cartoonist Charles M. Schulz [1922-2000] Page at Spirit of America Bookstore

"Never stay awake at night asking yourself questions you can't answer."
— Schulz's Charlie Brown character

          Charles M. Schulz was born 25 November 1922 in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Carl Fred and Dena Halverson Schulz. Just two days later an uncle nicknamed him Sparky, after the racehorse Spark Plug in the newspaper comic strip Barney Google (which some say foreshadowed Charles's later career choice). Young Charles was known for always having a drawing pad with him; his next-door neighbor X was his best pal (other than his dog Spike); Charles would often go next door and listen to X's mother practice on the piano while he drew on his notepad.
          His first published drawing was of his dog, Spike, which appeared in a 1937 Ripley's Believe It Or Not! installment. In his senior year in high school (1939?), his mother noticed an ad for the Federal School of Applied Cartooning correspondence school (later called Art Instruction Schools) which was based in Minneapolis. Schulz passed the talent test, completed the course. He began trying to sell gag cartoons to magazines; between 1948 and 1950, he succeeded in selling 17 cartoons to the Saturday Evening Post. He sold a weekly comic panel feature called Li'l Folks by Sparky to the local St. Paul Pioneer Press that was run in the women's section; the pay was $10 a week. After writing and drawing the feature for two years, Schulz asked for a better location in the paper or for daily exposure, as well as a raise; when he was turned down on all three counts, he quit.
          His beloved mother died suddenly of cancer in February 1943; Charles was upset that he had not been told of her illness. He was drafted that year and served in Europe as a sergeant in the Army's 20th Armored Division; he saw combat toward the end of the war. After discharge in 1945, he returned to Minneapolis and found work lettering for a Roman Catholic comic magazine. Art Instruction Schools {name changed circa 1950} hired him as an instructor in July 1946.

Schulz continued submitting strips to the national newspaper syndicates, and in the spring of 1950, he received a letter from United Feature Syndicate (later United Media) expressing interest in his submission Li'l Folks. In June 1950, he boarded a train for New York City. He was more interested in doing a daily strip than a panel, so he also brought along the first installments of what would become Peanuts®; the syndicate signed him to a contract. (The title of 'Peanuts' was imposed by the syndicate, and Schulz loathed it to his dying day.) The first Peanuts® daily strip appeared 2 October 1950 in seven newspapers; the first Sunday Peanuts® strip appeared 6 January 1952.
Schulz moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado in 1951; in April that same year he married Joyce Halverson (no relation to his mother Dena Halverson Schulz). Their son Monte was born the next February. In 1958, the family moved to the idyllic Coffee Grounds ranch near Sebastopol, California.

Schulz drew a short-lived sports-oriented comic strip called It's Only A Game [1957-59] that was abandoned due to the demands of Peanuts®. From 1956 to 1965 he contributed a single-panel series featuring teenagers called Young Pillars to Youth, a publication associated with the Church of God. He illustrated two volumes of Art Linkletter's "Kids Say The Darndest Things" [1957 & 1961] and "Dear President Johnson" [1964], a collection of letters edited by Bill Adler.

The first animated Peanuts® TV special "A Charlie Brown Christmas", aired in December 1965 and won an Emmy Award and a Peabody Award; so far 45 such specials have been produced.

Diagnosed with cancer, Schulz retired from Peanuts® at the end of 1999. He died on 13 February 2000, the day before his last strip was published – having completed 17,897 daily and Sunday strips, each and every one fully written, drawn, and lettered entirely by his own hand – an unmatched achievement in comics.

"The Complete Peanuts"
Two years of daily & Sunday strips per book, so there will be 25 volumes;
the slipcover box sets cover four years each.

Complete Peanuts 32-volume bundle in Kindle format from Fantagraphics

"The Complete Peanuts: 32 Volumes" bundle on Kindle [2016] 12/2016

Kindle Edition from Fantagraphics [11/2016] 32 books totaling $512.92
includes volumes 1 thru 26 as above, plus "A Valentine For Charlie Brown", "Batter Up, Charlie Brown", "Charlie Brown's Christmas Stocking", "Snoopy vs. The Red Baron", "Snoopy's Thanks-giving", and "Waiting For The Great Pumpkin" - all released in November 2015

"Peanuts Every Sunday" by Charles M. Schulz
Each volume contains four or five years of re-mastered color Sunday strips.

