Have Fun at Beanbag Camp (Peanuts) [Paperback]

Charles M. Schulz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 19, 1998 | Series: Peanuts

Bringing joy, laughter, and a warm touch of wisdom to kids young and old, these Peanuts titles feature Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy, and the rest of the gang as they cope with life, love, and summer camp in their own hilarious ways.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

"It seems beyond the comprehension of people that someone can be born to draw comic strips, but I think I was," said Charles M. Schulz, creator of PEANUTS. "My ambition from earliest memory was to produce a daily comic strip." And that was exactly what Schulz did everyday since PEANUTS debuted in seven newspapers on October 2, 1950.

Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on November 26, 1922, Schulz was nicknamed "Sparky" after Barney Google's horse "Sparkplug." He began his fascination with comic strips early, reading the Sunday comics from four different newspapers with his father each week. With encouragement from his father, a barber, and his mother, Schulz enrolled in a correspondence course in cartooning at what is now the Art Instruction School, Inc. in Minneapolis.

His career in cartooning was interrupted in 1943 when he was drafted into the Army and soon embarked for Europe in the fight against Germany. Upon his return, Schulz landed his first job in cartooning at Timeless Topix, a Catholic comic magazine. Soon after, he took on a second job as a teacher at Art Instruction, where he worked with Charlie Brown, Linus and Frieda, who later lent their names to the PEANUTS comic strip.

Schulz's first break came in 1947 when he sold a cartoon feature called "Li'l Folks" to the St. Paul Pioneer Press. "Li'l Folks" ran as a weekly feature for two years. In 1948 he sold a cartoon panel to the Saturday Evening Post and would go on to sell 15 more panels between 1948-50.

In 1950, after many mailbox rejections, Schulz boarded a train from St. Paul to New York with a handful of drawings for a meeting with United Feature Syndicate. On October 2 of that year, PEANUTS, named by the syndicate, debuted in seven newspapers. When asked if he thought the strip would be a success, Schulz replied, "Sure, I thought it would last; in fact, when I started out I thought, 'I'll be drawing this for the rest of my life.'"

Almost 50 years later, PEANUTS appears in over 2,600 newspapers worldwide and Charles M. Schulz has become a household name. The strip has maintained its universal appeal throughout five distinctly different decades. "As a youngster, I didn't realize how many Charlie Browns there were in the world," said Schulz. "I thought I was the only one. Now I realize that Charlie Brown's goofs are familiar to everybody, adults and children alike."

Schulz would work six weeks ahead on daily and Sunday strips and, unlike many cartoonists, drew every comic strip without the assistance of an art staff. He also wrote all the scripts and storyboards for the PEANUTS television specials, earning him five Emmy and two Peabody Awards, and was involved in all aspects of the PEANUTS publishing and licensing programs through United Media Licensing in New York. His company, Creative Associates, was formed in 1970 to handle his business affairs and assist in maintaining the high quality standards associated with PEANUTS.

Obviously, even after producing almost 18,000 comic strips, Schulz remained dedicated to PEANUTS. When questioned about the overwhelming devotion to his work, Schulz explained, "Why do musicians compose symphonies and poets write poems? They do it because life wouldn't have any meaning for them if they didn't. That's why I draw cartoons. It's my life." Among other numerous honors, Schulz received two Reuben Awards from the National Cartoonists Society (Outstanding Cartoonist and Best Humor Strip) and was inducted into the Cartoonist Hall of Fame.

Although the strip remained his first love, Schulz was an avid sports enthusiast with a long-time passion for golf (he regularly participated in the Pro Am at Pebble Beach, California). He also enjoyed tennis. Above all, he loved ice-skating and the game of hockey, and was the only non-hockey professional to be presented the coveted Lester Patrick Award for his contributions to the game. To share skating with his community, he built the Redwood Empire Ice Arena near his home in Santa Rosa, California.

On February 12, 2000, Charles Schulz died in Santa Rosa, CA, of complications from colon cancer. It was only hours before his last original strip was to appear in Sunday papers. His wife, Jeannie, his five children, two stepchildren, and their families survive him.

Product Details

• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: It Books (May 19, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0694009776
• ISBN-13: 978-0694009770
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.1 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #926,003 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Charles M. Schulz was born November 25, 1922 in Minneapolis. His destiny was foreshadowed when an uncle gave him, at the age of two days, the nickname Sparky (after the racehorse Spark Plug in the newspaper strip Barney Google).

In his senior year in high school, his mother noticed an ad in a local newspaper for a correspondence school, Federal Schools (later called Art Instruction Schools). Schulz passed the talent test, completed the course and began trying, unsuccessfully, to sell gag cartoons to magazines. (His first published drawing was of his dog, Spike, and appeared in a 1937 Ripley's Believe It Or Not! installment.) Between 1948 and 1950, he succeeded in selling 17 cartoons to the Saturday Evening Post--as well as, to the local St. Paul Pioneer Press, a weekly comic feature called Li'l Folks. It was run in the women's section and paid $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.

He started submitting strips to the newspaper syndicates. In the spring of 1950, he received a letter from the United Feature Syndicate, announcing their interest in his submission, Li'l Folks. Schulz boarded a train in June for New York City; more interested in doing a strip than a panel, he also brought along the first installments of what would become Peanuts--and that was what sold. (The title, which Schulz loathed to his dying day, was imposed by the syndicate). The first Peanuts daily appeared October 2, 1950; the first Sunday, January 6, 1952.

Diagnosed with cancer, Schulz retired from Peanuts at the end of 1999. He died on February 13, 2000, the day before Valentine's Day--and 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.