Published: Project Muse® | The Lion and the Unicorn, Vol 48, No. 1, January 2o24 pp 77-84
Abstract. Travel essayist and children’s book author Maxine Rose Schur reflects on her experience of interviewing Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss) in 1976.
In January of 1976 I met Dr. Seuss. I was living in New Zealand at the time, and he had come to the country to go trout fishing at Lake Taupo in the North Island. As the children’s book reviewer for Australia/New Zealand Bookworld (Schur 13), I was asked to interview this most celebrated of children’s authors. On his way back from fishing, he stopped in Wellington and kindly agreed to an interview which was recorded in his room at the James Cook Hotel. Nattily dressed in a suit with a red bow tie, I was impressed that at first, Dr. Seuss interviewed me. I told him I was a new mother and my first child, Aaron, was just three months old. “Aaron Schur!” he exclaimed, “That reminds me of Aaron Burr.” On the Cat in the Hat book I had bought for him to autograph, he dedicated it to my son then drew a goofy picture of Aaron Burr and the baby, Aaron Schur. Sadly, this priceless gift was accidentally swept up years later in a pile of books that went to Goodwill. Today, it seems, Theodor Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss) is not so celebrated as he is censured. Recently the estate of Dr. Seuss announced that it will stop printing and marketing six of his books because they “portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong.” It is true that Geisel engaged in racial stereotypes, most infamously of the Japanese during World War II. And yet, he himself was upset by his earlier depictions and in later life spoke and wrote against racism and bigotry.
Yet the stain remains. Geisel’s stepdaughter and former bookstore owner, Leagrey Dimond, is in agreement with the decision of the Seuss estate but wants more. She wants the future editions to remove the illustrations, but she also wants written introductions added that explain the reason for their removal. In an interview for the San Francisco Chronicle, Dimond said, “He was a man of his times who moved with his times and transcended his times.” She maintains that the books should demonstrate how human beings can and do evolve in their lifetime (Bravo). I sensed in my conversation with Dr. Seuss that he was quite aware of his own legacy and had, at the ready, a number of enhanced, ready-made anecdotes. I offer excerpts from my interview to provide a glimpse into this intriguing, legendary children’s book author.
You can see the interview published in The Lion and the Unicorn here.
maxineroseschur.com 