"Young Pillars" [1956-65] single-panel series featuring teenagers in Youth, a publication associated with the Church of God
"Kids Say The Darndest Things" [1957 & 1961] by Art Linkletter, illustrated by Charles Schulz
"Dear President Johnson" [1964], a collection of letters edited by Bill Adler, illustrated by Charles Schulz

"Charles M. Schulz Conversations" [] by Charles M. Schulz, Edited by M. Thomas Inge

"My Life with Charlie Brown" [3/2010] by Charles M. Schulz, Edited by M. Thomas Inge
http://www.amazon.com/Life-Charlie-Brown-Charles-Schulz-ebook/dp/B003CV7SB8/
http://www.amazon.com/Life-Charlie-Brown-Charles-Schulz/dp/1604734477/

new Peanuts® books from KaBOOM!
showing as for 'ages 6 & up' and for 'ages 9 & up'; each book contains classic original strips by Charles Shulz, and new material by others

Art & Making of Peanuts Animation book by Charles Solomon

"The Art and Making of Peanuts Animation: Celebrating Fifty Years of
Television Specials" [2012] by animation historian Charles Solomon
covers all 45 films, with interviews of Lee Mendelsohn, Phil Roman, Bill Melendez
& Bill Littlejohn
Chronicle Books 9½x11 hardcover [11/2012] for $29.60

"Peanuts 1960's Collection" [2009]

Peanuts 1960's Collection DVD box set from Warner Home Video

Warner Home Video DVD set [7/2009] 2 disks for $24.46
contains six animated TV specials, as below, plus a new 38-minute featurette
profiling composer Vince Guaraldi, "The Maestro of Menlo Park"

"A Charlie Brown Christmas: The Making of A Tradition" [Harper 9/2005] by Lee Mendelson ISBN 0-06-076659-X

"Charlie Brown's All-Stars" [CBS-TV June 8, 1966]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Brown%27s_All-Stars

"It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" [CBS-TV October 27, 1966]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_the_Great_Pumpkin,_Charlie_Brown

"You're in Love, Charlie Brown" [CBS-TV June 12, 1967]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You%27re_in_Love,_Charlie_Brown

"He's Your Dog, Charlie Brown" [CBS-TV February 14, 1968]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/He%27s_Your_Dog,_Charlie_Brown

"It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown" [CBS-TV September 27, 1969]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Was_a_Short_Summer,_Charlie_Brown

"The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show" [CBS-TV 1983-85]

Charlie Brown and Snoopy 1983-85 TV Show

Weekly half-hour animated series of the Peanuts Gang in skits based on the daily comic strip; 18 episodes, Sept-Dec 1983 and Sept 1985 • Produced by Bill Melendez & Lee Mendelson; featuring voices of Bill Melendez, Brad Kesten, Brett Johnson, Jeremy Schoenberg, Angela Lee Sloan, Victoria Vargas, Stacy Heather Tolkin, Michael Dockery, Kevin Brando, Gini Holtzman, Keri Houlihan, Heather Stoneman, Mary Tunnell, 'Fergie', Jason Mendelson, Danny Colby, Dana Ferguson, Carl Steven
The Complete Series: Warner Archive color DVD [11/2012] 2 disks for $22.88
series credits at IMDb • series entry at Wikipedia

"This Is America, Charlie Brown" TV mini-series [CBS-TV 1988-89]

'This Is America, Charlie Brown' animated TV mini-series

8-episode animated mini-series aired Oct 1988 to May 1989; the Peanuts Gang visits important events in United States history: "The Mayflower Voyagers", "The Birth of The Constitution", "The Building of The Transconti-nental Railroad", "The Wright Brothers At Kitty Hawk", "The N.A.S.A. Space Station", "The Great Inventors"
(Bell, Edison, Ford), "The Smithsonian and The Presidency", and "The Music and Heroes of America"
Produced by Bill Melendez & Lee Mendelson; featuring voices of Bill Melendez, Erin Chase, Jason Riffle, Jason Mendelson, Brandon Stewart, Gregg Berger, Frank Welker {as Abraham Lincoln}, Brittany Thornton, Erica Gayle, Marie Cole, Curtis Andersen, Tani Taylor Powers, Hal Smith, Hakeem Abdul-Samad, Ami Foster, Brandon Horne, Jeremy Miller, Keri Houlihan
The Complete Series: Warner Home Video color DVD [6/2014] 2 disks for $19.69
series credits at IMDb • series entry at Wikipedia

"A Boy Named Charlie Brown" feature film [Nov 1969]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Boy_Named_Charlie_Brown

"Snoopy, Come Home" feature film [Aug 1972]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snoopy,_Come_Home

"Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown" feature film [Aug 1977]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_for_Your_Life,_Charlie_Brown

"Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don't Come Back!!)" feature film [May 1980]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bon_Voyage,_Charlie_Brown_(and_Don%27t_Come_Back!!)

