NOVEMBER 26: Charles M. Schulz Birthday!

Charles M. Schulz (illustrated by Dominique Liongson)

Charles M. Schulz (26 November 1922 - 12 February 2000) is a famous American Cartoonist who brought Peanuts and (most especially) Snoopy to the world.  If you'd like to know his biography, check out the Charles M. Schulz Museum or Wikipedia.  I read and found out that his nickname is Sparky. Read the biography links above and you'll find out why.

I feel a connection with this artist because of the humor of the cast in Peanuts.  My top 3 favorite Peanuts characters are 1)Snoopy, 2)Lucy, and 3)Linus.  I can write a caboodle of recalled Peanuts comic strip jokes.  But then, this might steal Sparky's thunder which may defeat my purpose in blogging him.  For a sampling of his work, have a look at peanuts.com.

What does his comic strip series Peanuts have that other comic strips don't?  Here is my list...

• A dog who sleeps on the roof of his dog house
• A dog who writes novels and receives rejection slips 
• A dog who knows his master's name as "The Round Headed Kid"
• A dog who failed to collect a tip for bringing his dog dish to the kitchen
• A dog who gives away easter eggs as an easter beagle
• A dog who listens to Leo Buscaglia audiotapes
• A dog who caught a baseball with his dog dish in his mouth
• A dog who is an elegant ice skater
• A dog who is in touch with his brother who lives in the lonely desert

• A bird who flies upside down
• A bird who cheers up his dog-friend by making a quilt out of the rejection slips
• A bird who speaks in apostrophes, periods, and question marks while a dog can understand him

• A 5-cent psychiatrist with paying clients
• A girl bully who has a crush on a blonde kid who plays the toy piano
• The same kid wanted real estate for her birthday but didn't get it

• A blonde kid who plays Beethoven music with a toy piano

• A smart kid with a blanket habit
• A blanket habit kid who has an eternally loyal devotion to The Great Pumpkin
• The same kid may have a bossy sister but he is a brother who loves her very much

• A round headed kid who has faith in a girl who yanks the football whenever he tries to kick it
• A round headed kid who served dog fondue to his dog
• A round headed kid who is proud of his dad the barber

• A team of baseball players seems to be geared towards the losing end but still plays every baseball season anyway

• lots of unrequited love

• and a whole lot more to look at if you follow the Peanuts gang...

I wish to pay my respects to Sparky who has contributed intelligence and laughter in the art of newspaper cartoons.  It seems that he has earned a wonderful retirement plan in the afterlife.  Somehow I wonder how he is enjoying the fruits of his labor.  Maybe his Snoopy has materialized into an independent dog.  Or the unrequited love issues finally have a happy ending.   Or the good Great Pumpkin finally showed up to Linus and his friends.  Or Lucy becomes nicer because her pianist Schroeder tamed her.  Or.... who knows?

I gratefully thank you, Sparky.  You are one of the few artists who shines with your essence as a first-rate you.  No one else can do the best Peanuts gang except you.  I can see it is better to be a first-rate me than a second-rate wannabe.  With the strengths and weaknesses that only you --Charles M. Schulz-- have, you created a world that all your admirers want to be in.  Thank you for your intelligent and funny world.  If I had the chance, I would love to give you a big hug... because I listened to a Leo Buscaglia tape just like Snoopy did.  And on November 26...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SPARKY!

:-( -> :-| -> :-)

DL    

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"Let us rise up and be thankful; for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so let us all be thankful."

--Buddha