Members of the Toronto 50's senior hockey team Lee Macisaac, from left, Gord Slater,
John Barry and Don George wait for the Zamboni to finish at the Senior World Hockey Tournament
in Santa Rosa. The Santa Rosa-based teams did well, with two teams winning gold medals in their
respective divisions. [Photo by Kent Porter/The Santa Rosa Press Democrat]
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.
Old pros
Hockey lovers defy their age to hit the ice, play out their dreams in seniors world tourney in Santa Rosa
July 22, 2007
By Bleys W. Rose
The Santa Rosa Press Democrat
You would think a doctor would know better than, at the age of 50-something, to skate out on the ice, flail at a puck and tempt serious injury.
That would be a losing argument with Chris Barker, a family practice physician with Kaiser Permanente in Santa Rosa.
"On ice, you fall and you don't have weight-bearing injuries, just bruises. You have a hockey stick for support, like a cane. And hockey players have lots of protection," says Barker, slapping at his body armor that makes him appear twice as large as he is.
Barker was one of many local stars among about 500 hockey players who played in the weeklong Snoopys Senior World Hockey Tournament that ended Saturday at the Redwood Empire Ice Arena. At the end of his last game, several of his patients came by to congratulate him on his very sweaty performance on ice.
For 17 years, Barker has been playing on one of Santa Rosa's teams designed for people older than 40 who love to play hockey.
"Most guys started playing when they were young, but I didn't discover hockey until I was 39 and brought my kid to this rink," Barker said. "I played pond hockey near Chicago, but nothing serious. "
Well, these guys who played on 52 teams in the Senior World Hockey Tournament were plenty serious.
Barker's team, the Santa Rosa Bombers, didn't do so well, but two other Santa Rosa-based teams did. The Red Barons won a gold medal in their division of 50-to-54-year-old players and the Redwood Giants shared a gold medal in their division of 40-to-44-year-old players.
Tournament organizer John Riley said the annual tournament sponsored for three decades by the late Santa Rosa cartoonist Charles Schulz has been a major force in giving aging hockey lovers the chance to play out their dreams on ice.
Riley said that when Schulz took over operation of the tournament and moved it to Santa Rosa, he gradually increased the competitive categories so that people in their early 40s played in one group, those 45 and older played in another, those 50 in another and so on.
The tourney had a division for hockey players older than 75, but not this year, Riley said.
"It is hard to field a team at that age," Riley said. "I think it is wonderful that we have men on these old-timers teams who were young kids playing in our league games at this rink. "
This year, teams came from all across the country, with one making the trip from Austria.
Dave Potter, a member of the Indiana Irish Rovers, confessed that his team was largely composed of amateur hockey league players who gouged the ice at the Shark Tank in San Jose when the NHL Sharks weren't using it.
Potter said his team has had a great time playing in other tournaments on the senior circuit such as in Las Vegas and Vancouver, British Columbia.
He concedes the team doesn't have any connection with anybody from Indiana.
"We are a bunch of East Coast transplants who grew up playing hockey," said Potter, who has served 11 years on the Monterey County Board of Supervisors and the California Coastal Commission. "For people in local government, this is the only place you get to hit somebody and feel OK about it. "
The fair necessities
Old favorites -- including horse racing and the Hall of Flowers -- will be joined by a giant Harry Potter tent, destruction derbies, a variety of music and a Peanuts theme
July 15, 2007
By George Lauer
The Santa Rosa Press Democrat
Paeans to Peanuts, homages to Harry Potter, superhero celebrations, a Mexican-style rodeo, destruction derbies and an extra week of galloping thoroughbreds.
The 72nd edition of the Sonoma County Fair aims to have something for everybody during its two-week run beginning Tuesday.
More than 300,000 people are likely to pass through the gates and Jane Engdahl, the fair's special events coordinator, said they'll be greeted by the widest variety of attractions she can remember.
"We've been trying for years for the Peanuts connection to happen, and finally its happening this year," Engdahl said. "That should be a lot of fun. "
The Sonoma County Fair, in conjunction with the Charles Schulz family and United Media, which syndicates the comic strip, celebrates Peanuts on Parade this year. The official theme -- Bee Cool featuring the fair's mascot Barnabee -- is tied to Snoopy's Joe Cool character in the legendary strip.
The Hall of Flowers, an award-winning extravaganza and one of the fair's featured attractions each year, will be all about Snoopy and his people.
Throughout the two-week fair, the black-nosed beagle, Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus and other characters will make periodic visits to the fairgrounds, which will be adorned with all kinds of Peanuts -obilia.
Snoopy and the gang share the stage with Harry Potter. The seventh and final book in J.K. Rowlings international best-seller series hits bookstores Saturday, right in the middle of the fair's run.
"We couldn't pass that up," Engdahl said.
So a 60-by-80-foot tent will host a Wizard Fest for the entire run of the fair with contests, demonstrations, games, readings and other activities planned daily.
Destruction derbies are scheduled Friday and Saturday this week. And the fair plans several one-day promotions, including Superheroes Day on the first Saturday.
