A ST. PAUL LEGEND--CHARLES SCHULZ, CREATOR OF 'PEANUTS'

 

On November 26, it will be ninety years since the birth of an amazing American cartoonist who brought joy and laughter to millions of people around the world. Charles Schulz, better known as “Sparky” had a passion for drawing cartoons from the time he was a young boy.  He enjoyed observing people in different situations and described it as “mental drawing.”

Charles received his nickname from an uncle shortly after his birth.  The name came from a horse featured in a popular comic strip called Barney Google.  He remained “Sparky” throughout the rest of his life.

Sparky’s parents encouraged him to draw.  He and his father read and analyzed the comic strips in papers and Sparky often drew things with an unusual twist. His kindergarten teacher recognized that and once said, “Someday, Charles, you’re going to be an artist.”

The insults Charles experienced as a child often worked their way into his cartoons, as well as people he interacted with. His best friend’s mother played the piano and loved Beethoven.  Later PEANUTS character Schroeder played Beethoven’s music on his toy piano in Sparky’s comic strips. Sparky had a great sense of humor and his comics often reflected that. He once said, “There are no artists in the family, but there are a lot of funny people.”

Growing up in St. Paul, Minnesota Sparky loved playing hockey, and his father even turned the backyard into a skating rink.  I found myself especially relating to the picture of his grandmother playing goalie against him.  In 1993 he was even inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. 

But hockey wasn’t his only love.  He also played baseball, and that too showed up in his cartoons, as the well-known character he created (Charlie Brown) often wound up on the losing end in ball games. 

SPARKY AS A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT IN ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA

 

Sparky was a shy, skinny teenager and was eager to finish school.  More than anything he wanted his drawings to succeed and receive credit.  He was frustrated that his drawings never made it into his high school yearbook, even though they were submitted, and many years later he admitted, “That was a crushing blow.”

Those who encouraged him along the way, however—his parents, his high school art teacher, and others were fondly remembered.  He wanted desperately to become a professional cartoonist, and at the age of fourteen, his first drawing was accepted—that of his unusual dog Spike who sometimes ate pins, tacks, and razor blades.  Sparky got the drawing of Spike published in Ripley’s Believe It or Not. 

Sparky’s parents paid for him to enroll in a drawing correspondence course during his senior year in high school.  They paid for it in small installments every month. They knew how much he loved drawing and encouraged him in every way they could.

Not long after that he was drafted into the army.  As he prepared to leave for training, his mother became ill and died in early 1943.  It was a rough blow for Sparky, who was very close to her.  It was Dena, his mother who told him to name his next dog Snoopy, which he did years later.  Snoopy became the famous and talented daredevil in Sparky’s PEANUTS comic strip.  Snoopy was the dreamer, like Sparky.

After Sparky’s time in the army, he worked on comic strips for a St. Paul company and studied students artwork and drawings for another school.  Eventually he started drawing pictures of kids and he used the names Linus and Charlie Brown from friends he met at the art instruction school. 

Sparky received a big break when he got some of his cartoons published in the St. Paul newspaper and the Saturday Evening Post magazine.  From there his cartooning took off rapidly.  By 1950 his PEANUTS comic strip ran in seven newspapers across the country. 

Sparky’s first love, a woman who also worked at the art school and had red hair, ended in bitter disappointment for him.  He had hoped to marry her, but it never worked out.  She did, however, become his inspiration for the red-haired girl in his cartoons. 

By 1951 Sparky married and adopted his new wife’s one-year old daughter.  They moved to Colorado from Minnesota and it was there that he created “outrageous” Lucy, who reminded him of his own new daughter.  Linus, always the curious one, was added after the development of Lucy.

Colorado was a brief stay, and within a year, Sparky and his young family were back in Minneapolis.  His cartoon work grew, as did his income, and his cartoons became wildly popular on college campuses.  Within a few years one hundred newspapers were carrying his PEANUTS cartoons. 

Sparky and his wife Joyce had five children, and by 1958 they had moved to California, where a former friend lived.  She had encouraged them to leave the snow and cold of Minnesota behind.

By 1965 Charles Schulz, widely popular cartoonist had his first television program, A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS, which now nearly fifty years later, has become a classic.  I still enjoy watching it with my grandchildren, as Charlie Brown searches for the meaning of Christmas.  One of my favorite parts is watching Charlie decorate his simple little tree with help from his friends. 

More television specials followed, including a CHARLIE BROWN THANKSGIVING.  In 1966 his Christmas special won an Emmy award and Sparky accepted it saying, “Charlie Brown is not used to winning, so we say thank you.”

As time went on, Snoopy, Charlie’s adventurous dog became an astronaut in one of Sparky’s comic strips, and in 1969 the Apollo 10 space crew named the command module Charlie Brown and the lunar module Snoopy.

Sparky and his wife divorced in 1972, but his comic strips continued.  By late 1973 he re-married.  Ironically, he met his wife at the Warm Puppy Café.

Sparky always remembered his early cartooning days and was eager to help others new to the business.  He was an avid reader and remained curious about life. Snoopy often reflected what Sparky was feeling in his own life.  At times Sparky researched events that he wanted to portray in his comic strips.  That was especially true of the fiftieth anniversary of the D-Day invasion.  His own experience as a young army soldier in World War II had strengthened him mentally and physically.  He never forgot the importance of D-Day, a turning point in the war, and wanted to honor those who had fought so valiantly.  He spent a lot of time researching the historical event and created a lengthy comic strip.

In doing research about Sparky, what delighted me was his comment that “It’s hard to convince people when you’re just staring out the window that you’re doing your hardest work of the day.”  Sometimes ideas for him were slow to come and at other times they came in waves.  Boy, could I relate!

For over fifty years Sparky drew and wrote his own cartoon strips.  He had a wonderful sense of humor, which was reflected in his cartoons.  He loved spreading happiness and imparting lessons learned in his own life.  I’ll always remember Charlie Brown saying “Good grief” and Lucy’s “Rats.”   And who could forget Charlie’s endless attempts to kick the football, only to have Lucy pull the ball away at the last minute.  I kept hoping that just once Charlie Brown could show her! 

 

In later years Sparky won a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and an induction into the Cartoonist Hall of Fame.  How proud his parents would have been to see that!

I enjoyed reading Sparky’s one-time comment to a journalist, “I’m a little bit of all the characters because that’s what I draw.  I used to be more Lucy than I am now. . but I’ve learned to temper my sarcastic remarks.”

In 1999 Sparky learned that he had colon cancer and decided to retire from the comic strip he created.  His medical problems were serious and it was hard for him to accept.  His final cartoon appeared in February of 2000, and Sparky died the night before.

Charles Schulz left an amazing legacy and once said, “If I were given the opportunity to present a gift to the next generation, it would be the ability for each individual to learn to laugh at himself.”  I’m trying hard Sparky, and it gets easier as I age.

CHARLES SCHULZ, WINNER OF THE CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR

 

In remembering Sparky, a Minnesota legend, here are a few of his memorable quotes.

     “Don’t worry about the world coming to an end today.  It is already tomorrow in Australia.”

     “Life is like an ice-cream cone.  You have to lick it one day at a time.”

     “Sometimes I lie awake at night and ask, “Where have I gone wrong?”  Then a voice says to me, “This is going to take more than one night.”

SPARKY WITH HIS WIFE AND HIS POPULAR 'SNOOPY' CREATION IN CALIFORNIA

 

I often see PEANUTS statues on my drives around the Twin Cities, and it always makes me smile.  Maybe Sparky’s smiling somewhere too!