Lecture Date: February 11, 2020
The JON Properties/Van Zandt Restorations Lecture
With more than 600 million copies of his books sold worldwide, few names are as recognizable and beloved as "Dr. Seuss." And yet, the man behind the pseudonym, Theodor Seuss Geisel, was more nuanced than his outsized legacy--and his journey to American icon was never preordained. In his early days as a magazine cartoonist in Prohibition-era New York and a successful career in advertising, and his later work as a progressive editorial cartoonist and dreams of a career as a Hollywood screenwriter, Geisel produced children's books only sporadically, and not always successfully. Jones explores the artistic and intellectual trajectory that convinced Geisel that children's books were "a good profession," and that children deserved to be taken seriously as readers--a long and creative journey that transformed Theodor Geisel into Dr. Seuss.
Speaker: Brian Jay Jones
New York Times bestselling biographer Brian Jay Jones is known for covering iconic creative geniuses who have made indelible contributions to pop culture. He has celebrated the lives and legacies of George Lucas, Jim Henson, Washington Irving, and Dr. Seuss for serious fans and newcomers alike.
His most recent book, Becoming Dr. Seuss: Theodor Geisel and the Making of an American Imagination has been celebrated as “nuanced, profoundly human” (NPR), “compelling [and] sweeping in scope” (The New Yorker), and “a rich, anecdotal biography."
Brian lives in Washington, DC with his wife and a very excitable dog.