Famed author – and La Jolla resident – Theodor Seuss Geisel wrote dozens of his beloved children’s literature here, inspired by local features.
March 2 is Read Across America Day, celebrated annually to promote a love for reading and named for late, famed author Dr Seuss in honor of his birthday, so grab a book (audiobooks count!) and head to a sunny La Jolla spot to luxuriate in a bit of literature.
Unsure where to go? For this unofficial holiday, may we suggest Scripps Park at La Jolla Cove? Not only is it a scenic place to read, but Dr Seuss, who lived in La Jolla for about 43 years, based a few of his beloved stories on iconic coastal features specific to this oceanside community.
Theodor Seuss Geisel, known as Dr. Seuss, is pictured at the La Jolla Art Center in 1964.
San Diego History Center
Dr Seuss, born Theodor Seuss Geisel on March 2, 1904 in Springfield, Ma, moved to La Jolla in 1948, buying an old observation tower on Encelia Drive with his first wife, Helen, around which they built their estate.
During his time in La Jolla, Geisel wrote dozens of books, including “Horton Hears a Who” (1954), “The Cat in the Hat” (1957) and “Green Eggs and Ham” (1960).
After Helen’s death in 1967, Geisel married his second wife, Audrey, and continued to write and engage in philanthropy projects, donating to many La Jolla institutions, a tradition Audrey continued past Geisel’s death in 1991 until her own death in 2018.
The Monterey cypress
“The Lorax” and the Truffula Trees, inspired by La Jolla’s Monterey cypress tree in Scripps Park.
The Lorax by Dr. Seuss. Random House
As the stories go, Geisel wrote “The Lorax” in 1971 after being frustrated with billboards and other development encroaching on La Jolla’s seaside serenity.
In “The Lorax,” the fictitious Truffla trees – cut down ruthlessly for profit – are based on a decades-old Monterey cypress that grew in Scripps Park until it collapsed in 2019.
Scripps Park, 2016
Rhododendrites
Though the exact tree thought to have been the Truffula model has fallen, Scripps Park is still peppered with Monterey cypress trees (and others like the California juniper and Australian tea tree), albeit smaller in stature than the original. These make excellent pockets of shade under which to relax with your favorite story or dog-eared copy of “The Lorax.”
The garibaldi
Geisel also looked over the Scripps Park fence into the ocean for inspiration, finding it in the garibaldi, a bright orange fish native to southern California.
Named for colorfully-dressed, 19th-century Italian general Giuseppe Garibaldi, the fish, a territorial damselfish, is also the state marine fish of California, making it illegal to fish, possess or otherwise disturb it.
Geisel used the garibaldi as the mold for a recurring fish character in many of his stories.
More Seuss-spiration
Looking for other places to read or find Dr Seuss materials? Try Geisel Library at UC San Diego, the university’s distinctive eight-story, brutalist/futurist library that houses original, archival materials donated by Audrey after Geisel’s death.
Originally called University Library, the structure was renamed Geisel Library in honor of the Geisels for their commitment to promoting literacy and education.
With its extensive “The Art of Dr Seuss” collection, Legends Gallery in The Village is worth a gander while exploring La Jolla. Check out the breadth of pieces and maybe take home your own.
