Dr. Seuss

He tied the nuptial knot with his long time sweetheart Helen Palmer (whom he met at Oxford) on November 29, 1927. The couple had no children.

On October 23, 1967, Palmer committed suicide, tired of her illness and the emotional turmoil caused by Geisel’s extra marital affair with Audrey Stone Dimond.

Following his wife’s death, he married Audrey Stone Dimond on June 21, 1968. Through this marriage too, he did not father any children.

Theodor Seuss Geisel was born to Theodor Robert and Henrietta (Seuss) Geisel in Springfield, Massachusetts. His paternal and maternal grandparents were German immigrants. His father was a successful brewmaster and later took to managing public park system.

He attained his preliminary education from Springfield Central High School, graduating from the same in 1921. While at school, he took art classes as a freshman.

He then enrolled at the Dartmouth College and graduated from the same in 1925. It was while at college that he joined the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. He contributed to the college’s humor magazine, Jack-O-Lantern, eventually rising to the rank of chief editor.

Despite being barred from contributing to the magazine due to violating the Prohibition Law which banned drinking, he continued to write for the magazine under the pseudonym ‘Seuss’, which stayed with him for the better part of his life.

He later took admission at the Lincoln College, Oxford, to earn a PhD in English Literature. However, Helen Palmer encouraged him to give up on the same and instead pursue a career in drawing.

Moving back to America in 1927, he started submitting his work at various magazines, publishing houses and advertising agencies. His first ever published cartoon appeared on July 17, 1927 in The Saturday Evening Post under the pen name, Seuss.

The positive response for his debut work led him to relocate to New York where he found job as writer and illustrator at the humor magazine - Judge. His first ever printed work for Judge appeared in the October 22, 1927 issue.

He was soon employed by Standard Oil for their advertising department. His ad for Flit, a common insecticide caused a nation-wide stir and made him famous. The catchphrase ‘Quick Henry, the Flit’ not only became the talk of the town, it spawned a song and was used as a punch line.

The Flit campaign earned him much fame and sooner, his work started appearing in acclaimed magazines such as Life, Liberty and Vanity Fair. He even started churning out advertising campaigns for General Electric, NBC, Standard Oil, Narragansett Brewing Company and many other companies.

His first-hand experience with children’s book was when he was offered a contract by Viking Press to illustrate a collection of children's sayings called Boners. Though the book was not a commercial success, his work was well received. Furthermore, it gave him his first breakthrough in children’s literature.

‘The Cat in the Hat’ was the magnum opus of his works, which garnered positive response and critical acclaim from the time of its release. The book was named one of the ‘Top 100 Picture Books’ of all time in a 2012 poll by School Library Journal. Furthermore, the National Education Association named it ‘Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children’