The Sad Seuss and His Wife

Dr Seuss was a great person and literary hero but I thought you might be interested in the pretty troubling life that he had, because it was mentioned in class. I, like many people, would look at his colorful uplifting books and assume that he was the most exciting person and fun to be around but thats not the case. He had a difficult marriage, no kids and often worked alone . He wasnt the social type, in fact he was tricked into speaking at Dartmouth University his alma mater because he was only told that he was to be speaking on the car ride there.
He was very close with his wife who inspired him to write but she was very sick, when she died he was never the same. If you look in the picture books at some weird invetions he would create, he actually like to invent objects in real life as a hobby mostly for the aid of his bedridden wife. The they would come up with goofy names to call them. Odd inventions are in lots of books like the Sneeches, Lorax, cat in the hat..


Helen Marion Palmer: Helen was born in 1899 in New York. Helen and Ted met at Oxford University in England when they were introduced to one another by Joseph Sagmaster. After knowing one another only a few months, they announced their engagement.
After postponing their first wedding date due to the birth of his niece, Ted and Helen were married on November 29, 1927 at 5:00 p.m. in the living room of the Westfield, New Jersey home of Helen's brother Robert. Ted's best man was Whit Campbell.
They had about 40 guests at their wedding. Since only punch and cake were served at the wedding reception, Ted's dad hosted a small champagne supper in a local speakeasy. Ted was 23 years old and Helen was 29 years old when they married.
Early in their relationship, Helen encouraged Ted to draw for a living. A children's author and book editor, Helen supported Ted by helping him editorially and handling most of the business and financial details.
Helen committed suicide on October 23, 1967 at the age of 69 from an overdose of sodium phenobarbital capsules. Helen had been ill since 1954 suffering from cancer, constant pain in her legs and feet, and partial paralysis. Her memorial service was on November 9, 1967.