Helen Marion Palmer Geisel (September 16, 1898 – October 23, 1967), known professionally as Helen Palmer, was an American children's writer, editor, and philanthropist. She was also the Founder and Vice President of
Beginner Books
Beginner Books is the Random House imprint for young children ages 3–9, co-founded by Phyllis Cerf with Ted Geisel, more often known as Dr. Seuss, and his wife Helen Palmer Geisel. Their first book was Dr. Seuss's ''The Cat in the Hat'' (19 ...
, and was married to fellow writer Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as
Dr. Seuss
Theodor Seuss Geisel (;"Seuss" '' Do You Know What I'm Going to Do Next Saturday?
''Do You Know What I'm Going To Do Next Saturday?'' is a 1963 children's book published by Beginner Books and written by Helen Palmer Geisel, the first wife of Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss). Unlike most of the Beginner Books, ''Do You Know What ...
'', ''I Was Kissed by a Seal at the Zoo'', ''Why I Built the Boogle House'', and '' A Fish Out Of Water''.
Life
Early life and college
Helen Palmer was born in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
neighborhood. As a child, she contracted
polio
Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...
, but recovered from it almost completely. Her father, George Howard Palmer, an
ophthalmologist
Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgery, surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders.
An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Followin ...
, died when she was 11.
She graduated from
Wellesley College
Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial g ...
with honors in 1920.Morgan (1995), p. 57 She then spent three years teaching English at
Girls High School
Girls High School is a historically and architecturally notable public secondary school building located at 475 Nostrand Avenue in the Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. It was built in 1886.''Brooklyn: a soup-to-nuts g ...
in Brooklyn before moving with her mother to England to attend
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
She later stated, "Ted's notebooks were always filled with these fabulous animals. So I set to work diverting him; here was a man who could draw such pictures; he should be earning a living doing that." They married in 1927. She could not have children because of medical conditions.
Post-war success
Following
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, she worked in Hollywood with her husband. The two shared the writing credit on ''
Design for Death
''Design for Death'' is a 1947 American documentary film that won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. It was based on a shorter U.S. Army training film, '' Our Job in Japan'', that had been produced in 1945–1946 for the soldiers oc ...
'', which won the 1947 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.Morgan (1995), p. 120-121
For the next decade, she was the primary source of encouragement for and was an editor of her husband's prolific books for children. That support continued a few years more even as her health became an issue.
Illness and suicide
Palmer committed
suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
in 1967 with an
overdose
A drug overdose (overdose or OD) is the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities much greater than are recommended.
of
barbiturates
Barbiturates are a class of depressant drugs that are chemically derived from barbituric acid. They are effective when used medically as anxiolytics, hypnotics, and anticonvulsants, but have physical and psychological addiction potential as ...
after a series of illnesses spanning 13 years. She wrote in her suicide note:
Dear Ted, What has happened to us? I don't know. I feel myself in a spiral, going down down down, into a black hole from which there is no escape, no brightness. And loud in my ears from every side I hear, 'failure, failure, failure...' I love you so much ... I am too old and enmeshed in everything you do and are, that I cannot conceive of life without you ... My going will leave quite a rumor but you can say I was overworked and overwrought. Your reputation with your friends and fans will not be harmed ... Sometimes think of the fun we had all thru the years ...
Eight months later, in June 1968, Seuss married the woman with whom he reportedly had been having an affair.
Nonetheless, Seuss later described how he felt at her death: "I didn't know whether to kill myself, burn the house down, or just go away and get lost." His niece Peggy commented: "Whatever Helen did, she did it out of absolute love for Ted." Secretary Julie Olfe called Palmer's death "her last and greatest gift to him."
Works
Helen Palmer's best-known book is ''
Do You Know What I'm Going To Do Next Saturday?
''Do You Know What I'm Going To Do Next Saturday?'' is a 1963 children's book published by Beginner Books and written by Helen Palmer Geisel, the first wife of Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss). Unlike most of the Beginner Books, ''Do You Know What ...
'', published in 1963. This book combined Palmer's stories with photographs by Lynn Fayman, as did two other books: ''I Was Kissed by a Seal at the Zoo'' (1962) and ''Why I Built the Boogle House'' (1964). The photographs in ''I Was Kissed by a Seal at the Zoo'' were taken at the
San Diego Zoo
The San Diego Zoo is a zoo in Balboa Park, San Diego, California, housing 4000 animals of more than 650 species and subspecies on of Balboa Park leased from the City of San Diego. Its parent organization, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, is a p ...
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, and featured children from the Francis Parker School in San Diego interacting with the zoo's animals and staff.
She also expanded the Dr. Seuss short story "Gustav the Goldfish" into the book '' A Fish Out Of Water'' (1961), which was illustrated by P. D. Eastman.