewing his licence to practice Clinical Psychology in 2006. Keep up the great work and the interesting variety of topics!
As a child I enjoyed being read his books. So naturally when I had children I would read them sometimes. But with my adult mind and standards I felt conflicted with my nostalgia: In The cat in the hat… why did no one question some stranger coming into the house trying to seduce children with play things and games, then leave; all without the knowledge of their mother. The constant fear of the mother if she found out, suggesting maybe not tell her about the predator. It’s a book about bad boundaries and not telling someone who loves and cares about you the truth because of fear and shame. Awful. Or in Green Eggs and Ham, where this poor soul minding his own business is bullied and harassed until he eats something he didn’t want to eat. Again, a book about not having good boundaries or respecting the boundaries and space of others. What if green eggs and ham was synonymous with drugs. Should kids give in because the other is inappropriately insistent? I can see that “Doctor” Sues did not love kids.
I have some thoughts. First, the way his first wife went out and then all the things his second wife was willing to do for him… What did have? A golden wiener? Honestly, the fact that he was racist is not surprising. He got married in the 40’s, who wasn’t racist in the 40’s? I’m exaggerating slightly but still. Was it right? No. Was a good thing? No. But, was it normal for the time? Unfortunately, yes. Rockabilly music in the 50 got dragged on and pushed underground because it was black music originally. That’s how we got Hillbilly music (I passed my music history class). Someone from the 40’s being racist is just kinda normal. A sad truth.
It is a bit sad because when I was a kid, I used to be obsessed with Dr. Suess’s books. He is one of the reasons why I wanted to be an artist. Especially when it comes to the surreal but whimsical landscapes that he drew like in ‘Oh! The Places You Go!’. As some wise person said, “Never meet your heroes.”
I was born in the early 70s & remember my g-grandma had many of these books at her house when I’d go visit her down in the country. There was very little to do there except read so I had read and re-read these books over and over. I was always disturbed by the artwork and as a small child knew that his depictions of black people were wrong & embarrassing – I didn’t look like that, nor anyone I had ever known yet I was ashamed nonetheless. At that time I didn’t know how offensive his pics of Asians or Middle Eastern people were, mainly because I had never really seen any except in movies. I was so young and naive then, but later realized that generations of children (and adults) of every race viewed these pics the same as me- curiously, confused, and embarrassed without knowing the full scope of WHY. He could’ve drawn people in any way he chose to but systematically decided to represent people of different races in this way over and over again spanning the years yet he was celebrated. People were so offended that people of different races had the NERVE to be offended – like his books were religious relics or something! Like why wouldn’t folks be offended?
It’s so sad that everything these days is being found to have a bad and or secret life from the image we grew up with. I loved Dr Seuss books read them to my oldest kids now 18 and almost 16 and got a few for my now almost 3 month old . Why can’t things be simple and clear? I truly feel like over the years almost everything from childhood has been ripped up and thrown in my face, ofc it’s not the fault of the ppl exposing these ppl it’s those who did wrong but it still hurts and it leaves me at a lose as to do some things as a parent because tbh some of the things done nowadays doesn’t still well with me. For example I won’t let my kid be an asshole destroy a store or office disturb ppl and not correct them etc, I’m old school hell I guess I’m just old (born in 84). I appreciate your articles and bringing things to light but damn is there nothing safe, good or nice in the world anymore or was it all pretty much a lie and most ppl suck?
So before I started your article I said to myself, ‘this is going to ruin my childhood’. Then I start perusal the article and it’s the first thing you say! Cracked me up. Thing is I recall a few of these books and the characters, I honestly can say I didn’t think about any race when I read through these books at that time. Now adays had I read his books for the first time I would definitely have noticed and been offended. I guess you can say that through time we have grown to be more aware and sensitive to things that are racist, bigoted and unjust. I don’t know if back in the 70’s-90’s that we were naïve, dumb or brainwashed. I am just glad to know we have grown to be better people as the years have gone by. I appreciate you doing this article on Dr. Suess, people should be aware and hopefully will stop buying his shit.
I’m from Springfield mass, the city where he is from. I live like a few streets down from Mulberry Street. He has been so celebrated around here, like there are Christmas lights dedicated to him in Forest Park and even a Dr. Seuss Museum. We always learned and talked about him in school. I always thought his books were weird and stupid, even as a kid. My dad would buy me them and read them to me and I would hate them so much. When I would tell people I wasn’t a fan they were always so surprised and upset that I felt that way. My mother feels the same way about him to, she always says ‘why did he even write children’s books if he hated kids?’ . Long story short, he is celebrated so much in Western Mass, but I never was a fan, even though I have known this information for ages.
