Charles Schulz

So if you would have met me as a 5 year old and asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I think you would have found my answer to be rather surprising. My friends wanted to be astronauts, firemen, policemen, super heros, baseball players, etc. Not me. My answer: I was taking over for Charles Schulz. I was going to draw the Peanuts comic strip. That's the truth. Schulz was my childhood hero. I wanted to be an artist because of Schulz. I drew every character in every setting and every pose a thousand times before my 8th birthday. As a a kid, I loved to draw. I especially loved to draw the Peanuts characters. By the way, I love the fact that at the age of 5 I knew that I wanted to be an artist.

Here's something amazing- I remember hearing about Schulz announcing his retirement in late 1999. I hated the thought of him quitting, so as February, 2000 approached, I would complain to friends that Charlie Brown would die on February 13. I would tear through the newspaper every morning to to get to the new Peanuts strip. My 15 second morning ritual was about to end and I wasn't happy about it. After all, this was my childhood idol.

On the morning of February 13, I turned on the radio, poured myself a cup of coffee and was about to open the paper to read the last original strip written and drawn by Charles Schulz. I thought to myself that today is the day Charlie Brown dies. I know it sounds a bit morbid, but I had a personal connection to Schulz and the little round head kid that we all love. Just then, the announcer on the radio said that Charles Schulz died the night before. How surreal. Schulz and his creation, the beloved Charlie Brown died together -within hours of one another. I will never forget that.