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Dr. Seuss (Theodore Suess Geisel), the author of children's books, was chosen by the Lake Forest College class of 1977 to be its commencement speaker. He approached the podium and announced that he had been researching the function of a commencement address ever since he had been notified of his selection. A speaker, he had found, should give graduates all that he knew of the world's wisdom. Here, in its entirety, is the speech delivered by Dr. Seuss:
My uncle ordered popovers
from the restaurant's bill of fare.
And, when they were served, he regarded them
with a penetrating stare....
Then he spoke great Words of Wisdom
as he sat there on that chair:
"To eat these things," said my uncle,
"you must exercise great care.
You may swallow down what's solid...
BUT...you must spit out the air!"
And... as you partake
of the world's bill of fare,
that's darned good advice to follow.
Do a lot of spitting out the hot air.
And be careful what you swallow.
The college's administrators were caught off guard by the brevity of Dr. Seuss's speech, which left a gap in the schedule. To plug up the hole in the program, the dean delivered a 30-minute impromptu speech. We asked several members of the audience what the dean's talk was about, but no one could remember what he had said.
© 1977, Dr. Seuss. Reprinted from Chicago Magazine, September 1977
