Two weeks…

4 Comments

. . . 'til Dr. Seuss's hundredth birthday, on March 2.

Back in 1992, I read somewhere (probably on some newsgroup) a nice little article which suggested that we (the sf community) really ought to give Dr. Seuss some kind of lifetime achievement award. The idea was presented somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but I thought it was a great idea. (I've always had a vague notion that Paul di Filippo wrote it, but I can't find any evidence of that.)

But no, the sf world let Seuss's 90th slip by without fanfare.

But this year we have another chance.

Dr. Seuss was almost certainly the first writer of science fiction or fantasy that most American fans ever read. His works featured talking animals, strange nonhuman intelligences, weird made-up words for things that don't exist in the real world, and unusual foodstuffs (surely someone must've written Soylent Green Eggs and Ham by now). They featured microscopic intelligent life forms, and creatures that were a recombined mix of two different species, and various kinds of magic. In many cases, they addressed real-world issues and concerns through the metaphor of a fictional story about an unreal world. They were often, in various ways, about the power of the imagination; many of them had plenty of sensawunda. One of them even features a zoological and linguistic exploration of a speculative alphabet.

I'm not sure what award there is that he'd be eligible for. There aren't so many lifetime achievement-type awards in the field to start with, and a lot of awards, quite rightly, focus on living authors. I imagine Seuss Enterprises wouldn't even notice the award.

But I think it would be a great symbolic gesture.

Anyone have suggestions for awards committees we could pester about this?

4 Responses to “Two weeks…”

  1. Jennifer Pelland

    I’m sure his widow would be very appreciative. I grew up in Theodore Geisel’s hometown, and even went to the same high school (which wasn’t too far from Mulberry Street), and she’s always been very sweet and thankful for all that Springfield has done in his honor.

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  2. Greg Beatty

    Jed, it may be too late to get a formal, existing awards committee in gear. (Sparking a committee takes time!)

    But is it too late to just get things together and do this? Meaning, I’ll kick in some money if Strange Horizons want to send a plaque and flowers to his widow, and/or start an award for work that continues his spirit of whimsy.

    If an award can’t be secured in such a short time, she might welcome flowers, a letter from the SH staff, and a certificate of intent, to start the new Seuss century.

    And if you decide now, I mean right now (today, or tomorrow), I can write an article on the good doctor for the occasion. Of course, you’d have to shoulder your way into the SH NF schedule to hit his birthday, but I leave that up to you.

    Jed?

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  3. mike whybark

    the piece is in the ’90 Nebula collection, and is by di Filippo. It’s called “My Alphabet Starts Where Your Alphbet Ends.”

    I’m not finding it on the web any more, but Google’s usenet archive sounds like a promising place to look.

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  4. mike whybark

    whoops, ’88 colleection, Nebulas 24, sorry.

    here’s your old posting: http://groups.google.com/groups?q=di+filippo+seuss&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&c2coff=1&selm=59169%40apple.Apple.COM&rnum=1

    nothing otherwise.

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