‘Xylopotamus’ has never stopped playing

PERRY — He can’t be certain, but Jason Fuchs believes he once spotted a Xylopotamus when he was flipping through a Dr. Seuss book.

The animal he created was fighting for space on a crowded page with assorted Seuss characters.  

“I swore I saw this long-necked thing with a drum major hat in the crowd,’’ he said. “If it was, it would make me feel great … even if he (Seuss) just threw it in there and said, ‘Let me put this kid’s thing in the book. I can’t write a story about it, but we’ll put it in there and see if he ever notices.’ ’’

Fuchs was born in 1972, the year after his favorite Dr. Seuss book, “The Lorax,’’ was published. He graduated from Warner Robins High School in 1991, the year Theodor Seuss Geisel died.

He has been a teacher at Perry Middle School for 28 years. He teaches life science and social studies, so there aren’t abundant opportunities in his lesson plans to share the story of his childhood brush with fame.

But, earlier this week, Fuch brought a red three-ring binder from home and placed it on the corner of his classroom desk. It is the official scrapbook of when he was in the fifth grade, only a few years younger than his students are now.  

There are photographs, newspaper clippings and the original “Xylopotamus’’ character he drew for a contest in the spring of 1984. (There is also one replicated by his daughter, Addison when she was 7. She is now a senior at Perry High School.)

Perhaps the most treasured page in the binder is a personal note from Dr. Seuss, announcing Fuchs as the winner.

If everyone has their proverbial 15 minutes of fame, he is convinced this was his. 

“No one else can say they got a letter and a proclamation from Dr. Seuss,’’ he said. “It’s the one thing in my life I’ve done that no one else has.’’

That fame, however fleeting, still rears its head like a giraffe-necked Xylopotamus at this time every year. The beloved children’s author and illustrator was born March 2, 1904. So Sunday is celebrated as Dr. Seuss Day and the beginning of National Read Across America Week, an annual event fostered by the National Education Association to promote reading by students, teachers, parents and community volunteers.

In May 1984, Fuchs was a fifth grader at Clough Elementary School in Rome, New York, where his father was stationed at Griffiss Air Force Base. 

The following year — 40 years ago on the calendar — the family was   transferred to Warner Robins. 

But not before his Seuss-inspired character gave him the ride of his young life. 

To borrow a line from the Doctor — Oh, the places you’ll go.

As a reading assignment, students were instructed to find animals in Dr. Seuss books that started with every letter of the alphabet. The research turned up with something for every letter — except “X.”

A faculty member wrote to Seuss through his publicist to inquire why the letter was “X-cluded.’’

Much to the delight of the students and teachers, Seuss wrote back and apologized for the “X-asperating” oversight.

Seizing on a teaching moment, the youngsters were encouraged to create a cast of “X” characters.

“I wasn’t an artist, but I had always been able to draw a little bit,’’ Fuchs said. “It was something neat to do. An idea popped into my head and, when it comes easy, you just go ahead and do it.’’

He took his box of crayons and gave birth to a hippopotamus with a xylophone on its back. The “Xylopotamus” donned a red drum major’s hat and played the xylophone with its tail. It had a long neck, like a giraffe, so it could turn its head to watch its own musical performance. 

Fuchs said he was inspired after learning to play the trumpet in the school band that year.

Of the 100 entries, his was chosen as one of the 11 finalists. Seuss graciously agreed to judge the final round, informing the school that he had appointed the “Cat in the Hat” to be the official judge. Because of his busy schedule, his publicist was surprised the children’s author consented to participate.

“A letter was sent to the school, and I didn’t know I had won until they called me to the office,’’ Fuchs said.

 It was an “official proclamation” by Seuss, free-handed in ink and crayon with a drawing of the “Cat in the Hat.’’

“This is to announce to the City of Rome and the rest of the world that Jason Fuchs is the winner of the Animal X-ing Contest with his most amazing Xylopotamus. Signed, The Cat in the Hat and Dr. Seuss.”

There was a separate congratulatory letter, commending the students for their “X-traordinary hunt for the X-traordinary X-ample of Dr. Xeuxx fauna.’’

Both Fuchs and the school were the beneficiaries of a measure of notoriety. Stories were written in local and state newspapers. The Syracuse Post-Standard cleverly reported the story in the form of a Dr. Seuss rhyme.

His last name, Fuchs, is pronounced “Fox,’’ so it is not lost on him that “Fox in Socks” is the title of a Dr. Seuss book. He has been a foxhole of his own, of sorts, spending a year in Afghanistan in 2002-03 with the Army Reserve special forces.

He said “The Lorax” is his favorite Seuss book not only because he is a science teacher but because of its message about ecology and the importance of being good stewards of the earth. He went with his family to see the movie when it opened in the theatres on the March 2 birthday of Dr. Seuss in 2012.

“We should be protecting our world for our kids,’’ he said. “If we mess it up now, they’re not going to have what we had.’’

Over the years, Fuchs has joyfully shared the memory with his wife, Beth, and children, Spencer and Addison. He has had parents of some of his students bring him the Seuss book, “Oh, the Places You’ll Go,” and ask him to write a note in it to their children.

He doesn’t bring it up at dinner parties or think about it every day, but it’s a nice memory. 

“It does mean more to me now, especially having something he created in his own writing and autograph,’’ he said.

And, even if he was wrong about spotting his creation on that busy page of zany Seuss characters, no one can take away the conversation piece he has held onto for more than 40 years.

The Xylopotamus has never stopped playing.