Audrey Grace Florine Stone (August 14, 1921 – December 19, 2018) was the second wife of American children's book author Theodor Geisel (a.k.a.

[2] When she was five, her mother moved into a nurses' dormitory at the Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital and sent her to live with a friend in New Rochelle, New York.

She worked in Massachusetts[3] and at the Coleman Obstetrical and Gynecological Hospital at the Indiana University Medical Center.

[4] Long after she finished working as a nurse, she continued renewing her credentials, refusing to "hang up the whites” officially.

"[1] The family moved to La Jolla, San Diego,[7][8] in 1960 for Dimond to join Scripps Clinic, while Geisel volunteered in cancer wards.

Of their first meeting she said, "As we went through the line, I noticed that when we got to Dr. Seuss, the inflection of the person introducing us was slightly different […] I thought, 'Well, it's for some reason.'

[12] In May 1968 Seuss wrote to friends, "Audrey and I are going to be married […] I am acquiring two daughters, aged nine and fourteen.

[13] After the legally required six-week wait, Geisel married Seuss on August 5, 1968, at the Washoe County Courthouse in Reno, Nevada.

"[18] The couple travelled widely around the world, including Cambodia, India, France, United Kingdom, Kenya, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Australia, New Zealand, Morocco, Israel, Lebanon, and many other countries and territories.

[19][20][21][22] When Seuss started losing his sight to glaucoma in 1975, Geisel served as his "eyes and driver".

In 1997 she initiated fundraising to create a Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden in the town, by donating $1m.

The garden includes bronze sculptures created by Geisel's daughter, Lark Grey Dimond-Cates.

[26] Fifteen years later, with Geisel's approval, Springfield opened The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum.

[27] In her introduction to The Complete Cat in the Hat Geisel wrote about Seuss's writing process and how she was responsible for collecting "as many paperback thrillers as I could find, bring them home, stash them in a secret location and bring them out one at a time" when he was stuck for ideas and needed a break.

[32] When Seuss was stuck while trying to write a book about conservation issues, Geisel suggested a trip to Kenya to get his mind off his work.

"[2] During an interview in 1986, Seuss noted that Geisel studied art and called her "the colour expert […] She always makes sure to tell me what's bad.

[39] Before Seuss died, Geisel had "the impression that I was going to be fairly involved in everything, […] it began to dawn on me that there was going to be a tremendous transition after his loss – I was going to do everything!

Geisel was President and CEO[41] and would "hold court each morning with aides at a La Valencia Hotel's restaurant[42] in San Diego […] arriving in a 1984 Cadillac with licence plate that said GRINCH.

After many redesigns, Geisel finally gave her approval in 1995, retaining a lot of creative control during the production process of Seuss Landing.

[46] In 1994, she signed a deal with Living Books, a joint venture between Broderbund Software and Random House, for the multimedia rights to Seuss's work.

)[52] As part of the bidding process, which included Tom Shadyac, the Farrelly brothers, Gary Ross and John Hughes, each interested party needed to pay $3 million to secure a meeting with Geisel.

[78] A portion of all sales of Dr. Seuss books is donated to the Foundation[79] which supports the arts, civic and public affairs, education, health, international relief, social services and religious welfare with a focus on California.

[80] In 1993, together with Kellogg's Corporation, the Foundation donated 500,000 books to nearly 2,000 schools which served disadvantaged children.

and donated $100,000 from the Foundation to help cover the costs of free tickets for San Diego's children who would be unable to afford to pay otherwise.

"[18] Some of the causes she supported included: Through the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)[90] the fund established the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for the "most distinguished American book for beginning readers".