Dr. Seuss

Theodor Seuss Geisel (2 March 1904 – 24 September 1991) better known by the pen name of Dr. Seuss, was a liberal children's author who wrote over 60 books between 1937 and 1990, including such classics as Green Eggs and Ham, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and The Cat in the Hat. All of his writings were in rhymed verse.

During World War II, he was one of the writers of various Private Snafu short films, including Spies. The films featured a bumbling private ^[1] placing himself in danger by carelessness; they were intended as teaching tools to warn incoming military personnel of various dangers. Seuss admitted later that making Private Snafu shaped his approach to children's literature (simple and easy to understand).

He was married to Helen Palmer, who committed suicide in 1967 (her suicide was due in part to struggles with cancer, and in part to Seuss' affair with Audrey Stone Dimond); he would later marry Dimond in 1968. He had no children by either marriage.

Seuss identified himself as a liberal Democrat, and his political views often show up in his work. The Lorax, often considered a metaphorical piece on environmentalism, features a "lorax," who warns of impending doom, should the "Once-ler," a stand-in for corporate greed, continue in its destruction of the rare "truffula trees" to create "thneeds." The Once-ler ignores his advice, until the very last truffula tree is destroyed, and proceeds to spend the rest of his life regretting his choices.

On the other hand, Seuss's book Horton Hears a Who is heavily promoted in pro-life circles, mostly because of the repeated line "A person's a person, no matter how small!" Seuss denied any pro-life metaphors in the book and claimed that it was a metaphor for the Hiroshima bombing.