Choosing the top entertainers this year depends on your age and your taste in music.
If you're in the 20-and-under demographic, the big attraction Thursday will be the high-energy Jonas Brothers -- Kevin, 19; Joseph, 17, and Nicholas, 14.
"I've been getting calls for weeks about the Jonas Brothers and the voices are all young females," Engdahl said. "As soon as I hear the voice, I know what they're going to ask before they ask it."
The answer for the past two weeks has been: Sorry, sold out.
For the grayer of hair, big names at the fair this year include Eddie Money on Wednesday and Melissa Manchester on July 26. For country music fans, the big show will be Blake Shelton on July 25.
"We were lucky to sign him before his name really took off," Engdahl said. "If we were trying to get him now, we probably couldn't afford him. "
Shelton, with several songs and albums nominated for Country Music Association awards, was named Top New Male Artist by Billboard Magazine.
Two of the most popular days at the fair -- the Charreada (Mexican rodeo) and La Fiesta de Mariachi -- are scheduled July 22 and July 29, respectively.
The Charreada, traditionally the last Sunday of the fair and a major contributor to the largest single-day gate during the two-week run, moves up to the first weekend this year.
One of the top five county fairs in California as measured by attendance and revenue, and No. 1 in horse racing revenue, the Sonoma County Fair made a couple of scheduling changes this year to make room for an extended run of Wine Country Racing.
The fair begins a week earlier than in the past and horse racing will go on six days after the fair closes July 30.
Two years after building a turf track, the Sonoma County Fair teamed with the Solano County Fair to produce 23 days of Wine Country Racing -- the first week ending this weekend in Vallejo, followed by nearly three weeks in Santa Rosa.
The Solano County Fair was shortened this year as officials weigh the future of the Vallejo fairgrounds. The one-year experiment will help determine the future of horse racing outside the traditional fair dates.
"Vallejo's decision to shorten their fair and the uncertain future as to the development of their facilities makes this a win-win," Sonoma County fair manager Jim Moore said.
Horse racing and simulcast off-track betting are the fairs primary money makers so extending the run in Santa Rosa is expected to help the fair's bottom line.
In two weeks of horse racing at the Sonoma County Fair last year, the betting handle was $40.2 million, including on-track, off-track and advanced deposit wagering, a 4 percent drop from the previous year, according to the California Horse Racing Board.
Last year, the fair drew 370,000 people, but because everyone under 13 was admitted free, paid admission was 134,700, an 8 percent drop.
Fairgoers 12 and under will be admitted free this year.
Schulz's Youth [book review]
June 5, 2007
The Comics Reporter
www.comicsreporter.com
Publishing Information: About Comics, softcover, 296 pages, May 2007, $14.95
About Comics' Schulz's Youth makes a fine companion volume to both The Complete Peanuts and About's own 2004 collection of the It's Only A Game material. Although made up mostly of single-panel cartoons that were run in the Church of God (Anderson) magazine Youth, publisher and editor Nat Gertler has supplied three supplementary sections: illustrations from a youth convention, a series of illustrations and cartoons from the book Two-by-Fours and cartoons in the same vein as the Youth material that ran in Reach at the end of the 1960s. It's a nice suite of work.
In addition to seeing a looser version of Schulz's linework and coming face to face with the still-startling oddity of his teenager designs after years of immersion in the kids-only Peanuts, the great thing about Schulzs Youth is that the strip doesnt always work that well. It is a legitimate creative effort; it doesnt feel tossed off. If its casual work, its casual work from a cartoonist so skilled that theres not an underlying conceptual strength to the proceedings. In fact, the way Schulz settles on something of a main character and starts to restrict the areas in which he finds humor is the same winnowing process that all strips undergo, even panel features like the one presented here. Schulz grasps at a potentially interesting subject matter thats going to make this material inaccessible to a lot of people: reasonably pious kids struggling to honor their faith. The kids are still full of crap, like most teenagers, but the backbone of the feature takes their commitment seriously.
Schulz plays around with various approaches, and occasionally slips into straight-gag material -- my favorite is a kid who declines an officership by declaring himself too stupid to hold it -- but for the way to best explore the strips primary concern he tends towards jokes that show an unrealistic sense of how religion is applied to day to day living. This makes for some pretty obtuse humor, which isn't aided at all by what feels like a few overwritten captions. Still, there's something lovely about learning that Schulz took the work and the kids for whom it was intended seriously, but in terms of their being readers and fellow Christians.
The Complete Peanuts: 1963-64 by Charles M. Schulz [book review]
The cartoonist hits his stride in these early 1960s strips
May 27, 2007
By Laurel Maury
The Los Angeles Times
There's something deeply comforting about the comic strip Peanuts. Charlie Brown and his friends are always a reliably affable blast from the past. But the strip's full power has been obscured in recent years by the endless specials, the pruned-down collections and the carefully selected classic Peanuts strips that are running in more than 2,400 newspapers around the world. So it's a treat to find that Charles M. Schulz's work, which is slowly being reprinted in its entirety in a series of hip, beautifully researched books, is so deeply nuanced, even raw, and extremely funny.
