good grief

I recall drawing Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy & Linus Van Pelt when I was a second grader at R.A. Mitchell. Even back then I was fascinated by every line of Charles M. Shutlz drew. I would look at Charlies big round face and try to draw it and struggled. I had the worse time with Linus for some reason. He had a strange shaped head. The Finlayson family had a hard bound collection that became very worn down through the years called The Peanuts Treasury. It was a masterwork and I never got tired of pulling it off the shelf and reading and re-reading the panels. Looking back, I believe I learned to read by reading the Sunday funnies and comic books. I remember on a trip to Columbia, Mom and Dad bought me a paperback collection of Peanuts and it kept me occupied for the entire trip. Smart move on my parents part.

Charles M. Shultz was a big inspiration to me. He taught me that it was okay to draw simple lines. Just look at the body of his work and you'll discover what can be accomplished with pen and ink. I once read where Charles said he didn't have what it took to be a great painter or a great author of novels. He said that he found his medium in between - telling stories with cartoons. Shultz created a beautiful world of children. Things never were easy for Charlie Brown, and as a kid struggling with school, I related to good old Charlie Brown.

Though Charles M. Shultz wasn't a part of my generation, he influence my generation. I believe on some level, we baby-boomers related to that round headed kid. Shultz illustrated experiences of our childhood. I relate to Charlie Brown, I had a neighborhood that I could explore, had friends and foes, and even a dog that took part in my neighborhood adventures. I had a hill in my backyard that I could lay down and make out the shapes of the clouds. Pull out the ball, bats, and gloves and kids seemed to appear from nowhere to play a game. Charlie and I shared much the same childhood. I look at the reprinted cartoons and don't see them as children of today, but children of my day.

Thanks for the memories Sparky!