I can recall many a lazy winter afternoon on the floor in front of the fireplace with my modest yet treasured stack of dog eared Dr. Seuss books. These tomes had been passed down through generations before me as their nearly ragged condition can attest. I didn't have a large collection but I treasured the ones I had and read them over and over again. 'Hop on Pop', 'Fox in Sox', 'The Cat in the Hat', 'One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish', and my all time favorite, 'Green Eggs and Ham' which was the extent of my Dr. Seuss library.
"Do you like Green Eggs and Ham? I do not like them, Sam-I-am. I do not like green eggs and ham."
Theodor Seuss Geisel was born to Henrietta Seuss and Theodor Robert Geisel on March 2, 1904. Mr. Giesels' father and grandfather were brew-masters in Springfield, Massachusetts which impacted his views on Prohibition. After throwing a drinking party, he was made to resign his position as editor-in-chief of the Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern. He secretly continued his work on the Jack-O-Lantern by signing his pen name 'Dr. Seuss' on his work. Although Dr. Seuss himself has proclaimed that that name is pronounced like 'soyce', as in 'voice' , the universally accepted, westernized pronunciation rhymes with 'juice'.
There is a rumor that author Bennett Cerf bet Dr. Seuss fifty dollars that he couldn't write a childrens book using only fifty words. The result of that wager was 'Green Eggs and Ham.'
"You do not like them so you say, Try them! Try them! And you may. Try them and you may, I say."
Many of Dr. Seuss' books were written using a literary verse form, that metrically speaking would be classified as anapestic tetrameter, a meter that is also used in 'Twas The Night Before Christmas'.
( x x X x x X x x X x x X,, or - Twas the NIGHT before CHRISTmas, and ALL through the HOUSE.)
Dr. Seuss died on September 24, 1991 in La Jolla, California after a lengthy illness but his timeless writings live on in every child and adult fortunate enough to experience his books.
"Sam! I like green eggs and ham! I do! I like them, Sam-I-am! And I would eat them in a boat. And I would eat them with a goat…Thank you! Thank you, Sam-I-am!
Thank YOU Dr. Seuss!!