Charlie Brown is a fairly accomplished diplomat, a guy who has friends, enough wherewithal to run a baseball team, and a real dose of intelligence -- and he's still a loser. He hates himself for not having the nerve to speak to the little red-haired girl, then does a double take: Well, that isn't exactly true ("I hate myself for a lot of other reasons, too.") Peanuts is rife with that sort of gentle American existential angst. Snoopy lies awake at night thinking, To lie awake at night and think about life's problems is terrible ... But to lie awake and think about pizza is intolerable. Meanwhile, Linus wonders how hell ever develop character if he keeps getting everything he wants for Christmas.
The latest installment in the series from Fantagraphics Books reproduces the strips of 1963-64, the years when Peanuts hits its stride. Peppermint Patty and Woodstock have yet to arrive, but Schulz has perfected the one-two-three-Bang! timing of his jokes, and the cuteness of the earlier work has given way to something with more gravitas that doesn't deny the darkness in the world. Among the first of the Happiness is panels is Happiness is loving your enemies, showing Snoopy surrounded by adoring rabbits, which the Little Curly-Haired Girl wants him to hunt.
Peanuts also has mild Christian overtones that have been largely forgotten: Linus quotes scripture, and Charlie Brown calls Dial-A-Prayer to stop the rain falling on their ballgame. The strip also has its share of violence: Lucys idea of stopping a boy from crying is to hit him, and Snoopy perches atop his doghouse with a machine gun.
Peanuts has a lot to say about society, too. When Sally is asked whether she's upset that her friend Linus is going to miss out on Halloween because he's waiting for the Great Pumpkin, she replies: It doesn't bother me because it doesn't affect me. When Charlie Brown protests, Sally says: Horrors! What do you want me to do, get involved?! The strip also is occasionally mean. To get revenge against his sister Lucy, Linus builds a snowman likeness of her. " Youre going to get great satisfaction out of building a snow man that looks like me just so you can stand here and kick it!" says Lucy. Linus replies: "On the contrary! That would be crude ... Im just going to stand here and watch it slowly melt away! "
But Peanuts always stops short of direct social or political commentary. Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring, is mentioned, but Schulz never refers to her stance on the environment. Nor is there any hint of President Kennedy's assassination in late November 1963, although the strip, which Schulz drew daily, is numbly unfunny for about a week. The closest Peanuts comes to political anger is with the all-but-forgotten character 5, a boy whose father has renamed him with a number because he believes that soon all people will be reduced to numbers. (5's sisters, 3 and 4, are the unnamed twins in the dance scenes of the first Peanuts Christmas special).
What these comic strips reveal is a sense of power and haplessness, of people who feel a bit lost with their new mid-century might and affluence, and Charlie Brown is the sensitive soul whos the most hapless of them all. Peanuts has a deep and beautiful sadness. Yes, it's a strip about a loser, but he's a loser in a world that's kind enough to let him almost thrive.
Coolest pooch in town
95 Snoopy statues in SR to cap three-year Peanuts on Parade
May 21, 2007
By Nathan Halverson
The Santa Rosa Press Democrat
With their faces set in concentration, artists worked hard Sunday to put the finishing touches on 95 Snoopy statues expected to be placed in various locations in Santa Rosa this week.
"It's finally coming together," said Sebastopol artist Erin Ewart.
Ewart was part of a team of seven employees from Redwood Credit Union who worked on a Stay Cool -themed Snoopy at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds. Their Snoopy statue holds an iced beverage.
More than 100 artists started painting the statues Tuesday and worked long hours to finish by Sunday.
"We were here until midnight last night," Ewart said Sunday.
Each Snoopy is designed with a different theme, ranging from a pirate Snoopy to an Einstein Snoopy.
The 95 statues are expected to start appearing around the city Wednesday.
This is the third and final year of the fund-raiser dubbed Peanuts on Parade. Each year the event has been based on one character from the Peanuts comic strip created by Charles Schulz, who lived in Sonoma County from 1958 until his death in 2000. This years event is named Snoopy's Joe Cool Summer.
In the first year, 55 statues of Charlie Brown were created. And last year artists decorated 76 statues of the bird-character Woodstock.
The program already has raised more than $1.5 million to place the statues and other art around the city and to establish a $5,000 annual arts scholarship.
This year, some of the money will go toward making a bronze statue of Snoopy that will be placed at the Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport in September.
Each statue is sponsored with a $5,000 donation, and for an extra $2,000, the sponsor gets to keep it. The rest -- about 15 this year -- are auctioned off in September.
On Sunday, hundreds of people filed through the fairgrounds to watch the Snoopy statues transformed from white figures into the eclectic mix of Snoopy personalities.
Julianne Celli, 9, of Windsor strolled through the collection Sunday with her mother.
"I think they are all wonderful, " Julianne said. " They are all unique and wonderful. "
She also said Snoopy was the coolest Peanuts character.
And that sentiment is why Snoopy was saved for the final year, said Craig Schulz, son of the famous cartoonist.
"We want to go out on a high note," he said. "And that is why we chose Snoopy."
The 15 Snoopy statues to be auctioned Sept. 22 are expected to help raise even more funds for the program. Past statues have sold for as much as $36,000.
"A lot of people waited a long time for Snoopy," Schulz said. "Snoopy is the most popular character. "
Peanuts lives!
Sparky Schulz may be gone, but the world of Charlie Brown and Snoopy goes on and on
May 6, 2007
By Dan Taylor
The Santa Rosa Press Democrat
Good ol' Charlie Brown can't fly a kite, kick a football or win a baseball game. His daydreaming dog leads a better life than he does.
But Charlie and Snoopy, the beagle with multiple personalities, have done all right for themselves since their Peanuts comic strip first appeared in 1950.
For fans around the world, the characters still live, especially this summer in Sonoma County, where their creator, Charles M. Sparky Schulz, made his home from 1958 until his death in 2000.
The perennially popular Broadway musical, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, marks its 40th anniversary this year, and the Pacific Alliance Stage Company in Rohnert Park opened a new local revival Friday.
Santa Rosa celebrates a Joe Cool Summer, with artists decorating 95 statues of Snoopy in his college student persona, to be placed all over town starting next month.
And the Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, visited by some 250,000 Peanuts fans since it opened five years ago, salutes Snoopy with a four-month exhibit opening May 16.
The lovable blockhead and his more-or-less faithful dog have never had it so good. Nearly six decades of the Peanuts comic strip and some 70 animated television specials have made them the stars of a global marketing and licensing empire, scoring $1.2 billion a year in worldwide retail sales. Seven years after Schulz's death, reprints from his catalog of 18,000 strips continue to run in 2,400 newspapers nationwide.
"I think it's because, as much as the culture has changed, basic human nature hasn't changed much," said Schulz's widow, Jean. "Sparky tapped into that in a big way. Charlie Brown is insecure and frustrated, and he can't seem to get it right, but he's always hopeful."
Douglas Giorgis of Walnut Creek, who plays the title role in the local production of You're Good Man, Charlie Brown, sees the character as a downtrodden survivor everyone can recognize and admire.
"What's most appealing about Charlie Brown is the fact that he's always trying so hard," Giorgis said. "Everything he does, he puts 100 percent into it. Most of the time, he fails, but he doesnt let that get him down. "
In contrast, Snoopy can accomplish anything he wants without effort, said Michael Barr, who plays the irrepressible pooch in the show.
"Snoopy imagines himself as the World War I flying ace, or a fierce animal, but he's also very happy with being a domesticated dog," said the actor, who doubles as a drama teacher at St. Vincent de Paul High School in Petaluma.
The six-character musical, adapted from the comic strip by Clark Gesner, opened March 7, 1967, in New York's Greenwich Village and lasted for 1,597 performances. Gary Burghoff, later famous as Radar O'Reilly in both the film and television versions of M*A*S*H, originally played Charlie Brown.
"Almost everything works because almost everything is effortless," New York Times critic Walter Kerr wrote the day after the opening. "What makes these charmers tick, while you chuckle? They're not cute. They're not arch ... Instead, they drift with the breeze, skipping ever so lightly. "
The show spawned six touring companies before moving in 1971 to Broadway, where it closed after just 32 performances. In 1999, a Broadway revival added two new songs and featured 23 new vignettes written by Schulz. The play's true success came from countless productions beyond New York.
"There are several hundred new stagings of the show every year, making it impossible to get an accurate count of how many thousands of productions have been mounted during the past four decades," said Melissa Menta, vice president of corporate communications for United Media, which oversees licensing and syndication for Peanuts.
"It is one of the most-produced musicals ever," Menta said by phone from New York.
On the live theater circuit, or taken to the streets as public art, the Peanuts characters always find a willing audience.
Starting with a public paint-off in mid-May, Joe Cool Summer will dot the Santa Rosa cityscape with Peanuts character statues for the third and last year of Peanuts on Parade.
Charlie Brown and four other Peanuts characters were featured in a similar project from 2000 to 2004 in St. Paul, Minn., where Schulz grew up. The idea found a new home in Santa Rosa, where 56 Charlie figures were installed in 2005, followed by 76 Woodstocks last year.
"They found in St. Paul that the community support and sponsorship got worn out after the first three years, and they did it for five, so we decided three's a good number," said Pat Fruiht, city of Santa Rosa liaison for the project.
At the end of each summer, the statues are auctioned off. The program supports a $5,000 annual art scholarship. It also paid for a $225,000 bronze wall sculpture of Charlie Brown and his friend Linus, to be unveiled Sept. 23 at the Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport.
The money raised this summer will be used either for a proposed permanent bronze Peanuts sculpture downtown or for more scholarships, Fruiht said.
To Jean Schulz, it's no surprise that Charlie, Snoopy and the rest of the Peanuts gang live on, year after year around the world -- in print, on the TV screen, onstage and in art displays.
"Once you get to know the characters," she said, "they seem to resonate with everyone on some level. "
The Doctor is in
April 29, 2007
By Anastasiya Bolton
KUSA-TV News
BOULDER Fans of Charlie Brown may remember the booth where Lucy sat offering psychiatric advice for a nickel. Her sign said The Doctor is In. Well, the booth has come to life in Boulder.
Evan Ravitz has taken over Lucys seat, offering advice on the Pearl Street Mall.
I do like to help people, said Ravitz, a former street performer, who says hes been helping people on the mall for four years.
The three most common, (are) number one, relationship issues; number two, what do I do with my life, how do I find a job; three, health.
Ravitz said he doesnt have any professional qualifications to dispense advice on the mall, but he can listen and he has a lot of life experience.
I had a pretty dysfunctional family life a kid, he said. I read some Freud, some R.D. Lang. Im 54 years old. Ive seen a lot of things.
His advertising attracts a lot of looks and customers.
This is one of the most recognizable symbols in western civilization. Ninety percent of the people walk by, recognize, Oh, thats from Charlie Brown, so it puts a big smile on everyones face.
So why is Ravitz spending his weekends on the mall talking to people he doesnt know?
In America there is a service for everyone and I guess thats what Im doing, he said.
You can find Ravitz in his booth on the weekends in the shady part of the mall.
Snoopy To Help Local Anti-Smoking Initiative
April 23, 2007
By Fred Connors
The Intelligencer & Wheeling News-Register [West Virginia]
Dr. William Mercer is living a dream.
Its main players are a lovable dog named Snoopy -- and clean indoor air.
Mercer, who is medical director of the Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department, spearheaded implementation of the countys Clean Indoor Air Regulation in 2005 and has been active in its enforcement.
The smoking ban, as it is commonly called, is not Mercers only passion.
Since childhood, he has been an avid fan of the Peanuts cartoon characters created by Charles Schulz.
He became interested in the characters at age of 10 and at 14 years old he began drawing them. He sold the drawings for 5 cents each to fellow students at the former Warwood High School.
In 1970 he acquired a Snoopy Flying Ace banner. It was the first piece of a collection that would grow to several thousand figurines, flags, banners, statues and any other Snoopy items he could get his hands on.
Mercer started his medical practice in 1982. He opened an office in 1987 on 12th Street in Wheeling where the first Snoopy pediatrics room was offered. In 2001, all the Snoopy items would go on display at his third floor office at the former Wheeling Clinic. The walls in various exam rooms, hallways and other areas at his facility are covered with Snoopy paraphernalia.
This year, however, he carried his Snoopy obsession to a higher level by sponsoring a statue in the Peanuts on Parade program in Santa Rosa, Calif. The event will feature 100 statues of Snoopy wearing sunglasses. It is called Snoopys Joe Cool Summer.
Schulz lived in Santa Rosa for 50 years until his death at the age of 77 on Feb. 12, 2000.
As a tribute to Schulz, the city places 100 Peanuts character statues at various locations throughout the city. Each of the five and one half foot, 560-pound statues are hand painted in compliance with a pre-determined theme. They may be sponsored by a corporation or by individuals.
After being on display in the streets of Santa Rose from May 24 through Sept. 22, the statues are purchased by their sponsors or auctioned off to the public. Proceeds from the auction go toward art scholarships for Santa Rosa students and toward permanent bronze statues of the characters.
Mercer said this is the last year for the Peanuts on Parade program.
It started in 2000, the year Schulz died, Mercer said. For the first four years it was held in St. Paul, Minn., where he was born. It was moved to Santa Rosa in 2004.
Mercer contacted the Peanuts on Parade committee in December and, after receiving the criteria, he decided to sponsor a statue.
He said at first, I was going to have Joe Cool Snoopy as a tennis player but the idea struck to present Snoopy as Joe Too Cool To Smoke. I had several telephone conversations with Craig Schulz, Charles son. He said there could be no political statements but he thought it was a great idea for me to use the finished statue in Ohio County to promote no smoking by children.
Mercer toned down his message to Peanuts and People For Clean Air. A statue was born.
This is a dream. My love of the Peanuts cartoon characters and passion for clean indoor air are coming together to benefit elementary students of Ohio County.
A professional artist from Santa Rosa, Elizabeth Charpiot, came up with the final design. She will hand paint the actual statue during a paint off beginning May 16 and going 24 hours a day until all the statues are finished and ready for display on May 22.
Mercer said he, along with his three sons and a sons girlfriend, will attend the paint off and participate in the event.
When the program ends in September, Mercers statue will be shipped to Wheeling and begin making its rounds to area elementary schools to promote no smoking.
We will focus on fifth graders because that is the time a child is most apt to experiment with smoking, he said.
He said statistics show West Virginias youth smoking rate is one of the highest in the nation with 28.5 percent of high school students smoking compared to 26 percent of adults.
In West Virginia, 4,900 kids under the age of 18 become daily smokers every year, Mercer said.
Life with Peanuts
Covering the past with Security Blankets
March 22, 2007
By Carolyn Younger
The St. Helena Star [California]
Don Fraser -- who relishes a good story and knows how to tell one -- is looking for accounts from children and adults with treasured memories connected to the Peanuts gang.
Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Peppermint Patty, Sally, Snoopy, et al, have become cultural icons since the Peanuts comic strip first flowed from the pen of their creator, the late Charles M. Sparky Schulz, in 1950.
Fraser, a friend of Schulz and for 35 years a licensee for Peanuts related clothing, and author Derrick Bang are compiling a book of anecdotes for a book they call, Security Blankets.
A glance around Frasers office on Library Lane and its clear that the 72-year-old entrepreneur and former Marine pilot could fill several Peanuts-related books all on his own.
Mementos and memories
Frasers dizzying array of mementos, plaques, cartoons, watercolors, photographs and embroidered and emblazoned clothing covers walls and vies for floor space in a converted five-room bungalow next to the Wine Train tracks.
Impressive as it is, the collection is meager compared to the lifetime of memories tucked in Frasers personal memory bank.
In the course of conversation -- interrupted briefly as a train rumbled past, shaking the house and tilting picture frames -- names of childhood friends and college and Marine buddies, both alive and long-gone, are recalled and honored with tales of shared escapades, projects and dreams, and in the telling seem as fresh as yesterday.
Frasers friendships span continents, decades and numerous business enterprises.
How it all began
A stint with an advertising firm in San Francisco led to Frasers idea of using Peanuts characters to revive sagging cookie and cake sales for one of the firms clients. Which led to a meeting with Peanuts creator Charles M. Sparky Schulz. Which led to the creation of miniature gold plated Snoopy-as-flying-ace pins to promote the ad campaign. That, in turn led to Fraser and Elliott Steinberg founding a company named for Steinbergs daughter, Aviva, and more little pins and tie tacks. When a cry went up for colorful pins, Fraser contacted a Berkeley friend, Robert Hsi, whose family ran a cloisonnŽ jewelry business in Taiwan. Then came toys.
But Fraser was ready to move on. His next idea arrived like a thunderbolt the day he and Schulz were playing tennis. Schulz was wearing a shirt with an alligator languishing at chest level.
I started giving him a bad time about the worlds greatest cartoonist wearing an alligator, Fraser recalled. That was all it took. Several months later he was in the mens clothing business. He dusted off a corporation he had founded in 1968 called Inetics, and then shelved when its initial purpose in life -- as a technology company started with Palo Alto neighbor Jim Rudolph -- ran its course.
As a youth growing up in rural Missouri, Frasers plans for the future didnt extend much past working in his familys shoe factory.
Toed the line at work
During World War II his father, a cutter in a shoe factory, and uncle, a shoe salesman, came up with the idea making wooden clogs, the only footwear then that didnt require ration stamps.
The shoes base was wood, the strap was upholstery webbing and when Fraser and his brother and sisters were old enough, it was their job to tack on the webbing and paint the clogs. From eighth grade through high school, Fraser also worked nights in the Fraser Shoe Company as a janitor. His original intention at the time, when he gave it any thought, was to continue in the family business after high school.
But some really good teachers opened my eyes to the fact that there is another world out there if you get an education, Fraser said.
He landed in the University of Missouri, took the mandatory ROTC program with the idea of becoming a Marine and having his college fees and tuition paid. He next set his sights on Northwestern University, where he switched his major from physics to business ( Reality set in, he said), and within days of graduation headed to Quantico, Va. for nine months of officer training. His next choice was flight school. He trained in T-34s, T-28s and F-9 Cougars and in 1958, joined the first squadron of F-8 Crusaders.
Memories take wing
Nearly 50 years later, models, paintings and photos of the straight-wing and swept-wing planes of his past fill his mini-museum. Each one reminds Fraser of a personal adventure or an old flying buddy. One of these was responsible for giving Fraser two early collections of Peanuts cartoons ... the same buddy was later shot down in Vietnam and spent seven and a half years as a prisoner of war in what came to be known as the Hanoi Hilton.
By then, Fraser had earned a masters degree in business from UC Berkeley and was holding down two jobs, one at Cutter Labs in Berkeley, the other renovating old San Francisco homes. The death of one of the partners in a flying accident ended the home renovation business, and Fraser moved on to a real estate research company, then to the San Francisco advertising firm, which, in turn, led to a friendship and business relationship with cartoonist Schulz and all the members of the Peanuts gang.
The friendship -- but not Frasers respect and admiration -- ended with Schulzs death from cancer in 2000. In 2005, United Features Syndicate didnt renew Frasers license, ending a business relationship of nearly 40 years.
On to new projects
But Fraser has moved on to other projects, not the least of which are the stories he and Davis Enterprise editor Bang are collecting for Security Blankets, to be published by Andrews McMeel.
In a group of people, there is always somebody who has a Peanuts story, he said. Which is why he has also started an oral history project talking to longtime Peanuts licensees around the world, people he sees as part of the Peanuts legacy. These individual stories will go into the archives of the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa.
