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Farewell, Charlie Brown
Good grief, indeed.
The announcement came today, a little less than a month after the 77-year-old illustrator was diagnosed with colon cancer. Officially, the retirement is effective January 4, but Schulz, who routinely worked weeks ahead, has not been drawing the strip since his medical battles were disclosed.
In a letter to his readers, colleagues, fellow cartoonists and friends, Schulz wrote:
"I have always wanted to be a cartoonist, and I feel very blessed to have been able to do what I love for almost 50 years. It is important for me to tell you personally that I have decided to retire from drawing the Peanuts comic strip, in order to concentrate on my treatment for and recuperation colon cancer. Although I feel better following my recent surgery, I want to focus on my health and my family without the worry of a daily deadline."
"Thank you for your kindness and support over the years and for the outpouring of good wishes since my surgery."
Schulz was released from the hospital on November 30 after being admitted November 17 for emergency abdominal surgery. He is now at his Santa Rosa, California, home, where he has dreamed up misadventures for Charlie Brown, et al., for a half-century.
Peanuts debuted in seven newspapers on October 2, 1950. Today, it appears daily in more than 2,600 publications, reaching more than 355 million readers in 75 countries and 21 languages.
From 1950-1997, Schulz drew the strip without fail, causing a stir when, two years ago, he finally took a five-week break on his 75th birthday. At the time, Schulz noted that he has a contract clause that retires Peanuts when he retires.
"It was my kids' idea," Schulz said in 1997. "[My daughter] said, 'We don't want anyone else drawing Dad's strip. And I agree."
Peanuts is the most widely syndicated comic strip in history. A cottage industry to itself, the strip spawned more than 50 animated TV specials, starting with 1965's holiday perennial, the Emmy-winning A Charlie Brown Christmas. It inspired more than 1,400 books, four feature films and countless toys, dolls, lunchboxes and assorted refrigerator-magnet madness.
At the center of it all was Charlie Brown (although Snoopy would probably beg to differ). The round-headed loser, er, success-challenged minor was named after an art-school friend of Schulz. The character was widely believed to be its creator's alter ego.
Beginning on January 4 for dailies (and February 20 for Sundays), United Features Syndicate will give newspapers the options of running old Peanuts strips, circa 1974.
The company said the Peanuts stories of 1974 were chosen because it combines the characters of the strip's very early days (Charlie Brown, Lucy, Schroeder and Snoopy) with popular characters that were introduced later, like Peppermint Patty and Woodstock.
Born November 26, 1922, in St. Paul, Minnesota, Schulz was a World War II Army veteran whose early art gigs included selling toons to the Saturday Evening Post. In 1947, he sold a strip called Li'l Folks to the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Three years later, the strip was renamed Peanuts--and a phenomenon was born.
Schulz was honored twice with the Reuben Award, the cartoon industry's highest honor, in 1955 and 1964. In 1978, he was named International Cartoonist of the Year.
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