Charles Schulz, the pencil I loved the most

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If someone suddenly asks you: He knows charles monroe schultz? You would probably answer: Who is it? But if someone asks you again: You know Charlie Brown? I think your answer would be: Yes. In this 2022, exactly November 26th, it will be the centenary of the birth of one of the greatest cartoonists in history. Charles Monroe Schultz. The pencil I loved the most.

At school with Charlie Brown

On October 1, school started and we went to school with Charlie Brown in the satchel. It happened many years ago and we students were called "remigini", since the saint of the day was just San Remigio. Elementary schools, middle schools and high school. Many memories, many classmates and the most faithful friend always resting on the bench; my diary. Not just any diary, which changed subjects every year, but a diary with the same subjects. Everlasting. They were the Peanuts They were born on 2 October 1950 from the pencil of the American cartoonist Charles Schulz.

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Charles Schulz, why that name Peanuts?

Why the name Peanuts? The term indicated the cheapest seats in a theater and also an audience essentially made up of children. Schulz never liked this name and he always fought to change it. Melissa McGann, archivist at the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center in Santa Rosa, explains:

"Schulz had a strong dislike of this name throughout his life. And until his death, Schulz argued that he would have preferred something else, instead of Peanuts".

"I don't even like the word”, Said the cartoonist. "Not a nice word. It is totally ridiculous, it has no meaning, it simply creates confusion and has no dignity. And I think my humor has dignity".

At school with Charlie Brown. Always

At school with Charlie Brown, because those strips printed on the diary kept you company during the lessons. You started dreaming with them. In an instant you were on a baseball field playing with Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy and the others, then getting angry about yet another defeat. Or she was flying in the sky with Snoopy, "Aviation ace" of the First World War, in constant challenge with the Red Baron.

In case of "more serious" problems, you could always be overheard by Lucy, who bestowed "psychiatric" advice in his small kiosk. That small world, a small suburb of a small American city, offered infinite moments of joy, but also of reflection. The original strips were daily and composed of 4 cartoons created specifically to be easily inserted into the pages of newspapers.

Those strips have traveled the world and, above all, they have made known unique characters.

The protagonists of a timeless success

Charlie Brown: The protagonist. The round head, shy and insecure. The perennial loser, in love and in sport, but who never breaks down.

Sally Brown: Charlie Brown's little sister.

Snoopy: Charlie Brown's "hound" dog. Over the years he becomes an increasingly important character. Schulz will entrust his typewriter to write his farewell to readers.

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Woodstock: It's Snoopy's little bird friend.

Linus: Friend of Charlie Brown. He always carries a blanket with him, which gives him security. The definition "Linus' blanket" has become proverbial to indicate an object that gives a sense of security and protection to its owner.

Lucy: Linus's sister. She does not have a nice character, she continually humiliates her little brother Linus and is the most feared within the group. She is madly in love with Schroeder, who, however, prefers the piano.

Schroeder: He plays the piano and always has a bust of Beethoven on display.

Peppermint Patty: A little girl with a tomboy character, whom Charlie Brown calls "fat".

Charles Schulz, the last strip, the last emotion

January 3, 2000 is the date of the last Peanuts strip. Schultz died on February 12 of the same year.

For the farewell from his readers he chooses the character of Snoopy, who, with his typewriter, writes these words:


"Dear friends, I've been lucky enough to draw Charlie Brown and his friends for nearly 50 years. It was the fulfillment of all the ambitions of my childhood. Unfortunately I am no longer able to keep up with the schedule of a daily strip. My family does not want Peanuts to be continued by another so I am announcing my retirement. All these years I have been grateful for the fairness of our editors and the wonderful support and affection expressed to me by comic fans. Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, Lucy ... how could I ever forget them ..."

The London newspaper The Times he recalled it on February 14, 2000, with an obituary ending with the following sentence: "Charles Schulz leaves a wife, two sons, three daughters, and a little round-headed boy with an extraordinary pet dog". ("Charles Schulz leaves behind a wife, two sons, three daughters and a small, round-headed boy with an extraordinary dog").

And, taking up the words of Schulz, “Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, Lucy… how could I ever forget them…”. Really never.

Article written by Stefano Vori

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