Fraser, who has great faith in the enduring qualities of Schulz and his Peanuts characters, envisions researchers 100 years from now paging through the accounts and seeing how people were touched by this guy.
Perhaps the most daunting project ahead will be dismantling and redirecting a half-centurys worth of memorabilia; at months end, Fraser is shutting the doors of his museum/office.
Cleanup challenge ahead
It will be a challenge, he agreed, but thats the discipline I have to go through so my kids dont have to when Im no longer around here. At 72, you need to be serious about things like that, so as much as it is difficult, it is necessary.
More valuable to him are his family and the friendships hes forged.
Some people accumulate money, and Ive never been good at that, he added, but relationships Im good at. I love the people in my life.
To learn more about the Security Blankets project or to contribute a story, go online to www.peanutsstories.com.
The Schulz Museum: Ode to Comic Angst
February 28, 2007
By Michael Schuman
The Lowell Sun [Massachusetts]
SANTA ROSA, California -- Some Americans wait lifetimes to make pilgrimages to Gettysburg or Graceland. I made mine to Santa Rosa, California.
Peanuts creator Charles Sparky Schulz moved to Santa Rosa in 1973 and ever since then this city of 147,000 in California wine country north of San Francisco has been as associated with Schulz as with Chardonnay. And today it is the home of the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center, which opened in August 2002.
I dont recall exactly when I first fell in love with Peanuts, but it had to be shortly after I learned that when two vowels go walking the first does the talking. It was before the first Peanuts television special, before Snoopys first battle with the Red Baron, before the introduction of Peppermint Patty and Marcie, before Charlie Brown became a household name. If I had been a Boy Scout I would have earned a merit badge in Appreciation of Subtle Humor.
The opening of the Schulz museum was my main reason for journeying to wine country, since to me a glass full of wine will never measure up to a handful of Peanuts.
The museum is the centerpiece of Schulz land and the focal point for most visitors here. Actually, the real intent of the museums designers was to make sure Santa Rosa remained Schulz land, and not Schulzland. There would be no animatronic Snoopys, no help Linus find his blanket computer games, no virtual reality play catch with Peppermint Patty adventures. The emphasis here is on one thing: Sparky Schulzs work.
Schulzs son Craig says, In reality, it was Jeans (Charles Schulzs widow) personal vision of the museum. Her idea was to keep it pure and simple and dedicated only to my dads art, to be genuine to him. It is meant to satisfy the thirst of true comic fans and Peanuts fans.
While the upper floor of the two-story ode to comic angst is devoted to the man behind the comic strip, the ground floor is devoted to the strip itself, where it is treated not as pop culture but as art. Whether on walls or in display cases, nearly 50 years of original Schulz works are on view, arranged as rotating thematic exhibitions.
Those who think Peanuts is just for kids should spend some time taking in the sentiments expressed in those ubiquitous thought bubbles in the vintage strips on view.
Craig Schulz states, My dad never saw himself as writing towards kids. The strip was more geared towards adults.
A trip through the museum reminds visitors that Peanuts has always been cutting edge humor. Lucys psychiatric booth first appeared in the late 1950s when child psychology was a growing field. To social critics Schulz was mocking the experts by saying their high priced psychobabble was really worth five cents. In 1963, when credit cards and ZIP codes became parts of our lives, he introduced a character named 5, whose dad felt that we are all losing our identity anyway so we might as well call ourselves by numbers.
Even after the Peanuts characters had become stars of television specials and Camp Snoopy theme parks they were spewing satirical spunk on the comics page. Schulz was a deeply spiritual man, as evidenced by the many times he quoted the Bible in his strip. But he had little patience for those who claimed to have all the answers. In a 1976 strip Snoopy is seen writing a book on theology called, Has It Ever Occurred to You that You Might be Wrong? Schulz loved that punch line so much he used it again in 1980 when Linus concluded a Bible class by asking the teacher the same question.
Interestingly, Schulz never publicly admitted to making social statements in Peanuts. His good friend Cathy Guisewite, who draws the strip Cathy, said, When people saw all sorts of meanings in his work, he would always kind of roll his eyes and say he was just trying to make his deadline. But I saw him as writing from the heart and soul. He created something millions of people could respond to in different ways. The whole spectrum of humanity could see something different in what he wrote.
Two art works on display downstairs are not products of Schulzs hands, but have everything to do with his creations. On the south wall is a remarkable mural crafted by artist Yoshiteru Otani measuring 17 by 22 feet and made entirely of 3,588 existing Peanuts strips on small ceramic tiles. The dark shades in the tiles form an image of Lucy holding a football as Charlie Brown runs to kick it. Another Otani work, the wooden bas relief Morphing Snoopy, is displayed nearby and is itself a wonder of art. It weighs over 7,000 pounds and consists of 43 layers cut away to reveal Snoopys evolution, from Schulzs real-life boyhood dog to the modern day dancing Snoopy.
