And then, a day later, that information was debunked. Dr. Seuss was an enormously successful writer of children's books. He was, and is, beloved by millions.
When my kids were growing up we read Dr. Seuss almost daily. I memorized a few of his books like "One Fish, Two Fish," just by endlessly reading them to the kids.
Later on, I occasionally used Dr. Seuss poems in business meetings to make a point, as I did in the blog posting below. One of my very favorites was The Sneetches. It dealt with elitism, and more importantly, racism, and how we allow society to rope us in.
Now the Star-Belly Sneetches Had bellies with stars.
The Plain-Belly Sneetches, Had none upon thars.
This engendered discussions about how we look and what we'll do to be included in an elite circle, where others are clearly not included. In the Sneetches story someone comes on the scene with a solution - for a price, of course.
Then quickly, Sylvester McMonkey McBean, Put together a very peculiar machine.
And he said, 'You want stars like a Star-Belly Sneetch...? My friends you can have them for three dollars each!
And, of course, chaos ensues. Mr McMonkey Mcbean, makes piles and piles of money with, first, his star on machine and then later, his star off machine. And then he skips town.
But, in the end, the Sneetches wise up and decide they've been misled.:
And no kind of Sneetch is the best on the beaches
That day, all the Sneetches forgot about stars, And whether they had one, or not, upon tears.
To me, the The Sneetches is all about inclusion, even while segments of society are constantly pushing us toward exclusion. Why? For Mr. McBean, it was profit. But there are many sad and sinister reasons.
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