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Dr. Seuss

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Dr. Seuss

Theodor Seuss Geisel, known by his friends and family as Ted and better know by the world as Dr. Seuss, was born on March 2, 1904 in Springfield, Massachusetts. He was born to Theodor Robert and Henrietta Seuss Geisel. His family was very financially successful until Prohibition and World War I halted their success. His father and grandfather were brew masters in the city and the threats of prohibition caused them some financial hardships. Despite the financial bump in the road, Ted and his sister Marnie had a very loving family and an enjoyable childhood. In Ted’s early years his mother would recite to him chants she made up at her job in a bakery during her youth. Dr. Seuss later gave credit to his mother “for the rhythms in which I write and the Urgency with which I do it.” (Morgan)
After high school Ted attended Dartmouth College where he experienced the life of a typical college student. Through hard work he became the editor in chief of Jack-O-Lantern, the humor magazine sold by the college. Not long after earning this position he managed to lose it for partying a little too hard. He and his roommate were caught drinking with ten other students in their dorm room at the Randall House. This party violated the laws of prohibition and the policies of the school and was not taken well since the incident happened the night before Easter Sunday. Ted continued to write for the magazine despite losing his position as editor in chief; he signed his work with “Seuss” so the school officials would not know he was still contributing. This is the first record oh the penname “Seuss” which came from it being his middle name as well as his mother’s maiden name.

Upon Graduation from Dartmouth Ted continued his education at Oxford. He told his father when he returned home from Dartmouth that he had received a

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