Peanuts® animated feature films
Announced 10/2012: Twentieth Century Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studios have acquired motion picture rights to the late Charles Schulz’s “Peanuts” franchise; the first
(untitled) film will be released on 25 November 2015, which is the 65th anniversary of the comic strip and the 50th anniversary of the "Charlie Brown Christmas"
TV special. Steve Martino ("Ice Age" & "Horton") will direct a script by co-producers & co-writers son Craig Schulz, grandson Bryan Schulz, and Cornelius Uliano.

"The Peanuts Movie 3-D" [Fox/Blue Sky Nov 2015]

early 'Dream Big' poster for 2015 'The Peanuts Movie' in 3-D

group poster for 2015 'The Peanuts Movie' in 3-D

Episodic tale of Charlie Brown at home and at school, with Snoopy in a second storyline flying his airplane/doghouse against the Red Baron in World War I France to rescue daring resistence pilot Fifi.
Directed by Steve Martino; co-produced & written by Bryan Schulz, Craig Schulz & Cornelius Uliano; music by Christophe Beck (based on themes by Vince Guaraldi); voice actors include Noah Schnapp {as Charlie Brown}, Francesca Capaldi, Mariel Sheets, Venus Schultheis, Madisyn Shipman, Noah Johnston, Hadley Belle Miller, Rebecca Bloom, Mar Mar, William Wunsch, A.J. Tecce, Alexander Garfin & Anastasia Bredikhina, with recordings of Bill Melendez [1916-2008] used for sounds of Snoopy & Woodstock
DVD/Blu-ray not yet available
full credits at IMDb • official movie site • movie entry at Wikipedia
watch official trailers at YouTube: 3/2014 teaser [0:59] • 1/2015 'flying Snoopy' trailer [1:54]

"Peanuts Portraits: Peanuts 60th Anniversary" audio CD [2010] by Vince Guaraldi
http://www.amazon.com/Peanuts-Portraits-60th-Anniversary/dp/B0037RBVOM/

38-minute featurette profiling composer Vince Guaraldi, "The Maestro of Menlo Park"

Peanuts® Characters
list of Peanuts® characters at Wikipedia
Charlie Brown
Snoopy
Lucy (Lucille van Pelt)
Linus van Pelt
Pig-Pen
Rerun (Linus & Lucy's little brother)

"Good Ol' Charles Schulz" TV documentary [PBS-TV Oct 2007]

"Good Ol' Charles Schulz" 2007 TV documentary from 'American Masters' on PBS

83-minute largely-b&w 'American Masters' episode about the life and career
of cartoonist Charles M. Schulz; directed by David Van Taylor
VHS/DVD/Blu-ray not available • credits at IMDb
watch full movie [1:22:54] online at YouTube

first wife Joyce Halverson Schulz Doty [] - married April 1951
step-daughter equine trainer Meredith Schulz Fredericksen Hodges [b. 1950]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meredith_Hodges
granddaughter Dena Fredericksen [b. 1974]
Lucky Three Ranch [est. 1980] in Fort Collins, Colorado
son Monte Schulz [b. 1952]
son Craig Schulz {co-produces the new movies, 2015}
grandson Bryan Schulz {co-produces the new movies, 2015}
daughter Amy
daughter Jill

here on the cartoonist Charles M. Schulz [1922-2000] Page at Spirit of America Bookstore

	"Good Grief: The Story of Charles M. Schulz" [1989] 'authorized portrait' by Rheta Grimsley Johnson Andrews McMeel Publng 9x6 pb [6/1995] out of print/many used Pharos Books 9x6 hardcover [9/89] out of print/80+ used
	"Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography" [2007] by David Michaelis Harper 9x6 hardcover [10/2007] for $23.07

Spirit of America Bookstorecartoonist Charles M. Schulz [1922-2000]and the Peanuts® Comic Strip [est. 1950]

Spirit of America Bookstore
cartoonist Charles M. Schulz
[1922-2000]
and the Peanuts® Comic Strip [est. 1950]