CHARLES M. SCHULZ

"Drawing cartoons is a great way to share your ideas. A cartoonist is no different from any other type of artist—he or she wants to express him/herself. There is a joy in playing the piano or painting a wonderful watercolor. There is also a joy in communicating a thought, whether serious or funny, to another person." (1996) Charles M. Schulz

On our recent trip to Northern California, we flew in and out of Sonoma County Airport, which is named for PEANUTS creator, Charles M. Schulz, who lived in Santa Rosa. Since our departing flight was delayed by about an hour, we made a quick trip over to the Charles M. Shulz Museum.  We were greeted at the entrance by no other than Charlie Brown himself...

The PEANUTS comic strip was a part of American Pop Culture for almost 50 years.  Schulz retired in 1999 and died a little over a year later on February 12, 2000, from colon cancer.  He was 77 years old.  (He'd drawn his last "farewell" comic strip on January 3, 2000.  It was scheduled to run on Sunday, February 13.  On February 7, California lawmakers declared the 13th as "Charles M. Schulz Day", to coincide with the printing of the final strip.  It did run that Sunday and ironically, Schulz died the day before it ran.)

I have fond childhood memories of the book, HAPPINESS IS A WARM PUPPY, (written by Schulz in 1962), as well as the animated television special A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS (1965), with unforgettable music by Vince Guaraldi.  Of course, all of these quickly became favorites of my own children in the 1990's!

In 1967, the stage musical YOU'RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN opened off Broadway; it has since become the most-produced musical in America.  From that play, David Benoit's version of  "HAPPINESS" sung by Al Jarreau, is one of my all-time favorites.  I can't listen to it without tears...