All About DSE

Ted received his B.A. degree in English from Dartmouth College in 1925 and married Helen Marion Palmer in 1927. In 1937, after numerous rejections, he published his first Dr. Seuss children’s book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, based on his childhood adventures in Springfield. Over the next decade, Ted wrote four more books, published hundreds of political cartoons, and co-wrote the Academy Award®–winning documentary, Design for Death.

In 1948, Ted and Helen moved to La Jolla, California, where both became active members of the community and served on several nonprofit boards. In 1951, Ted co-wrote the animated short, Gerald McBoing-Boing, his second Academy Award®–winning film. The Cat in the Hat was published to immediate acclaim in 1957, prompting Ted and Helen to create the Dr. Seuss Foundation. How the Grinch Stole Christmas! and Green Eggs and Ham followed in quick succession.

Helen died in 1967, and Ted married Audrey Stone Dimond in 1968. Over the next 15 years, Dr. Seuss published dozens more books for children. During this period, Ted was honored with two Primetime Emmy® Awards, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal, and a Peabody Broadcasting Award.