DOMINIC SAMA | Stamps Commemorative honors Dr. Seuss

Theodor Seuss Geisel delighted children the world over with his whimsical animals. But early in his career the beloved author and illustrator had a hard time selling grownups on his work.
Geisel (1904-1991), who will be honored March 2 with a 37-cent commemorative stamp on the centennial of his birth, submitted his first work for publication in the 1930s. Twenty-seven adult editors rejected it. In 1937, Vanguard Press decided to print "And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street," and he earned moderate acclaim.
Started with a bet
In 1960, Bennett Cerf, the renowned head of Random House, bet Geisel $50 he could not write a book using only 50 words. Geisel responded with the popular "Green Eggs and Ham," but Cerf never paid off the bet.
Geisel was the son and grandson of brewmasters in Springfield, Mass. At Dartmouth College, he was editor of the campus humor magazine -- until he got canned for helping to organize a drinking party.
It was at that time that Geisel signed his works as Seuss, his middle name as well as his mother's maiden name. Later, he added "Dr."
Geisel enrolled at Oxford in 1925 to seek a doctorate in literature. There he met Helen Palmer, a children's author and book editor, and they married. He returned stateside, contributed cartoons and illustrations to the leading magazines and found steady work for more than 15 years as a creative ad man for Standard Oil.
During World II, Geisel was too old for the draft, but joined the Army anyway and helped produce training films for the Signal Corps.
In 1954, Life magazine printed a study that many schoolchildren had trouble reading their books because, the youngsters said, they were bored by the contents. Geisel was asked by his publisher to write a book using no more than 250 words, about the maximum number of words a first-grader could absorb at one time.
'Cat in the Hat'
Nine months later, the best-selling "The Cat in the Hat" was born. Other successes included "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" "Yertle the Turtle, "Fox in Socks" and "Oh, the Places You'll Go!"
He won the hearts and minds of children by blending the ridiculous with the logical, it was said.
"I'd rather write for kids," he said. "They're more appreciative. Adults are obsolete children and the hell with them."
First-day requests should be sent to Theodor Seuss Geisel Stamp, Postmaster, Box 9509, San Diego, Calif., 92150-9509.
Information is available at www.usps.com.
XDominic Sama is stamps columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer.