The strip above may be lost forever, due to some truly unusual circumstances. Read more below...
These articles are arranged from the most recent down, so you'll always find the newest news about Charlie Brown and his friends toward the top; older articles will be located further down, or on previous pages.
Its a good exhibit, Charlie Brown
April 26, 2005
By Mike Peters
The Dallas Morning News
When you make a living creating a cartoon about dogs, life is full of warm, fuzzy moments. But Patrick McDonnell, who writes and draws Earl the dog in his comic strip Mutts, has a particularly vivid one.
In 1999, Mr. McDonnell was hanging out at the skating rink at the Charles Schulz Museum and Research Center in Santa Rosa, Calif. The creator of the worlds most famous beagle came up behind him and said, Patrick, come with me. Ive got something to show you that will blow your socks off.
Mr. McDonnell followed Charles Schulz to his studio -- and grabbed for his socks Hed done a panel with the Peanuts gang looking at a picture of Earl.
Mr. Schulz died a few months later, but his legacy is immense.
Snoopy was my first dog, Mr. McDonnell says, and one of the great joys of being a cartoonist has been the chance to meet my idol, Charles Schulz, and have him become my mentor and my friend.
Mr. McDonnell was preparing last week for the opening Saturday of a new show he curated for the Schulz Museum Top Dogs Comic Canines Before and After Snoopy.
After the museum invited him to pull the show together about a year ago, the artist compiled a list of every dog featured in the century-plus history of newspaper comics. Then he began to court museums and collectors for significant examples.
It starts with what people consider the first comic, the Yellow Kid. Its not the original piece of art, but its an actual page from an 1896 Sunday newspaper, showing the Yellow Kid at a dog show.
We ended up with about 50 pieces in the show. Snoopy is right in the middle, since he came on the scene in 1950.
In addition to everyones favorite World War I flying ace, there are cartoons from Blondie, Napoleon, Little Orphan Annie, Pogo, Pickles, Luann, The Far Side, Dilbert, Red & Rover, Mother Goose & Grimm, Duncan, For Better or For Worse, Rhymes With Orange and Marmaduke. And two Mutts originals.
Ones a Sunday piece with Earl, he says. The other is a black-and-white daily from a shelter series. He draws a series each fall to commemorate National Animal Shelter Week, an award-winning effort.
When I was growing up, my family always had cats, for some reason, Mr. McDonnell says from his home in New Jersey. He got his first dog late in life, he says, and the flesh-and-blood Earl is the inspiration for Mutts Hes a Jack Russell terrier who turned 16 in February.
Seattle publisher revives Peanuts collection
April 26, 2005
By Cam Johnson
NorthWest Cable News
KING 5 TV Station, Seattle, Washington (transcript)
SEATTLE -- When cartoonist Charles M. Schulz passed away, he left behind an amazing body of work, including half a century of his beloved comic strip, Peanuts. Now, a Northwest publishing company is bringing new life to this American classic.
Seattle publisher Fantagraphics is presenting Charles M. Schulzs entire comic series in chronological order, releasing a new Peanuts book every six months for more than 12 years. Thats 50 years of comics in 25 books.
What can you find in The Complete Peanuts thats not in other collections?
Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of strips, said Kim Thomson of Fantagraphics. Even though Peanuts has been the most extensively collected comic strip of all time, I think, a lot of the strips, particularly from the first decade, especially from the first four or five years, have never, even been collected. Re-reading them you can see that Schulz was really experimenting early on.
Fantagraphics co-owners Thomson and Gary Groth know a thing or two about experimental work. Theyve been on the cutting edge of the comic scene for nearly 30 years, producing edgy comics such as Love and Rockets, Hate and Eightball, which inspired the movie Ghost World.
People sometimes ask whether Peanuts is a little bit of a strange fit for a publisher thats done so much edgy, underground, really dark, adult work, Thomson said. Actually, Peanuts is very much the focus of many of our cartoonists. Its a huge, huge influence. Peanuts is a very dark, very sad and very melancholy strip at times. Its also a very funny and life-affirming strip; its got both of those sides.
To design collection, Fantagraphics employed the talents of avid Peanuts fan and cartoonist, Seth, author of Palookaville. It was the series design that ultimately won over Charles Schulzs widow, Jeannie Schulz.
After seeing the design that Seth came up with, we realized that Fantagraphics had the same sensibility that we had, the same devotion to the period that it came in, and to seeing it simply...the thought, the art, the line he gave us, Schulz said in a telephone interview from Santa Rosa, Calif., home to the Charles M. Schulz museum.
Resources
Theres another design feature that has librarians swooning the index. If you want to see when Charlie Brown first fell for Lucys football trick, youll find it on page 308.
Theres so many that I love, Schulz said, but I still see strips in the Fantagraphics books and I think Ive never seen that one before, thats really funny, how did he ever think of that?
The first three volumes of The Complete Peanuts are available now. They contain all the strips from 1950 through 1956.
Fantagraphics is also working on a complete Dennis the Menace series. The first volume is planned for release this fall.
Collectible Poster Series Teaches Disaster Preparedness Through Peanuts
April 25, 2005
PRNewswire
Severe weather can strike anywhere, and, unfortunately, adults and children alike are often unaware of the steps they can take to protect themselves and their property against natural disasters.
This lack of understanding is the reason MetLife Auto & Home is offering a free series of Peanuts-themed disaster preparedness posters called Play It Smart, Play It Safe! The posters, which are available through June 15, 2005, can help families get started with planning now, before a disaster strikes. (They can be ordered by calling 1-800-MET-LIFE, 1-800-638-5433, prompt 3).
The posters are useful in teaching elementary and middle school students the importance of preparedness, and can help teach students good habits that can last a lifetime-and quite possibly save lives, said Mike Neubauer, who leads MetLife Auto & Homes claim catastrophe team. Also, because of the Peanuts characters, including Snoopy, they look great on the wall of a bedroom, or in a classroom.
Ten thousand thunderstorms, 2,500 floods, 1,000 tornadoes, and 10 hurricanes impact the United States in the average year, resulting in approximately 500 deaths and $14 billion in damage, according to the National Weather Service.
The six posters in the Play It Safe, Play It Smart series are presented in a colorful, easy-to-read format. Each poster addresses a different peril, including Fires and Wildfires, Hurricanes, Tornadoes, Severe Thunderstorms, Earthquakes, and Floods. Along with a variety of helpful tips on ways families can plan ahead, the posters provide valuable information about what to do during disasters, how to prepare for an emergency, and informative Web sites for those seeking even more information.
The MetLife Auto & Home disaster preparedness posters have been endorsed by the American Red Cross and the Institute for Business and Home Safety. Both organizations recognize the importance of communicating a message of preparedness to as wide an audience as possible, said Neubauer. Simply put, these posters can benefit everyone.
MetLife Auto & Home, an affiliate of MetLife, Inc., is one of the nations leading personal lines property and casualty companies with approximately 2.7 million policies in force. For more information about MetLife Auto & Home, or to obtain additional safety material, visit MetLifes Web site at www.metlife.com.
Drawn to the dogs
Schulz gave a dog ideas and changed cartooning
April 23, 2005
By Mike Antonucci
The San Jose Mercury News
People probably have wondered what their dogs were thinking since the beginning of pets.
But they still werent prepared for Snoopy.
Curse you, Red Baron!
Thats the stuff, flowing from a pen-and-ink fountain of Peanuts antics, that changed everything.
Starting today, the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa is celebrating the comic-strip view of dogs and humans in an exhibit titled Top Dogs Comic Canines Before and After Snoopy.
The panels on display, about five dozen representing 40 artists, are a visual treat regardless of theme. Check out Clifford McBrides Napoleon strip, launched in the 1930s, and then take a fresh look at Scott Adams Dilbert, where Dogbert lurks. Almost all the material in the exhibit is original artwork.
You really see the scope and range of different cartoonists, says Patrick McDonnell, creator of the Mutts strip and co-curator of the exhibit. Its fascinating just to see the pen line of these artists.
Still, the craftsmanship seems secondary to its inspiration. And Snoopys evolution at Schulzs hand was based on a revelation that otherwise had eluded mankind.
Sparky, says McDonnell, referring to Schulz by his almost lifelong nickname, let us in on a secret what the dogs were really thinking.
At the same time, there was a perpetually fresh sense of surprise -- of limitless illumination -- that came with every Snoopy caper or melancholy moment.
He could take Snoopy and do anything with him, says Schulzs widow, Jean.
Schulzs approach wasnt brand new to the comics pages -- Buster Browns dog came with quips much earlier, McDonnell notes -- but Snoopy ultimately took canine personality to a new level.
The exhibit was put together with the notion that Peanuts and Snoopy presided over the transition from typical pet behavior to sublimely flexible animal characters. Everywhere you look today, theyre walking, talking, smart-mouthing and philosophizing.
Snoopys impact also went beyond cartooning. It was cultural, exemplifying the bonds that can exist between people and animals.
And in that context, there was at least one moment of cosmic dissonance for Schulz and his friend Lynn Johnston, who writes and draws For Better or For Worse and also contributed to the exhibit.
When Johnston told Schulz she was going to kill off her strips aged family dog, he reacted forcefully, according to Jean Schulz. He said, You cant do that.
But Johnston was equally adamant. She said, Yes, I can. Because thats real life.
Much of whats regularly on display at the museum is inseparable from the spirit of the Top Dogs exhibit.
Part of the Peanuts mythology, for instance, is the way Snoopy progressed from a relatively familiar pet, walking on all fours, to what McDonnell calls the perfect cartoon character, dancing with his bird friend Woodstock or flying his doghouse into combat with the baron.
For the most passionate fans, the museum also is the vault for exquisite trivia about all things Schulz, who died in 2000. For instance You know Lucy always pulled the football away from Charlie Brown. But a 1953 panel that will be on display until late May, as part of a 1950-1956 Peanuts exhibit, shows that he also successfully kicked it -- sans Lucys participation.
The Top Dogs exhibit will remain on display through Sept. 26. Among the oldest material is The Yellow Kid as it ran in a newspaper. Baby boomer favorites include Walt Kellys Pogo and Dennis the Menace, and theres a large presence for contemporary strips, including the The Far Side, Luann, Rhymes with Orange and Pickles.
If youre planning a trip to the museum, you may want to take into account plans by Santa Rosa to have 55 statues of Charlie Brown on display throughout the city starting May 22. Its a tribute to Schulz -- Its Your Town, Charlie Brown -- with the statues painted by area artists.
The artists can be seen in a paint-off on the afternoons of May 5-8; check times and location on the citys Web site -- http//ci.santa-rosa.ca.us -- by clicking on Visitor and then Peanuts on Parade.
Comic-strip canines
The Charles M. Schulz Museum celebrates dogs from the funny pages
April 22, 2005
By Cynthia Hubert
The Sacramento Bee
Growing up in New Jersey, Patrick McDonnell never had a puppy of his own. But he did have Snoopy.
The beloved beagle, companion to Charlie Brown in the comic strip Peanuts, was young Patricks fantasy dog. Snoopy inspired McDonnell to become the cartoonist who created Mutts, which features a cast of endearing animal and human characters that today grace the pages of more than 550 newspapers, including The Bee.
This weekend, in a tribute to Snoopy and the comic dogs who came before and after him, McDonnell will be in Santa Rosa to help open a new exhibit at the Charles M. Schulz Museum.
Top Dogs Comic Canines Before and After Snoopy will celebrate the history of canines in comic strips, from the first pup that appeared in Hogans Alley with the Yellow Kid in 1896 to Mutts pooch Earl, who is modeled after McDonnells Jack Russell terrier.
Yes, McDonnell eventually did get himself a real dog.
Hes sitting right here at my feet, looking at me, the cartoonist said last week in a telephone interview from his home in Edison, N.J.
Earl turned 16 last month, and hes just started to slow down a little, said McDonnell.
Not so the artists Mutts strip, which in its 11th year is enjoying international popularity. Featuring Earl, his kitty pal Mooch and their loving human guardians Ozzie, Millie and Frank, it has earned wide praise from critics and honors from the industry.
To me, Mutts is different from everything else on the comics page, said Rose Marie McDaniel, a Schulz museum board member who is curating the Top Dogs show with McDonnell. Its sweet. Its subtle. I love the drawing and I love the writing. Usually, comic strips are reflective of the person who creates them, and that most definitely is true of Mutts.
A dedicated animal activist who sits on the board of the Humane Society of the United States, McDonnell said he hopes the strips gentle philosophical messages encourage people to treat all living things with respect and compassion.
We share this planet with so many great creatures, dogs being one of the very best, he said.
Snoopy, who evolved from a canine who merely barked to a smooth-talking World War I flying ace, is arguably the most popular comic dog of all time. Peanuts debuted in 1950 and was running in 2,600 newspapers when creator Schulz died in 2000. Snoopy lives on in Peanuts reruns in The Bee and in papers across the country.
It was the Schulz museums administrators who dreamed up the Top Dogs exhibit, and they thought McDonnell would be a perfect curator.
I was honored that they asked me, he said. After all, dogs and Peanuts are two of the great loves of my life.
McDonnell and McDaniel helped track down collectors of cartoons with canine characters and landed dozens of original drawings.
They include classics of Buster Brown and his pooch, Tige, dating back to the early 1900s; of Little Orphan Annie and her dog, Sandy, a strip first published in 1924; and of Daisy, the pup from Blondie, which has been syndicated since 1930.
Joining those and other vintage canines will be dogs from current strips, including The Far Side, Dilbert, Rhymes With Orange, Marmaduke, and, of course, Mutts and Peanuts.
The exhibit, which opens Sunday and runs through Sept. 26, will feature more than 60 pieces of art, mostly original drawings, and some of the proceeds from the show will benefit the Humane Society of the United States. At 1 p.m. Sunday, visitors will be treated to presentations by cartoonist McDonnell and Humane Society President Wayne Pacelle.
I hope people will come away from the exhibit with a real appreciation for the art form of the comic strip, which is really underrated, McDonnell said. The inking is beautiful. People will be knocked out about the art.
In the early days of comics, dogs typically were secondary characters, without thoughts or ideas, McDonnell noted.
Snoopy was the first one who really became a major character. We got to see the secret world of dogs through his eyes.
Mutts followed in Snoopys footsteps. McDonnells animal characters walk on all fours but have distinct personalities and communicate complex feelings, including joy, sadness and anger. Not all of them live in loving homes. Characters include a neglected dog chained in his back yard and unwanted pets who live behind bars in animal shelters.
Earl and Mooch have happy homes, but its really tough for a lot of other animals on the planet, said McDonnell. So I started thinking that it should become part of the strip.
Several times a year, McDonnell pens a series he calls Shelter Stories, featuring stray and abandoned creatures longing for homes. Their words and images tug at the heart and force readers to think about the plight of homeless animals.
Yes, it was a touch of a risk, because people do want to be entertained in the comics, and I want to do that, he said. But I see the comics as an art form, capable of dealing with a lot of issues and emotions. Nothing makes me happier than when people tell me they were inspired to adopt an animal because they were touched by the Shelter Stories.
Generating new and creative story ideas, McDonnell said, remains the toughest part of his work, and occasionally he finds himself at a loss.
But the dog and the cat are always around, so they are helpful, he said. If I can capture their spirit, Ive done my job.
Unlike his namesake in Mutts, the real Earl has a rather volatile relationship with the cat who shares his home. Meemow is a formerly feral tabby with an attitude, said McDonnell.
My wife, Karen, and I had Earl for nine years before introducing him to the cat, he said. Meemow was not nuts about dogs or humans, and Earl was totally excited about having a cat in the house. So it took a couple of months for them to adjust.
But everything is fine now, McDonnell said. They have learned to tolerate each other. Sometimes, we actually catch them sleeping on the same couch together.
Namco awarded license to publish Peanuts video games
Legendary comic strip coming to multiple video game platforms
April 20, 2005
Namco press release
SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Leading video games publisher and developer Namco Hometek Inc. today announced that United Media has awarded Namco the interactive entertainment publishing rights to Peanuts, the renowned comic strip created by Charles M. Schulz. The partnership allows Namco to create and publish games featuring Peanuts characters and properties, including Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Peppermint Patty, Linus and Pigpen for all current and upcoming game platforms through 2009.
Peanuts is one of the most celebrated comic strips of all time, and Charlie Brown and his friends have firmly cemented their place as American icons of the highest order, said Jeff Lujan, Business Director at Namco Hometek, Inc. We relish this opportunity to continue these beloved characters storylines through the medium of games and are honored to introduce this cherished property to an all-new generation of gamers.
Debuting in just seven newspapers in 1950, Peanuts has since been enjoyed by millions of readers and viewers worldwide. Today the popular strip can be read in over 2400 newspapers in 75 countries and 21 languages worldwide. Charles M. Schulzs unique art style and endearing characters have inspired an entire generation of cartoonists, while becoming a perennial favorite with both parents and children through compilation books, television specials, and countless consumer products.
Namco has proven its ability to translate franchises to the video game format with respect and care, said Jean Sagendorph, Licensing Manager at United Media. Working with such a capable partner will allow us the opportunity to grow the Peanuts property in this popular category, as well as reach new audiences.
For more information about Namco and its products visit www.namco.com.
(Web editors note This next story comes with a warning regarding both content and possible credibility. It is a genuine story, and the Springfield News is an authentic newspaper. Judge for yourself...)
Naked woman flushes $90,000
Police say she tore up and sent irreplaceable Peanuts storyboard down the toilet
April 20, 2005
By Stacy D. Stumbo
The Springfield (Oregon) News
Springfield police got a call Sunday afternoon that sounded like crazy fiction.
A naked woman, locked in the bathroom, was tearing up and flushing a $90,000 work of art, the frantic caller reported.
It turned out to be true. According to police reports, a Springfield woman played Lucy to a neighbors Charlie Brown on Sunday, when she allegedly stole and destroyed a one-of-a-kind Peanuts cartoon storyboard.
And yes, police say -- she was naked, in the bathroom, flushing it down the toilet.
Good grief!
It wasnt a dark and stormy night when police were called to a residence in the 1100 block of Darlene Avenue. It was only 227 p.m. when Walter Merritt reported that the valuable item was stolen from the room he was renting.
Merritt, 60, was given the 1957 storyboard that featured Peanuts characters Lucy and Linus as a thank-you for helping a friend overcome a drug addiction.
He had the item appraised in 1990. Its value at the time was estimated at between $15,000 and $50,000. Although he is uncertain of its current value, he and police believe it can only have appreciated due to inflation and the death of cartoonist Charles Shulz in 2000.
Peanuts Flushed
Merritt believes it could have sold for as much as $90,000.
Over the years, Merritt guarded the artwork with the steadfast gaze of Snoopy's vulture. He kept it rolled in a cardboard tube and took it with him everywhere he went.
It never left my side, he said, except this once, for about half an hour.
Merritt told police he believed Pamela Ann Hemphill, 51, took the storyboard while he and another male tenant were at Safeway getting Chinese food.
Hemphill was the only person in the house he had shown the storyboard, he said. When he and his friend got home and found it missing, they immediately went to her room and asked for its return.
She said wed have to get a warrant, Merritt said.
Merritt denies any romantic relationship with the suspect, but describes her as The girl next door. Literally.
Hemphill, he said, was down on her luck, and looked like she was starving. With the brave spirit of Snoopys World War I Flying Ace, he tried to rescue her by giving her food and friendship.
Im a nice person, he said. I don't cheat people.
For this reason, Merritt said, he trusted her enough to show her his prized possession.
I didnt think shed do that after I helped her out, he said.
While Merritt called police, Hemphill reportedly locked herself in a bathroom.
Almost an hour after the first call, police had not arrived at the scene, and Merritt called 911 again requesting an officer come immediately.
While on the line with dispatch, another resident peered through the bathroom keyhole, according to police reports, and saw that Hemphill had disrobed and appeared to have taken the cartoon storyboard into the shower with her. Because it was made of cardboard, it would be necessary to get it wet in order to tear it into toilet-size pieces, and this appeared to be what Hemphill was doing.
Merritt said he asked for a female officer because he didnt want Hemphill to be embarrassed if she was nude when police arrived.
The resident who was watching Hemphill told Merritt he believed she was tearing the artwork apart and flushing it down the toilet.
Hemphill dressed and left the residence without comment before police arrived at around 4:45 p.m., Merritt said.
He said he walked into the empty bathroom, searched for his treasured Peanuts paraphernalia, but could find it nowhere. When he scrutinized the toilet bowl, Merritt said he saw something that looked like paper peeking up through the drain.
He reached down into the toilet water and grabbed it.
What he pulled out was a spoiled piece of history -- Lucys head from the storyboard, waterlogged and torn.
There is no rationale (for what Hemphill allegedly did), he said. That's what makes it so hard to understand. It makes no sense. Its like having a beautiful Cadillac and setting it on fire. Why would anyone do something like that?
Hemphill was later arrested for first-degree aggravated theft and criminal mischief. She was hauled off to the Lane County Jail, but was matrixed out due to overcrowding less than two hours later.
Springfield police Sgt. Mike McCarthy said Hemphill previously had no criminal record in Oregon.
The black market for art isnt great here, McCarthy said of Springfield, adding that Hemphill would have found it difficult to sell the storyboard, if that was her intent.
Merritt said Hemphill is still in the house, but they have not spoken since the incident.
Merritt, who survives on social security benefits and workers compensation, hoped to eventually use money from the sale of the storyboard to pay for his retirement.
When the piece was appraised, Merritt said it was insured for its value at the time, but he believes the policy only covers acts of God or natural disasters. It remains unclear if theft and flushing would be covered.
He doesnt regret not storing the storyboard in a safe deposit box.
What good is it if it's in a box? No one can see it. No one can enjoy it, he said. I have to laugh about it. Whats done is done, but I couldnt eat last night. I just had a couple of peanuts.
In trying times like these, Merritt can fall back on the wisdom of the cartoon that brought him, and the world, such happiness.
In the strip, when Lucy was in turmoil, she sought the advice of others.
She asked, Lifes a mystery, Charlie Brown ... Do you know the answer?
That bald-headed kid, as Snoopy described him, advised, Be kind, be prompt, smile a lot, eat sensibly, avoid cavities and mark your ballot carefully ... Avoid too much sun, send overseas packages early, love all creatures above and below, ensure your belongings and try to keep the ball low.
Lucy responded, Hold real still, because I'm going to hit you with a very sharp blow to the nose.
(A few editorial questions...
If that is the text of the supposed strip, it's from 1969 (March 19, 1969, to be exact), not 1957, as asserted above.
The Schulz Museum does not own this strip, and it is listed as being in unknown hands ... so, from that standpoint, it's possible.
Strips do go for a lot, but $90,000 seems wildly inflated for a non-Snoopy daily.
He carried it with him everywhere!??!
Schulz originals are on pretty heavy paper stock; it seems unlikely that one could be rolled up in a tube.
And can't these sloppy reporters learn how to properly spell Schulz?)
New Snoopy for Healtheast
April 16, 2005
The St. Paul Pioneer Press
David Monson wanted to honor his wife, Mary Jo, and she wanted to pay tribute to her alma mater, the Mounds-Midway School of Nursing. Now, the two, who have been married for 51 years, are each getting their wish.
On Tuesday, the couple will donate a fifth Peanuts statue to a HealthEast facility, this time to HealthEast Midway, the former hospital where the two met in 1953.
In each of the past five years, the Monsons have purchased one of the Peanuts tribute statues and donated it to a HealthEast facility. In November, they paid $10,000 for a Snoopy doghouse statue during an auction at HealthEasts annual Festival of Trees fund-raising gala.
Mary Jo Monson, who is curator of the Mounds-Midway School of Nursing Museum at the Midway campus, then worked closely with designer Laurie Ann Thomas to redesign the statue to emphasize the spirit of nursing and medical care the hospital group represents.
The Monsons, former longtime Roseville residents, now live in North Oaks.
Accomplished composer visits Maclay
April 15, 2005
By Kim McCoy Vann
The Tallahassee (Florida) Democrat
Twenty Maclay School students got a rare chance to pick the brain of a Pulitzer Prize-winning musical composer Thursday.
Ellen Taaffe Zwilich gave fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade students insight about the process she uses to create works like Peanuts Gallery, which will be recorded for the first time with the Florida State University Orchestra on Saturday at Opperman Music Hall.
Both events will be part of a video that will air on PBS and will be distributed on DVD. The Maclay students, as well as 200 others from Gilchrist and Hartsfield elementary schools and the Tallahassee Youth Orchestra, will attend Saturdays recording.
The chat session at Maclay gave students a chance to ask Zwilich questions and hear pieces of Peanuts Gallery performed by a pianist and percussionist. The piece, first performed in 1997 in Carnegie Hall, is made up of six movements that describe cartoonist Charles Schulzs Peanuts characters. Schulzs widow, Jean, is coming to town for the taping.
Zwilich told students Lullaby for Linus is slow and lyrical because his ever-present blanket shows hes always ready for a nap and needs some reassurance. Zwilich said she wrote a samba for Snoopy because she thought hed want something sophisticated, but fun.
One student asked Zwilich which character she has the most in common with.
I think Im most like Snoopy, she said. What I do involves a lot of dreaming.
Zwilich said she began creating music as a child. She remembers her mother telling her to get off the piano and go play outside. Zwilich lives in New York but also spends time in Tallahassee, where she is the Francis Eppes Distinguished Professor, which is awarded to people recognized as being at the height of their career, said Leo Welch, assistant dean for the College of Music. Zwilich earned degrees from FSU and The Juilliard School.
Before Zwilichs visit, Maclay students learned about the composer and Peanuts Gallery in their music classes. Fourth-grader Sarah Garvin said she enjoyed meeting Zwilich after listening to and analyzing her music.
First I got to hear it, then I got to meet the person who wrote it, Sarah said. It was interesting to hear what she thought about it and what my friends thought about it.
Welch said Zwilichs visit will help a younger audience appreciate another type of music.
Its a remarkable opportunity for children in the community to experience classical music in an intimate way, Welch said.
Charles Schulz Drew Them In
April 12, 2005
By Nancy Gondo
Investors Business Daily
In the comic strip Peanuts, Charlie Brown is in love with the red-haired girl, but cant ever muster enough courage to approach her. And though he never got to kick the football, he kept trying.
The cartoon character had a lot in common with his creator, cartoonist Charles Schulz (1922-2000). Both were shy and knew rejection, but neither gave up hope.
Hard work and determination eventually paid off for Schulz. He created 17,896 Peanuts strips, working nearly up to his death five years ago. At that time, the strips were published in more than 2,600 newspapers in 75 countries.
Getting to that point wasnt easy, but his passion for cartoons was clear early. His kindergarten teacher predicted he would be an artist after seeing a crayon sketch, The New York Times reported.
As a youngster, Schulz loved drawing cartoons and reading comic strips. Every weekend, he and his father would get the Sunday editions of the two Minneapolis and two St. Paul papers to read the funnies.
Art and smart
In grade school, he practiced sketching in notebooks. The other kids admired his deft replicas of cartoon characters like Mickey Mouse and Popeye, and often asked him to draw them in their notebooks too.
Drawing didnt distract him from his studies. He did so well in school, he skipped the second half of third and fifth grades.
Once he got to junior high, his shyness intensified since he was the smallest and youngest boy.
Those years would later provide a lot of fodder for Peanuts. Once, he waited in line at a movie theater that was giving out free candy bars to the first 100 kids to buy a ticket that day. Schulz turned out to be number 101.
But he did well when it came to art. His teacher noticed his talent and encouraged him. An illustration of his black-and-white dog Spike, who resurfaced as Snoopy, got published in Ripleys Believe It or Not. Success such as that fueled his desire to make a career out of drawing.
But he remained shy. After graduating from high school, he enrolled in an art school and mailed his illustrations in. He was unsure about his talent, especially after getting a C- for his drawings of children. But that didnt stop him.
He sent his best (cartoons) to magazines across the country in hopes that someone would buy one, wrote Michael Schuman in Charles M. Schulz Cartoonist and Creator of Peanuts. He had no luck and succeeded only in collecting piles of rejection slips.
To make ends meet, he worked odd jobs, often for direct mail advertisers. One firm noticed his talent and began paying the mail-room worker to illustrate brochures.
In 1945, after two years with the Army, he was itching to draw again. He got a job lettering comics; soon he took a second job teaching at his old art school. Schulz was busy and happy, working on little sleep.
I regarded it as something great, he said in a 2000 interview. I was involved. I was doing something with cartoons.
He got along well with other teachers at the art school, such as Charlie Brown, Linus Maurer and Frieda Rich, who had curly hair. Always eager to learn, he sought out advice from mentors. Co-worker Frank Wing thought Schulz was especially gifted in drawing children and suggested he focus on that.
The cartoonist was determined to get his work published. He mailed at least one submission each week. His persistence paid off in 1947, when the St. Paul Pioneer Press decided to run his Lil Folks strip every Sunday on its womens page. He soon began selling single-panel cartoons to The Saturday Evening Post.
But he hadnt yet reached his goal of landing a daily comic strip. Since the Pioneer Press wouldnt give him more money or move Lil Folks to the Sunday comics page, he resigned after two years and resumed sending his work to newspapers.
He figured hed have a better shot with a unique angle. So he drew a panel with two cartoons instead of one and sent it to the United Feature Syndicate. That got the editors attention. They asked him to fly to New York for a meeting.
This time Schulz worked on a package of strips that were three panels wide, showing children in brief incidents. By contrast, most comic strips featured lots of dialogue and a convoluted plot.
My strips were very simple and the action was really brief, Schulz said in a 1987 interview. After officers of the syndicate saw that I had drawn a strip, they decided right then and there that they would rather have a strip than a panel, and thats how Peanuts was born.
The first Peanuts ran Oct. 2, 1950, in seven newspapers. Readers liked the surprisingly adultlike philosophical wit of Charlie Brown and the gang, and appreciated the artists keen attention to detail.
For instance, in scenes where Schroeder played the piano, Schulz painstakingly copied the actual notes from Beethovens music. A book publisher recognized the score and, intrigued, began reading Peanuts. He became such a fan he suggested the strips be published in a number of book collections.
Schulz stayed alert for ideas. His fussy daughter Meredith inspired Lucys bossiness. Some of his kids dragged around blankets, just like Linus. He dreamed up Schroeder one day while watching Meredith plink away at a toy pianos keys.
He often drew on past memories, too. In one strip, Charlie Brown didnt get a candy bar because he was one person too late.
Snoopy was inspired by Spike, the white-and-black dog Schulz grew up with. The red-haired girl was based on Donna Mae Johnson, an ex-girlfriend who turned down his marriage proposal.
Peanuts became so popular, it blossomed from a simple strip into all kinds of other forms, including TV, film, stage, greeting cards and even plush dolls.
Yet Schulz never sat back to enjoy his success. He continued to labor over his daily strips, working months ahead.
