Legacy

Translations, Languages
At the time of Ted’s death on September 24, 1991, some 200 million copies of his books, translated into 15 different languages, had found their way into homes and hearts around the world. Since then, sales continue to climb, estimated at more than 22 million since 1991.

Posthumous Works/Tribute Works
Six books were produced posthumously, all based on Dr. Seuss materials, with one exception: My Many Colored Days was written by Ted himself in 1973, but the text was not discovered until after his death. Many of these posthumous books, such as Daisy-Head Mayzie and My Many Colored Days, were made into animated specials or are available on video.

In June 2002, the Connecticut Valley Historical Museum (Springfield, MA) has scheduled an exhibition that will coincide with the unveiling of the National Seuss Memorial. Under the direction of the show’s curator, Charles Cohen, countless pieces from Cohen’s personal collection will be featured, including a rare vase from Ted’s days as a mail-order sculptor and a beer tray that he had designed for the Narragansett Brewery in Rhode Island. “So much of what he did with his children’s books is interrelated to his earlier work in advertising and illustration,” Cohen explains, “I want to educate folks about that . . . and that he began the teaching of tolerance to generations of kids—that ‘a person’s a person, no matter how small’—to me, he orchestrated real change early on. He didn’t start out that way, he was a real product of his times. In the ‘20s and ‘30s, when people just made jokes about race, etc., he was a part of that—in his early cartoons, [this is apparent].” Cohen adds, “Another thing I’m hoping to do with this exhibit is to show the change—show his conscience being raised, to the point where he became the proponent for equality.”

The exhibition will run through mid-January 2003.

New Media Forms
Though Ted was fascinated with computers, he himself never learned to use one. He was certain that they could be used effectively to supplement reading and teaching; the question that remained, however, was how? CD-ROMs were mere blips on technology’s screen at the time of Ted’s death in 1991.

His dream was realized in 1994 when Living Books began producing CD-ROMs of Dr. Seuss books, packaged with smaller book versions of the same titles. Children could follow along, matching words with pictures and recognize words as a result.

In 1993, Ted’s widow Audrey founded Dr. Seuss Enterprises (DSE) to protect and monitor the use of Dr. Seuss’s characters for licensing purposes. To date, many DSE-endorsed projects include a theme park, a board game, interactive CD-ROMs, and affiliations with Hallmark and Espirit. Mrs. Geisel oversees the selection process of each project, always considering Ted’s wishes and dreams. She believes Ted would have been thrilled with new media technology: “He liked to have things as visual and complete as it could be. . . . Had he been able to stay even longer than he did, he would have moved right into new ways of communicating.”

Shortly before his death, when Ted was asked if there was anything left unsaid, he pondered the question and finally responded: “The best slogan I can think of to leave with the U.S.A. would be: ‘We can . . . and we’ve got to . . . do better than this.’” (Morgan, p. 287)

After devoting 53 years to creating entertaining and instructive books, the good Dr. Seuss taught all that he could teach. Theodor Seuss Geisel passed away on September 24, 1991, at the age of 87. As permanent reminder to the reading public, the final line in Ted’s final book (Oh, the Places You’ll Go!) issues the following charge: “You’re off to great places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So . . . get on your way!”

Bibliography
Cohen, Charles. Personal Interview. August 2001.

Dr. Seuss from Then to Now. San Diego: San Diego Museum of Art, 1986.

Morgan, Judith & Neil. Dr. Seuss & Mr. Geisel. New York: Da Capo Press, 1995.