The second story is the place to obtain insight into the philosopher who always defined himself as simply a cartoonist. A timeline and family tree exhibit tell Schulzs professional and personal tales, and dont neglect to notice the comment from cousin Irving Swanson who said of the young man who seemed to do nothing but sit in his house and draw: That boy will never amount to anything.
The biggest stoplight on the second floor is a painted wall from the Schulzes early home in Colorado Springs, where they lived briefly in the early 1950s. Peanuts was in its infancy when Schulz painted toddler daughter Merediths bedroom wall. Subsequent occupants covered it, and present owners Mary and Stanley Travnicek had to remove four coats of paint to expose the images including a rubber duck, Tootles the train and the Saggy Baggy Elephant from Little Golden Books fame; alphabet letters, a little red door at the bottom and early images of Snoopy (on all fours), Charlie Brown and Patty. (Patty was one of the strips original four characters, as opposed to Peppermint Patty who would not be introduced until 1966.) A docent told us that Meredith recently came to the museum and confessed that all she remembered about the wall was the little red door. Where did it lead to, she wondered as a tot.
Schulzs wood-paneled studio is also reconstructed here. Aside from the famous -- to Schulz aficionados anyway -- drafting table with the worn spot where the cartoonist etched and drew for more than 20 years, is an eclectic collection of books: The Boy Scout Handbook, Beau Geste, The Herblock Gallery, The Great Gatsby, Wonderland by Joyce Carol Oates, a set of religious books, several volumes devoted to golf and even a few Peanuts books. His tastes in music were just as diverse; the albums stacked here feature the works of artists such as Nelson Eddy, Dave Brubeck, Buck Owens, Joan Sutherland, Brahms, Vivaldi, Handel. The closest thing to rock and roll is the Jesus Christ Superstar soundtrack.
In the museum courtyard is a sculpture of Charlie Brown, once one of a series which dotted the streets of Minnesotas Twin Cities a few years back. While inspecting the statue look skyward. A sycamore tree holds in its leafy grasp a full sized, holographic red and blue kite, like the one Charlie Brown lost in so many kite-eating trees. At night the kite and string light up, as if to emphasize 50 years of frustration for Charlie Brown.
As the round headed kid would have said, Good grief!
Theyre a good band, Charlie Brown
Just ask any of the many fans who have made the Christmas Cartoon Trio a holiday must-see
December 8, 2006
Ryan Cormier
The News Journal [Wilmington, Delaware]
WEST CHESTER, PA. -- Jackie Browne is tucked behind his drum kit in the corner.
Jeff Knoettner's fingers are hovering over his keyboard.
And Rob Swanson? Well, his arms are wrapped around his stand-up bass.
Its Friday night at Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant in West Chester, and this jazz trio is about to begin their two-hour performance.
A happy hour crowd is shuffling in just as the band starts up.
On this evening, folks wont be hearing Duke Ellingtons Caravan or their take on Have You Met Miss Jones.
Within seconds, nearly everyone recognizes the music familiar tunes from A Charlie Brown Christmas, along with songs from other classic Christmas cartoon specials like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman and Dr. Seuss How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
What started out as a bar crowd has become a music crowd.
Beer drinkers are suddenly cheering mid-song after lengthy solos.
Little kids in the dining area are poking their heads around the corner, peaking into the bar with wide eyes.
And bartenders know they are in for a busy shift as the bar crowd keeps growing.
As some in the Wilmington area already know, the band playing is the Christmas Cartoon Trio, a group that has been spreading holiday cheer with its unique shows for 11 years.
A really cool vibe
Swanson, 39, of West Grove, Pa., came up with the idea for the Christmas cartoon act while talking with the owner of the former Bourbon Street Cafe in Newark.
After performing the cartoon show at that club for several years before it closed, the group moved its instantly popular act to Iron Hill in Newark. And as Iron Hill has expanded with locations in Wilmington, West Chester, Pa., Phoenixville, Pa., Media, Pa., and North Wales, Pa., so has the number of dates for the trio.
Its a great fit, says Kevin Finn, an Iron Hill co-owner. It adds a really cool vibe. It gets you in the spirit without overpowering you.
Swanson, Knoettner and Browne are local jazz musicians who play together on and off throughout the year. But when December rolls around, they spend a lot of time together. This year, the group is performing 15 shows in 20 days.
In December, we might as well be married, Swanson says.
The idea for a Christmas cartoon jazz trio may seem a bit odd for most, but not for jazz fans.
The classic score for A Charlie Brown Christmas was written by jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi. It includes well-known songs like Christmas Time is Here, The Christmas Song and Linus and Lucy, widely recognized as the Peanuts theme.
The original soundtrack, which has been remastered and repackaged this season, has never been out of print in its 41 years. With built-in sentimentality for the songs -- some of which have slowly morphed into jazz standards over the years -- the Cartoon Christmas Trio is a natural fit.
People have a real connection to this music, Swanson says.
Terry and Helen Collison drove up to West Chester from Wilmington to see the years first performance by the trio.
Like many of those who have seen the band before, the Collisons have helped spread word about the shows by telling family and friends.