Back at it
In late 1997 he decided to take a five-week break from work for his 75th birthday.
But he couldnt stay away from his passion. By his third week off, he sneaked back into his studio to work. Only an illness could keep him from working, he said.
In November 1999 he suffered a series of strokes while having surgery for colon cancer. A month later, he said he would retire. The last strip ran Feb. 13, 2000.
He never saw it published. After 50 years of creating Peanuts strips, Schulz died in his sleep the evening of Feb. 12, 2000.
Ice show highlights young skaters skills
April 11, 2005
By Erin McCarty
The Ohio University Post (a student newspaper)
Despite plenty of falls and confusion, the young performers impressed friends and family Saturday at the Ohio University Learn to Skates 13th annual ice show, Good Grief, Charlie Brown, in Bird Ice Arena.
The ice show gave 44 students in the Learn to Skate program a chance to showcase the highlights of what they had learned over the year.
We just want to have a big, fun party, off-ice coordinator Christina Yednock said, I just hope the kids have fun and the parents are happy.
The show consisted of 20 musical numbers that were either solo acts or group performances. The musical numbers, which each had something to do with the Peanuts comic strip, featured eight songs from the Broadway musical Youre a Good Man, Charlie Brown, a song by B.B. King and instrumental compositions by Vince Guaraldi.
Most of the performers were 10 and under, with the exception of OU professor of modern languages Carole Cloutier.
The stands were filled with mostly the parents, siblings and grandparents of the performers, but some OU students and citizens from Athens and Nelsonville attended the show.
Aside from giving the students the opportunity to perform, the show promoted the Learn to Skate program, on-ice coordinator and head coach Nadia Peskar said. Last years ice show included a lot more students, Peskar said.
We want to promote (Learn to Skate) because its such a good program, Peskar said, It really ties into the community and college.
Learn to Skate is in Bird Ice Arena through Campus Recreation and is open to all ages, Peskar said.
The program teaches its students basic skating and other techniques and offers private lessons to those who want them, Peskar said.
The teaching staff is made up of undergraduate students with previous ice skating experience, either in hockey or figure skating, Yednock said.
The show was well-received by the crowd, drawing hearty chuckling from the spectators every time a tiny performer took a spill on the ice or got separated from the pack and tried in haste to return.
When asked why she decided to come to the event, Nelsonville resident Christina Andrews said, I love ice skating, and I thought the little ones would be great. And I wish I could do it.
Sharing similar feeling about the performance of the young students, OU junior Lindsey Davis said, Theyre so cute. All of the little kids are so cute.
Our daughters in the show, Parker, Nelsonville mother Monda DeWeese said, Its a wonderful end to a year.
Fond farewell
Friday, April 1
By Liz Chretien
The Exeter News-Letter (New Hampshire)
EXETER -- Residents will no longer call the town managers office and hear the familiar words, Olson here.
Retiring Town Manager George Olson said his longtime policy of being available to anyone who called is one that defused many an unhappy situation over the years.
If you call the town office, were blessed with a person answering the phone, Olson said. A lot of angry people ceased being angry when they called and heard those words. Maybe they werent expecting to talk to me, and it throws them off. The truth is, people get angrier with every barrier they encounter. Just answering the phone, or returning a call in a timely fashion, goes a long way.
Phone etiquette is just one topic Olson spoke about during his farewell interview on Wednesday as he reflected on his years running Exeter while finishing up some last-minute work in a corner office upstairs as Russell Dean, the new town manager, moved boxes in a floor below.
Oddly, Im not sad yet, Olson said. I keep waiting for that to happen. Im just looking forward to retirement, and Im going into it guiltless, so maybe I shouldnt feel sad.
Olson said part of that peace is knowing hes leaving Exeter in good hands with a man whose style is eerily similar to his.
I read the piece in the Exeter News-Letter on Dean right after he was announced as the chosen candidate, Olson said. It almost looked like the story was about me. His quotes were my quotes.
But Olson said one incident in particular stands out in his mind to illustrate the similarities between Dean and himself, one that involved, strangely enough, none other than Snoopy.
Thanks to my daughters, I have an extensive Snoopy tie collection, he said. Theres always been the assumption that George will wear a Snoopy tie to work.
So when Olson wore one of his favorites last week, Snoopy in Monets Garden, the last person he expected to see wearing the same tie was Russ Dean.
Ive never seen that tie anyplace else on anyone else, and here we end up wearing it on the same day.
Aside from being a Snoopy fan, Olson said many of Deans approaches are close to his own, starting with management style.
