When the national memorial to Theodore Geisel, alias Dr. Seuss, was dedicated in his hometown of Springfield, Massachusetts in June of 2002, The Christian Science Monitor asked crankyjewishguy (CJG) to cover the dedication ceremony. (They didn’t know CJG by that name, of course.) CJG loved Dr. Seuss as a child, and no books were more fun to read to his own children when they were young than Dr. Seuss’, so he was thrilled by the assignment. There was one catch: the editors wanted the story, with all the key facts, told in verse. Here is the story, reprinted here for your enjoyment.
I am here!
Here I am!
With Horton the Elephant, Yertle, and Sam.
We didn’t come here for green eggs and ham,
But to open a memorial that honors the man,
Who penned hundreds and hundreds of wondrous pages
Still read out loud by kids of all ages.
With six million bucks, point nine from the feds,
His hometown chose to honor old Ted.
Geisel, that is, the man known to youse
As the incomparable, indomitable, beloved Dr. Seuss.
It’s titanic, stupendous, marvelous, gigantic!
What they’ve done in this city is truly fantastic!
From Hamden and Hampshire and Northampton, too,
They came far and wide to this most unusual zoo.
From here to there, from hither to yon
Giant bronze sculptures adorn a green lawn.
There’s The Grinch, and Thidwick, and a book ten feet tall,
And, no, that’s not all (no, that’s certainly not all);
There’s The Cat (in the Hat), The Lorax, and Max
Said the city’s good mayor, it’s a fine use of your tax.
Senators and congressmen heeded the call,
To sing Seuss’ praises here on the mall,
Proving once again that to many a pol,
A ceremony is a ceremony, no matter how small!
Sixteen years in the making, this garden delightful
Seems sure to please even the frightful,
From toddlers and tots, on up to oldsters,
They’ll come in their strollers, their bikes and their roadsters.
Say there, young man, can you tell me your name?
Well, Xadrian Gonzalez, how ‘bout a game?
Which book of Seuss is the best, if you please?
Really? You don’t say: “Green Ham and Cheese!”
And you little girl, Miss Olivia Malone,
In that big bronze chair sitting all alone,
Tell me, pray tell me, when it comes to Seuss,
Which of his books gets the most use?
“The Cat in the Hat” and “The Grinch” so you say?
May your heart grow three sizes this fine sunny day!
From Greenwich to Guam, from Greece to Gibraltar
Stockholm, Seattle, and North East Tidewater,
From Phoenix to Fez, St. Pete to Geneve
Four hundred million copies, can you believe?
(Oh. Yes, don’t forget, that includes Tel Aviv!)
His books are great fun, there’s no doubt about that,
But there’s much more to Seuss than a cat in a hat.
Save the environment! Raise every voice!
Stand against bigotry! Rejoice! Rejoice!
An icon, a treasure, a muse to the nation,
A tradition passed on to the next generation.
Lap to lap his words have been read,
To countless small children all snuggled in bed.
So, whether you’re one or a hundred and two,
This National Memorial may be for you
Indeed, I dare say, this place is a blast!
And to think that I saw it in old Springfield, Mass!
