I’m sure many of you heard the quick clip on NPR the other morning about Theodor Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss)’s road to publication. It was, for me, extremely timely and another example of being in the right place at the right time.
Dr Seuss had finished his manuscript for And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street about a little boy imagining what he would tell his father about his disappointingly uneventful walk home. He had submitted it to twenty-seven publishing houses, all of whom had summarily rejected it. He was walking down the street in New York City, ready to toss the manuscript and try his hand at another career, when he happened to bump into an old acquaintance who happened to work in publishing who agreed, probably out of a weary sense of obligation, to look at the work. And, well, the rest is history.
Just think for a moment of a world without Dr. Seuss. Sure, you could say he’s just another talented children’s author, but he was also quite revolutionary. He tackled issues of racism (The Sneetches) and environmentalism (The Lorax) long before it was popular to do so. The Lorax, for one, has stood the test of time; as relevant a creed for anti-consumerism and environmental protection today as it was forty years ago. He made reading cool (I Can Read With My Eyes Shut) and gave students everywhere something to reach for and dream of (Oh, The Places You’ll Go!).
So, I imagine that boy, the one from Mulberry Street, standing instead on the same street where some unknown named Theodor Geisel stood chatting with some other unknown, two boring men in suits engaged in a brief conversation. And that little boy would have looked away, searching for something more exciting, more remarkable to witness, never realizing the magic of what was happening right before his eyes.
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January 27, 2012 at 6:26 pm
Teri Frasca
Krissy–you probably know that Dr. Seuss–grew up and lived and wrote for many years in Springfield on Mulberry Street–a few blocks from where your grandfather, Harry, worked—so I see this as a good omen.. May good fortune be yours. Love, Teri
January 29, 2012 at 10:21 am
C Bailey
Please pray for our school Superintendant and family… They are just beginning their journey…
http://sweetlifewithboys.blogspot.com/
January 29, 2012 at 2:56 pm
Barbara
Krissy, please look at Emily Rapp’s website – http://www.emilyrapp.com – I don’t know if you know her work, but she is a young writer whose first book, “Poster Child” was very powerful – this is her autobiographical story of her growing up out west with physical challenges (had her leg amputed at a young age), and she became a March of Dimes poster child – and it chronicles her growing up. She is in the process of writing another book about mothering her son Ronan who is dying from Tay Sachs Disease – I first became aware of her through my own work with the National Tay Sachs Foundation. She has written some very powerful pieces, NYT and elsewhere – just wrote a beautiful piece on the power of women’s friendships. On her website, if you hit the “contact” tab, you’ll see that she is willing to offer her help and insight into getting things published, especially memoirs. I don’t know if she could be helpful to you, and you have a lot of other connections and pathways – but it might be worth contacting her.