I have never been a huge fan of the guy, but was never aware of the problems he had. Being autistic makes it difficult for me sometimes to read body language and what certain images express. When I was really young I used to play a computer game of the story book Green Eggs and Ham. The game was from a brand called Living Books. I used to enjoy other ones like Harry and the Haunted House, Just Grandma and Me and Sheila Rae the Brave. Anyone else who used to play them in their childhood? Anyway, I’m glad you brought the subject up Sloan. What disgusting behaviour Dr Suess had.
I think there’s some things you should talk about: .The Story of how Jim Henson’s Kermit the Frog Successor Steve Whitmire got fired by Disney and the Henson Family .Game Show Producer Mike Richards’ negative comments that cost him the hosting and producing job of Jeopardy .The Time Matthew Broderick killed two women in a car accident crash in 1987. .The legal troubles of late Sesame Street cast member Northern Calloway
I always loved Dr. Seuss growing up . I loved to write all the way up to highscool and above my level, and we shared the same birthday (Pisces ) so it was always a joy to have dr. Seuss day in school . HOWEVER after randomly perusal Horton hears a who as a nostalgia watch, I got curious and searched him up and seen this article. I’m no longer a hard core fan, very disappointed… am I surprised at the results of a human being …. Unfortunately no . SMH
To be fair the Theodore Seuss Geisel fund gives 10 million dollars a year in College scholarships and helping children education after Ted passed away Audrey took over the entire company she’s the one who ordered the modernization of all the books and the one who asked to have several titles pulled because of the racist undertones. She still runs it and is still president of Dr Seuss land at Universal Studios, and an interesting factoid Dr Seuss and Stan Lee of Marvel Studios were best friends and they met in the army where they served the United States military together
Idk if this was common in multiple elementary schools… When I was in elementary school, every year classes would have a “Dr Suess Day”. We’d celebrate Suess’s birthday by wearing paper red and white striped hats(much like the cat wore) and ate green eggs and bacon(ham was too much to make, I guess? The green eggs were just scrambled eggs full of food dye. Looks as gross as it sounds 😂). We also would watch a few animated specials like The Sneeches, The Cat in the Hat, etc. It was fun then, yet I hope schools don’t still do it now. We really shouldn’t be praising this guy anymore.
Everything in the 60s 70s was racist and a lot of other distasteful things. All the cartoons we watched, Our Gang (Little Rascals), Uncle Reemis (by Disney) we saw it all when we were kids. Nobody thought twice about it. Just the way things were. Now everything is focused around sex and genders………..
9:29 can someone please explain this ad to me as though I were a child? I’ve seen this one and I always thought it had a positive message – i.e. like anti-segregation or something, like “white labor” and “black labor” joined together was the only way to achieve “harmony”. I feel really, really stupid right now. ETA: to be clear, I obviously understand the racism in “if I ran the zoo” and a number of his other political cartoons and, particularly, in his early ad work… that shit is raaaacist. This is the sole piece with which I am familiar but had always glossed over because I presumed it was about all of us working together on the war effort.
I am not sure if this article was made in favour or against dr Seuss. Because the arguments layed out are just hisotry of human race and individual spiritual journey. That zoo to me seema a great representation of political situation andnpower balance in the world. Rather than racism it is a good representation of reality. On a different note, when a woman or a man is ill for 13 years, the spouse thatbis alive can not be expected to to succumb to being burried alive too. It ia against human nature to give up. Most people will try to find a way to battle for their survival. And some other arguments… really nothing substantial to make him a villain. But one message stands out- choose the right thing, the right behaviour, the right attitude towatds all and everything regardless the challenge of times and peers.
Just a friendly FYI😊, Dr. phil Is a real doctor. Not an M.D., but Dr. Phil is a real-life psychiatrist who took over his Father’s practice. Dr. Phil was in practice for years, and was then hired by Oprah for a court hearing as a professional witness, and then Oprah later helped him get his own show. Just saying🌹❤
L Frank Baum (“The Wizard of Oz” series) was also racist. I guess it has been scrubbed from the more popular books, but I found an obscure one called “The Wogglebug Book” and it was FULL of racial epithets. He referred to an old Asian man as a “ch!*k”. He also used multiple epithets (including the “n-word”) to describe a young black boy. There were other ethnic stereotypes and racial slurs in that book, but I just can’t remember all of them (nor do I wish to list them, tbh). IIRC, he wrote the Oz books for his granddaughter. The Wogglebug is part of the Oz multiverse, so I’m wondering if this kind of attitude and language was commonplace in the Baum family.
U know what I don’t understand how surprised ppl especially other white ppl are when they hear that famous ppl are racist especially famous ppl within a certain age group where do ya think the ppl from the racist ass times went? Where do u think they kids went? Ya think these monsters just ceased to exist cause the rest of us moved forward and did better? NO