Welcome to the "Peanuts" section of my website. This site is dedicated to Snoopy, Charlie Brown, et. al in loving memory of their creator, Charles M. Schulz (1922-2000). This site will contain a brief history of the creator, the history of the Peanuts comics and my own experience and opinions of the Peanuts legacy. To the right are links associated with "Peanuts" : the official "Peanuts" website, the Charles M. Schulz tribute page and a site that posts most of your local daily comic strips.

The Official Website Tribute Page Daily Online Comics

	Charles Monroe Schulz was born on Nov. 26th 1922 in St. Paul Minnesota to Carl, a barber and Dena Schulz, a homemaker. Early on in life, Charles had the gift of art. All through school, Charles' passion was for drawing cartoons. Having lived in the time of the Great Depression, Charles and his family struggled to keep afloat. They managed, however and Charles was given the opportunity to take a correspondence course in cartooning. Before he could sell any of his cartoons, he was drafted in the military to serve in World War II. Upon his return, he did sell his work, titled "Lil Folks", that title would soon be replaced by "Peanuts" and a legend was born. For 50 years, Charles Schulz has drawn "Peanuts", entertaining many generations. Sadly, due to health reasons, Charles Schulz had to retire from drawing "Peanuts". Not wanting anyone else to continue his work, he retired the strip as well. On Feb. 12th, 2000, the night before his final "Peanuts" strip was published, Charles Schulz passed away in his sleep. On June 20th, 2000, Charles Schulz was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honor given a civilian, post mortem.
	The very first "Peanuts" strip was published on Oct. 2, 1950, after a dozen papers initially rejected it. Since then, we have been entertained by such characters as Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, Lucy, Sally, Schroeder, Woodstock, Peppermint Patty, Marcie and many, many more. The "Peanuts" gang has touched many generations over the past 50 years. It wasn't long before the "Peanuts" characters leapt from the comics page to many media and merchandising ventures. From TV specials and big screen feature movies, books, cards, stuffed animals and many more collectible items. Sadly due to health reasons, Charles Schulz and "Peanuts" were retired. On Jan. 3rd 2000, papers around the globe published the last new "Peanuts" daily strip. True to his nature, the last strip featured Snoopy at his typewriter with the words of his creator, Charles Schulz personally thanking all of his readers and editors for making the "Peanuts" era what it is today. The last new Sunday feature (Schulz's 18,000th strip) was published on Feb. 13th, 2000. This, however, is not the end. Papers are re-issuing the "Peanuts" strip in daily features, starting from 1974, when all the main characters had been introduced. I imagine the same will be done for the Sunday strip. This gives us the potential of having "Peanuts" everyday in our papers for the next 25 years at least, giving more generations the opportunity to enjoy it as much as we have. Not only that, but all the books, movies, specials and merchandise can be recirculated well into the 21st century and I, for one, am glad.
	As for what "Peanuts" has meant for me, it has been a source of great entertainment. I started reading the "Peanuts" comics at the tender age of 5 and have been collecting ever since. I have a lot of "Peanuts" related items, counting in the many hundreds, but what I have barely scratches the surface. The "Peanuts" gang has meant many things to many people over the years and will continue to do so for the forseeable future. The entertainment value alone is priceless, to get us to laugh, think and grow, as these characters have grown. I am grateful for all the time and effort Charles Schulz put into making, in my opinion, one of the most loved and memorable comics ever put to print. "Peanuts" was Charles Schulz's lifelong dream and ambition, to draw comics and entertain millions. On Feb. 13th, 2000 we witnessed the last "Peanuts" comic. Charles Monroe Schulz died the night before. He was 77. A great man has been lost and he will be missed. Even in death the "Peanuts" characters live on and will continue to live on for hopefully a very long time. On May 27th, 2000 over 100 cartoonists paid tribute to Charles M. Schulz in their respective comic strips. Recently, CBS aired a "Peanuts" tribute special titled "Here's to you, Charlie Brown" which featured animated shorts and several celebrity tributes to both the "Peanuts" characters and Charles Schulz, himself. The Postal Service has issued a Snoopy/WWI flying ace stamp. A ton of new (old) books are out. Many new memorabilia items have surfaced from dolls to books to ornaments. The list grows every year. It's remarkable that the "Peanuts" characters will be forever immortal and will entertain people for countless generations.   The phenomenon that is "Peanuts" continues to march. Despite Schulz' retirement and death, there are still new and different items on sale almost all the time. There have been 3 new TV specials, DVDs, Hallmark ornaments, calendars and of course, books. But now it's all in the repackaging. There are several holiday themed books (Valentine's, Halloween, Christmas) and several other "focus" compilations such as characters (Charlie Brown, Lucy, Snoopy, etc.) or sports themes (baseball, golf) and even definitive collections spanning 2 years of complete comics. Right now there are 2 (with a 3rd on the way) "Complete Peanuts" which are released every 3-4 months. From the way they're doing it, it looks to be a 25 volume set (1 for every 2 years of the 50 years of strips). Not only do they reproduce each comic, but add interviews, forewords by famous people and much more. A must for any "Peanuts" collector. If these new and improved items are any indication, the "Peanuts" saga will likely never die, further cementing their place in entertainment immortality.

dave626@earthlink.net