Frequently, a thing, an idea, or a name will pop into my head during any given day. It seems quite prominent when it does — like the Universe is trying to tell me something. AND. It could be anything.
I’ll be standing at the counter, wiping it with a sponge, and suddenly, the words “Magna Carta” will flash into my mind as bright as lightning. I’m sure there must be a reason, a connection. But many times, I can’t seem to connect the dots as I watch throughout the day. Another time, I might be driving along, and loudly, I hear in my mind’s eye, “Kellogg’s Corn Flakes.”
As you can see, it is random and often obscure.
This morning, quite early, I was asked, quite pointedly, “Was Dr. Seuss really a doctor?” I knew once it was time to work on my blog for the day, I should find the answer.
Quickly and to the point? No. He was not. Mostly.
Theodor Seuss Geisel was not a doctor. He lived from March 2, 1904 – September 24, 1991, for 87 years. And during that time, he did not earn a doctorate.
He went to Dartmouth College and got a bachelor’s degree there. After Dartmouth, he entered Lincoln College, Oxford, with the full intention of earning a Doctor of Philosophy in English Literature. For whatever reason, he did not. Perhaps he decided it was not imperative. Many people place a high level of importance on these titles and designations. I don’t think much about titles, or lack thereof, one way or the other. At any rate, he wasn’t truly a Dr. Seuss.
Much later in life, after he became famous for his writing, his magazine work, his films, and his books, Dartmouth awarded Geisel an honorary doctorate of Humane Letters. An honorary doctorate is an academic degree for which a university has waived all of the usual requirements. So, some 30 years later, he became a “sort of” doctor. A pseudo one with a paper degree.
So, the answer to my early morning mind question was “no and yes.”
Yet. More came to light as I read. I found out something I didn’t know.
He married his youthful love, someone he met while in college. Her name was Helen Marion Palmer. They had happy times for many years and stayed married until 1967. That is when she committed suicide. She had health issues for several years but still worked. She had been a writer herself, and throughout their marriage, she filled the role of editor of his books.
But. Theodor Geisel had been having an affair with a woman named Audrey Dimond. He married Audrey Dimond eight months after his wife’s suicide.
Here is Helen’s suicide note to her husband.
Dear Ted, What has happened to us? I don’t know. I feel myself in a spiral, going down down down, into a black hole from which there is no escape, no brightness. And loud in my ears from every side I hear, ‘failure, failure, failure…’ I love you so much … I am too old and enmeshed in everything you do and are, that I cannot conceive of life without you … My going will leave quite a rumor but you can say I was overworked and overwrought. Your reputation with your friends and fans will not be harmed … Sometimes think of the fun we had all thru the years …
I’m not sure what the reason is for me coming to know this information early in this day. Maybe I was supposed to share it here for someone who might be reading. Perhaps there is no reason at all.
Last week, long before any of this, I bought his book “The Sneetches and Other Stories” because I couldn’t find my childhood copy. It is one of my favorite books of all time, that story of the Sneetches. By Dr. Seuss.
He had such great messages.
But now?
I feel just a little bit sad about all of that. Somehow.
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You’re in pretty good shape for the shape you are in.
— Dr. Seuss
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A person’s a person, no matter how small.
— Dr. Seuss
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Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you!
— Dr. Seuss
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Dr. Who? Not THE Dr. Who. But what?
