The life story of the creator of the most beloved comic strip of all time, Peanuts. Charles (Sparky) Schulz was a shy, awkward, and eccentric man. Sound familiar? He was very much like his most famous character, Charlie Brown. But he wanted to be Snoopy but it was not to be.
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Schulz grew up over his shy and socially awkward father's barber shop. His mother was ill for many years before dying so Schulz spent a lot of time alone with a drawing pad and his imagination.
After serving in the military during World War II, Schulz returned home to Minnesota and began teaching at an Art School. It was there that he came up with the ground breaking comic strip Peanuts.
Peanuts was first published in the 1950's and started building fans. Characters such as Linus, Lucy, Schroeder and Pigpen became icons. In the 1960's a series of Peanuts TV specials were very popular, which lead to endorsement deals and made Sparky Schulz very rich indeed.
Schulz's private life was not terribly happy. His first wife was very much like Lucy, which did not make for a blissful married life. His second wife, however, made him happy.
Schulz continued drawing and writing Peanuts until his death in 2000.
Best part of story, including ending:
I enjoyed learning how auto-biographical Peanuts was.
Best scene in story:
The struggle over getting a Charlie Brown Christmas made and on the air. The suits at CBS did not like it. They were wrong.
Opinion about the main character:
Very shy and hard to get to know.
