Featured Post

THE WAVES OF OUR LIVES!

Having recently been invited by a dear friend to spend a week at a beautiful cabin on the North Shore of Lake Superior, I’m reminding ...

Sunday, September 30, 2012

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 CafĂ©.

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!

Thursday, September 27, 2012

A CITY REPRIEVE and A LOOK AT LABYRINTHS


Lately I’ve been searching more and more for ways to calm my mind, and at the same time find a balance that’s too often absent in my life.  I want to return to simple walks that are enjoyable and also lead to a healthier me. This morning I followed my intuition and found a quiet, meditative place that I’ve often thought of, but rarely visited. Amazingly, I only encountered one other person while I was there. It was just what I needed and craved.






 

The Millennium Garden in Plymouth, Minnesota is an incredibly beautiful place.  What I’m especially drawn to is the labyrinth and the simple beauty surrounding it. 

 

A STONE LABYRINTH IN SWEDEN
 
A LABYRINTH IN A FRANKFURT, GERMANY CHURCH, WITH TEALIGHTS

 
A BOSTON COLLEGE MEMORIAL LABYRINTH
 
Labyrinths, I’ve learned, date back at least 4,000 years.  They’re used by people of all different faiths and cultures around the world.  The walking paths are wonderfully meditative and helpful in quieting your mind and finding balance in your life.  Staying on the path leads to the center, but you can exit at any point; there’s no right or wrong way to follow it.  It’s a way to let go of your cares, ask questions, and escape from the frenzied world we live in.  It’s a path to well-being and simple joy, and I plan to make it more a part of my life. 

Monday, September 17, 2012

THE WAVES OF OUR LIVES!


Having recently been invited by a dear friend to spend a week at a beautiful cabin on the North Shore of Lake Superior, I’m reminding myself every day of how incredibly blessed I am.  First, to have such a kind, generous friend I love to spend time with, and secondly, to have a serene and magical place to rest and re-generate and watch the waves roll in hour after hour.  Tonight I stood next to the shore, staring at the endless waves and gorgeous pink sky overhead.  There was no one nearby.  I felt that life couldn’t be any more perfect.  Blessed solitude!

But, like many of us, I’m reminded that those waves of my past haven’t always been so easy to navigate.  At times I’ve created my own obstacles and roadblocks and at other times LIFE just happened—often joyful, but at times also extremely painful and difficult.  Often I was searching for something else “out there,” and the wisdom of others always seemed better than my own.  My insecurity and anxiety no doubt fueled the search and lack of trust in my own abilities.  But now none of that seems to matter. 

 


 

 
The waves remind me of the timelessness of life. Everything else seems insignificant. The intensity of the waves often changes, just as the events in my life and those close to me.  But I’m on more solid footing now and I can appreciate the view more than ever.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

A LIFE REMEMBERED!


As I sit in Target sipping on coffee while listening to people ordering their specialty drinks, my mind strangely wanders to a desperately poor man, an ancestor of mine who lived in parts of two different centuries.  His ancestors had first come to this country from England in 1635, and within a relatively short period of time, they became prominent members of Connecticut history.  Much has been written about them, and William and Elizabeth Tuttle are buried on the grounds of what became Yale University.

My great-great-great grandfather Rensselear Tuttle, who was nicknamed “Rancy” had a much different path.  He was born in Connecticut in August of 1789, the year George Washington became our first president in a unanimous vote of the electoral college.  It was also the year that the Bill of Rights was adopted and the first Thanksgiving Day was observed. That same year the Department of Treasury was founded and Alexander Hamilton was appointed as Secretary of the Treasury.  It was a trail of historic events in Rancy’s first year of life. I wonder what his early years were like and if he was aware of all the historic events around him as he grew to manhood. He was the oldest of eight children. His parents, Bostwick and Luania were very young parents and by 1810 they had moved to New York. It was there that Rensselear married Clarissa Crozier. By 1830 they journeyed on to Ohio where they lived for many years.  Clarissa became a mother for the last time at the age of 47; Rensselear was already 55. What a surprise that must have been!

By the 1860’s three of their sons were enlisted in the Civil War.  One of those sons, William, became a prominent and well-to-do Wisconsin legislator in 1858. Rancy and Clarissa lived with him at one point.

The two of them spent the last years of their lives with their children in various parts of Wisconsin, the last area being Clark County, where I grew up.  They were considered paupers and received a meager sum of $2.00 a week from the township they lived in for their care.  I have a hard time imagining how they survived on that amount, but there was no social security until many years later. From accounts I’ve read, when Clarissa and Rancy died, they were probably buried in unmarked lots near many other family members.  There are several graves marked with a simple wooden cross.  An obituary notice in an 1880 local paper tells of the school house where the service for Rensselear took place.

When Rancy died in July of 1880, he was one of the oldest people living in Clark County.  He had lived through the administrations of many presidents, the last being James Garfield, who became president in 1880.  That same year Helen Keller was born.

MY GRANDMOTHER MYRTLE TUTTLE (far right), about twenty-five years after her great-grandfather Rensselear died; this photo is from the same county where Rancy lived.
 
Rensselear experienced major historical events during his ninety-plus years, and although very poor, he will never be forgotten. This is one small way that I can pay tribute to him and keep his memory alive.  My grandmother Myrtle was nearly five when he died.  I wish I could go back and ask her if she had ever met him.  He must have had some amazing stories to tell.  I can only imagine!

Monday, September 3, 2012

PAWS AND REFLECT!


"CATS ARE CONNOISSEURS OF COMFORT."  (James Herriot)




HAPPY IS THE HOME WITH AT LEAST ONE CAT!  (Italian proverb)

Today, a quiet Sunday before a holiday, I spent part of the day on the porch playing board games with my grandchildren and observing Rocky, the social and lovable house cat who’s almost always in a relaxed mode.  When my grandson and I started playing CAREERS, Rocky took his pedestrian walk across the board and then curled up in the comfortable game box.  Not only does he try to find the most adorable pose, but he makes me pause to reflect and wonder why I can’t be more relaxed and carefree like that, at least part of the time. But just being around him makes me soften and smile a lot.  At times we strike up an odd sort of conversation and dance.  Suffice it to say that I’ve grown to love this cat. 

I didn’t grow up loving cats though, mostly because I’d never really been around them.  I was often afraid that when I did see one, it would sense my fear and jump right up on me.  That would have sent me in a panic!  I’d always had a dog in my life and they seemed far more predictable and affectionate. I still love dogs and am anxious to meet my new grand dog Hank.  He’s my son and daughter-in-law’s new lab addition to their household. I hear lots of stories about him and find myself wondering how he and Rocky would get along if they ever met, which isn’t likely to happen, but fun to speculate about.  I’ve learned that there’s a world of difference between dogs and cats, but now I’ve come to love them both.  And since I’m living with one adorable cat, I’m finding a little more joy and fun in every day. 


"ALWAYS TURN AND LOOK WHEN YOUR CAT GAZES BEHIND YOU WITH THAT INTENT LOOK IN HER EYES.  SOME DAY THERE MIGHT ACTUALLY BE SOMETHING THERE."  (anonymous)

These are a few Rocky photos of the day, with added commentary so there’s time to PAWS AND REFLECT. 
"Thousands of years ago cats were worshipped as gods.  Cats have never forgotten this."  (anonymous)
"Dogs come when they're called; cats get back to you later."  (Mary Bly)
"There is no snooze button on a cat who wants breakfast."  (unknown)
"Time spent with cats is never wasted."  (May Sarton)
"No matter what you've done wrong, always try to make it look like the dog did it."  (unknown)