The Writer's E-Zine Home

Writers' Village University - F2K: Free Fiction Writing Course - ePress-online
Writers' Village University Membership Information

Healthy Horizons

Laurie Lupold

Heroes and Friends

This issue is a bit out of the ordinary for this column as it doesn't pertain to us as writers but to us as one's who appreciate the arts. This is a walk into the life of a fallen hero. A journey into the heart of a man who brought us laughter, yet at times expressed a solemn voice in his characters. His art taught us lessons and helped us grow. Each one of us grew up knowing this man and became part of the history that grew through his characters.

Charles Schulz was born in November of 1922. Within a week, however, Charles became known as "Sparky". He was given this name by an uncle and it stayed with him throughout his life. Early on Charles Schulz recognized his talents and as he grew his creative abilities grew with him.

During the Great Depression, Charles' father struggled to keep both his family and his barber shop afloat but also found the means to enroll his son in a correspondence course in cartooning at what is now called the Art Instruction Schools, Inc. A shy and insecure student, Charles struggled through the program only earning a C+ in "Drawing of Children".

Eventually Charles completed the art course but was drafted into World War II before he had successfully sold any of his cartoons. Within days of his induction into the military Schulz's mother passed away due to a long battle with cancer. Charles realized that even though the military was a welcome change of pace life would never be the same again. During his time in the military Charles became known as the resident illustrator and took pride in decorationg soldiers' letters home with cartoons of barracks life.

It was Timeless Topix, a small Roman Catholic magazine, that offered Charles his first job in cartooning. The magazine hired him to letter already drawn comics. Soon after, Charles took on a second job as a teacher with his alma mater, Art Instructions Schools. Here, he practiced his drawing and met many of the people who would inspire his future, including a friend named Charlie Brown and a girl with red hair who broke his heart.

With growing confidence, Charles began marketing his comics. Eventually his persistence paid off and he sold a number of simple comic panels to the Saturday Evening Post. He went on to land a weekly comic feature called L'il Folks in the Saint Paul Pioneer Press. The fruit of his creativity and labor, L'il Folks featured Charlie Brown and Shermy and became the sole focus of Charles' career.

Charles signed a five year contract with United Feature Syndicate and because they felt that the title Lil Folks could cause some legal issues they renamed the strip PEANUTS ®. The name made Charles cringe. Even after the strips success he felt the name resembled the "insignificant" or "unimportant". Over the years, Charles earned the respect and autonomy due to an artist of his caliber.

He introduced into our lives, characters such as : Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Woodstock, Franklin, Sally, Peppermint Patty, Schroeder, Pig Pen, Marcie and ReRun. They became a special part of us. We grew up knowing them and somehow it felt as if they understood us. Whether we were the confident child, or the shy and insecure there was a part of us in his creation.

Charles gave us many wonderful years of laughter and of hope. As we grew older he put a smile on our face as we sipped our morning coffee. He was a model of respect and generosity. As I journeyed into the life of the man behind the cartoon I took with me the knowledge of what we need as creative artists. Two things came to mind right away, though I am sure there are many more but those two things were "heart" and "persistence". Though the legend has been laid to rest his spirit lives on forever in the dream he left behind.

'Til next time treat yourself to a bit of the legend and keep reaching for those Healthy Horizons!