Leagrey Dimond adored her “steppop” Theodor Geisel. She also strongly condemns the racist imagery in the author’s early work. But, with some changes, she believes these books can continue to provide lessons to children.
“no one has ever tried to hide or dismiss them,” says dimond, a retired bookstore owner in san francisco. “They’re out there, and with all my heart, I wish they weren’t out there.”
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dimond wants future editions to remove illustrations, write introductions explaining why they were removed, and use the revised books as teaching tools.
“was born in 1904”, says about the man better known as dr. seuss in an exclusive interview with the chronicle. “He was a man of his time who moved with his time and ultimately transcended his time.”
Dr. Seuss is known throughout the world as the beloved creator of children’s books like “The Cat in the Hat,” “Green Eggs and Ham” and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” For most, his name evokes the cadence of his rhyme schemes and childhood lessons about everything from prejudice (“The Sneetches”) to environmentalism (“The Lorax.”) And, like other cultural touchstones, Seuss is being re-evaluated for bias and dated views in his works.
On what would have been Geisel’s 116th birthday on March 2, Dr. seuss enterprises announced that six of the author’s titles would cease publication, beginning with his first book, “and to think i saw it on mulberry street,” as well as “if i ran the zoo,” “mcelligot’s pool,” ” the cat contest”, “super scrambled eggs!” and “beyond the zebra!” objectionable content includes an offensive chinese cartoon in “mulberry street” and offensive african cartoons in “if i run the zoo”. in a statement, dr. seuss enterprises called the removal “part of our commitment and broader plan to ensure that dr. the seuss enterprises catalog represents and supports all communities and families,” adding that “these books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong.”
Bay Area Bookstores, Parents Deal With Racist Imagery In Dr. seuss books
Dimond and her sister, Lark Grey Dimond-Cates, are the children of cardiologist Dr. E. Grey Dimond and Audrey Geisel, who married Theodor Geisel when Leagrey was 9. The sisters are not involved in running Dr. Seuss Enterprises, which was established by Audrey Geisel in 1993. When her mother died in 2018, Dimond says she received a lump sum inheritance and does not receive royalties from book sales.
in an interview with the new york post, lark gray dimond-cates said about the removal of the books: “i think that in this day and age, it’s a wise decision”, while stating about her stepfather: “there was no there is a racist bone in the body of that man: he was very aware of the world around him and cared a lot.”
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ted owens, great-nephew of geisel, the only family member on the board of dr. seuss enterprises, did not respond to request for comment.
leagrey dimond doesn’t like doing business with her famous stepfather. In his 25 years running thidwick books (20 of them on clement street), he says he hasn’t publicized his connection to one of the world’s best-known authors, even though thidwick is the title character in “thidwick the big-hearted moose. ”
Audrey Geisel’s obituary in the New York Times stated that Leagrey and her sister were sent to school after their mother’s second marriage because her new husband was afraid of children and their “unpredictability.” dimond disputes that characterization.
“nobody met ted and thought he was cold,” dimond says.
He also drew and wrote poems for her.
“His nicknames for me were s’nunny and lee groo,” says dimond. “He called himself ‘ezequiel’, sometimes with extra es. he was going me somewhere; I must have been in my early 20s, and he left a piece of paper on my bed. it’s a little cloud, and the cloud is blue and he’s crying, and inside the cloud he says ‘song of sad departure.’”
dimond reads the poem.
“who’s going? groo goes girl, lee groo, go. and my soul is sad while she goes. lee groos makes very good friends. And when the foolish winds of spring blow, she will flow back through my open window.”
signed the poem “dr. who.”
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Dimond also says she never witnessed any instances of prejudice from Geisel. Geisel’s work as a cartoonist during World War II is noted for its anti-Japanese caricatures, for which he expressed regret in the 1970s. After a trip to Japan in the 1950s, he wrote the book “Horton Hears a Who,” whose message “a person is a person no matter how small” is seen by some scholars as a kind of apology for his earlier work. He also revised language in later editions of “Mulberry Street” around the offensive Chinese caricature.
One effect of the books’ removal that especially upsets Dimond is that Republican politicians like Kevin McCarthy and Ted Cruz have now turned it into a conservative cause celebre: Geisel was a lifelong Democrat who was aligned with progressive social causes.
“He lived by (the party’s) democratic principles, I can’t stress that enough,” says Dimond.
dimond’s hope is that the books can be seen as part of the dr. seuss canon, and that they can also be an example of how authors, and human beings, evolve throughout their lives.
“I mean, look at the arc of this work,” says Dimond. “It is important to put it in his time, and in his time he repented.”
nicola mcclung, an associate professor of education at the university of san francisco whose focuses include literacy and children’s books (she’s also a co-founder of xochitl justice press), ultimately sees the topic as a potential teachable moment for children .
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“something we see a lot in children’s literature is dichotomous visions of good and evil,” says mcclung. “It’s helpful to get the kids out of it. good people can make mistakes; they can be influenced by the environment around them, which they obviously were.”
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