Why does the Grinch hate Christmas?
To most folks, he’s the scheming, green sourpuss who hated Christmas so much he tried to make it vanish completely. But the Grinch inspired a little more sympathy in his creator. To Dr. Seuss, he wasn’t a villain — just a guy whose heart, “two sizes too small,” needed a dose of the true spirit of the holiday. In fact, Seuss himself said that he identified with the fuzzy anti-hero. Just like the Grinch, Theodor Geisel, who wrote and illustrated dozens of books under the pseudonym Dr. Seuss, didn’t go in for the fancy celebrations surrounding the holiday. According to his niece Peggy Owens, he wasn’t “into the sentimentality” of the season. Still, he spent every Christmas at home with his family in Springfield, Massachusetts. For Morning Edition, NPR’s Elizabeth Blair reports on the origins of one of the most famous — and beloved — modern Christmas stories, Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas. As part of the ongoing series Present at the Creation, Blair traces the evolution of t
