Nerd News: Did Dr. Seuss Coin the Word "Nerd"?

If this story isn't true, it certainly ought to be be:

The first documented use of the word Nerd is in the 1950 Dr. Seuss story, If I Ran the Zoo, in which a boy named Gerald McGrew made a large number of delightfully extravagant claims as to what he would do, if he were in charge at the zoo. Among these was that he would bring a creature known as a Nerd from the land of Ka-Troo.

... “And then, just to show them, I’ll sail to Ka-Troo. And Bring Back an IT-KUTCH, a PREEP and a PROO, a NERKLE, a NERD, and a SEERSUCKER, too!”

I must say, though, that how you pronounce the word has a lot to do with it.  The best version I've ever heard is a Scottish accent: "nerd" turns magnificently into "naaaaaiiiirrrrrrrd."