“If I were invited to a dinner party with my characters, I wouldn’t show up.” – Dr. Seuss

The incomparable cartoonist, author and inspiration to children — and adults — everywhere died this week (Sept, 24) in 1991, having written 46 children’s books that sold more than 200 million copies.  Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel — Seuss was his middle name — had wanted to be a college professor, but his talent for “doodling” quirky characters and his gift for tongue-twisting rhymes and inventive wordplay convinced him that he should become a writer and illustrator, and he loved writing for children most of all.  And children, most of whom were bored to tears by the so-called educational benefits of Fun With Dick and Jane and See Spot Run, loved him in return.

His first book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street was rejected by 27 publishers before Vanguard Press took a chance.  It became an instant success, and Bennett Cerf, president of Vanguard’s parent company, Random House, later said, “I’ve published any number of great writers, from William Faulkner to John O’Hara, but there’s only one genius on my author’s list.  Ted Geisel.”

His other famous books include Green Eggs and Ham, which he wrote after betting an editor he could write a book using only 50 words, The Cat in the Hat, Yertle the Turtle, and arguably his most famous, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, which became an award-winning television Christmas special seen by tens of millions through the years.

Perhaps his most famous character, however, was the elephant Horton, who first starred in Horton Hatches an Egg, in which Horton is duped into sitting on a bird’s egg until it hatches, which he doggedly does through bad weather and other inconveniences — “I meant what I said and I said what I meant.” Horton explains, “An elephant’s faithful 100 percent.”  Sure enough, his persistence pays off when (a typical Seuss twist) the hatched bird turns out to be part elephant.

Horton reappears in Horton Hears a Who, which caused some controversy because Horton’s recurring line, “A person’s a person no matter how small!”, was adopted by pro-life groups to signal Seuss’s anti-abortion leanings. However, Seuss disavowed the claim, stating he was merely writing to entertain.

And entertain he did, not only children, but also adults.  His book You’re Only Old Once! dealt with the challenges of aging, while his last book before he died, Oh, the Places You’ll Go!¸ was a whimsical look at life’s journey and the roadblocks one must face.

Seuss once aptly described his writing style.  “I may doodle a couple of animals,” he explained, “and if they bite each other, it’s going to be a good book.”

When country music icon Johnny Cash made his singing debut at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry in 1957, he strode on stage wearing nothing but black, a sharp contrast to the colorful costumes that both the audience and his fellow performers were wearing.  Thus did he both earn the nickname, “The Man in Black,” and earn the image of an outlaw.

Which he was and wasn’t.  Certainly Cash had his demons.  He spent years of his life abusing both alcohol and drugs, which contributed to the breakup of his first marriage and nearly derailed his career.  But he was also a devout Christian — he described those years of drug and alcohol abuse as him “straying from God” — and he was a committed penitent who studied the Bible and even made a movie about the life of Jesus.

And he was humbled by his loss of grace, and empathized with all who were downtrodden or struggling with their own demons — he wore black on behalf of the poor and hungry, he once said, “and the prisoner who has long paid for his crime.”

Speaking of which, having written and recorded “Folsom Prison Blues” in 1955 — a song that looks at life through the eyes of a condemned man — Cash received hundreds of letters from inmates at Folsom Prison, and other prisons, asking that he perform for them, which he did many times, and his live album “Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison,” is a classic that reached Billboard magazine’s “Top 100” at a time — the late 1960s — when the music industry was mostly ignoring country music to promote Rock ‘n Roll.  As one admiring Rock musician, U2’s lead singer, Bono, later put it, “Johnny doesn’t sing for the damned.  He sings with the damned.”

Cash’s overt religious faith was, in many cases, detrimental to his career and estranged him from many of his fellow country artists, who thought he had sold out to religion. “They’d rather I be in prison than church,” Cash said, but his answer to his critics was simple.  “I am not a Christian artist. I am an artist who is Christian.”

Cash’s faith, if one looks for it, can be heard in many of his songs, including “I Walk the Line,” arguably his most famous song.   “I keep a close watch on this heart of mine,” he sang, because he was always walking the line between Christian faith and temptation, but in the end he chose his faith, and his millions of fans loved him for it.  In an industry replete with shallow and phony people he was the real deal.

Cash died this week (Sept. 12) in 2003, a sinner redeemed.  “The Man in Black” had seen the light.

The adjective “historic” is not often followed by the noun “picnic,” but that fairly describes the event that occurred this week (July 6) in 1957.  It was at a church picnic near Liverpool, England — where they both lived — that 15-year-old Paul McCartney met 16-year-old John Lennon.  Lennon’s band, The Quarrymen, was playing at the picnic and between sets McCartney played a few tunes for the band members, which impressed Lennon enough to invite McCartney to join.

At first McCartney did not take seriously his “gig” with The Quarrymen — even skipping his first performance with the band to go on a scouting trip — but as their musicianship improved and their fan base grew, McCartney began to think the band, which soon changed its name to Johnny and the Moondogs, might have a future.  He even convinced Lennon to let his friend George Harrison join the band on lead guitar.

The following year, after Lennon’s friend Stu Sutcliff became the band’s base player, they changed their name again, to The Silver Beetles, and when drummer Pete Best signed up they became The Beatles, changing “Beetle” to “Beatle” to connote the “beat” of a song (although Lennon, who is credited with inventing the name, claimed it came to him in a vision).  Over the next few years The Beatles would change dramatically, losing Stu Sutcliff; acquiring a manager, Brian Epstein; replacing Pete Best with Ringo Star and finally getting a record contract with EMI Records under the brilliant producer, George Martin (sometimes called The 5th Beatle).

But the core remained the same — Lennon and McCartney. Although George Harrison became a gifted songwriter in his own right, the songwriting team of “Lennon & McCartney” became the most successful ever and changed popular music as no one had before them.  In their short, 8-year career The Beatles recorded 27 number-one songs, more than any other group in history, and sold an estimated 1 billion records worldwide.

Interestingly, although Lennon and McCartney agreed that any song written by one of them would be credited to both of them, they hardly ever wrote songs together.  And it shows.  McCartney’s songs generally are more upbeat and often include fictional characters (think “Rocky Raccoon”), while Lennon’s songs are more introspective and personal (“In My Life”).

It has been said that McCartney made The Beatles popular and Lennon made them matter, and there is much truth to that. After the band broke up in 1970 McCartney’s new band, Wings, became very popular but didn’t produce many memorable songs, while Lennon wrote several memorable songs but never achieved comparable popularity.

So … wouldn’t you agree that was certainly a historic picnic, the one held near Liverpool in July of 1957?

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!!