"Well, frankly I did expect it (success), because
it was something I had planned for since I was six years old." -Charles Schultz,
cartoonist.(*)
During his first week of school, histeacher looked at a drawing of snow. She
told Charles, that he would, someday be an artist. No one could have known
just how great an artist he would be. (1)
Charles often says he resembles Charlie Brown when he was young. As a youth,
Charles went by the name Sparky. Sparky was a shy, quiet kid. He wasn't a
great student, or athlete. He once took a correspondence course in cartooning,
and a course in "Drawing of Children" in which he earned a C+. (2)
Schultz's many comic strips were inspired by the different things that happened
to him in his life. Charles modeled Snoopy after his adventerous dog, Spike.
Charles first began drawing cartoons after he served
in the military during World War II. He first worked for a local Roman Catholich
Newspaper. One of his earliest characters was the much loved Charlie Brown.
He began a weekly single-panel comic in The St. Paul Pioneer Press called
"L'il Folks." He tried to expand his strip, but for legal reasons he changed
the name to "Peanuts." (A name he hated.)
It took several years before "Peanuts" caught the public's attention.
In 1952, Rinehart and Co. decided the strip was popular enough to be created
into a book. The much loved characters started showing up in calenders, toys,
puppets, games, books, stickers, videos. (3)
Since then Charles Schultz has become very poplular, his work appeared in over 2,300 newspapers. He has published more than 1,400 books, won Peabody and Emmy awards for his movies, and created the musical "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown". (4)
Charles Schultz published his last daily comic strip on January 3, 1999. He decided to concentrate on his treatments and recuperation from colon cancer. (5)
Charles died on February 12, 2000 He was 77 years old. He died from a heart attack after fighting his colon cancer for three months. (6)
