Charles Schulz

Charles Schulz is a hero. He is a hero because even though his first comic, L'il Folks, was cut from the Saturday Evening Post he did not give up! He tried and tried. Then, the most wonderful thing happened; he created one of the most famous comics in the whole world.

Charles Schulz had some problems in his childhood. Charles Schulz was born on November 26, 1922, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After being only 2 days old, his uncle nicknamed him Sparky. This was short for Sparkplug, a character in a comic called "Barney Google". This only child's dad was a barber, and his mom was a housewife. When he was in Junior High, he loved to play sports, especially baseball and hockey. But, since this was about 99 years ago, there were no intermurals you could play after school so he would just play on the street. When Charles was in St. Paul High School, he was always putting himself down! He never asked a girl out because he believed no one would want to date him. He had no friends either because he believed nobody wanted to be his friend. Then, he gave some of his drawings to the school yearbook. They did not use any of them! If they had known that Charles would become the creator of the comic Peanuts, they probably would have put at least one drawing in. Luckily, he had sold his first cartoon to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, his school's paper. As you can see, this is what Charles' childhood was like.

Charles M. Schulz drawing Charlie Brown (Google (Anonymous))

Charles Schulz had many problems. His mom, Dena, believed that he should go to art school so they worked hard to pay the tuition. At last, Charles had earned enough money to go to art school. Ironically, Charles had earned a C in his first art class. Then, Charles had to stop art school. This was because he was drafted to World War II. Sadly, in 1943, his mom died while he was in basic training. Though he never got any dangerous wounds, his heart was broken. Then, in 1966, his father died while visiting Charles in his home in California. As you can see, Charles Schulz had many problems.

Charles M. Schulz earning a Hollywood Star. (Google (Anonymous))

Charles Schulz earned many awards. One of his awards was when he had earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He also earned a Golden Brick award for lifetime achievement as a comic strip creator. In 2000, The Baseball Hall of Fame had made an exhibit in honor of Charles Schulz called "You're in the Hall of Fame, Charlie Brown!" They had made this because just about 2,000 Peanuts comics were made about baseball. An airport in Sonoma County had also honored Charles Schulz by renaming it Charles M. Schulz- Sonoma County Airport. As you can see, Charles Schulz had earned many awards.

Charles Schulz had many accomplishments. In 1937, he drew a picture of his dog Spike, and it ended up in Ripley's Believe It or Not! Ten years later, he began publishing a cartoon called "L'il Folks" in the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Then, after being fired from that job, he sold "L'il Folks" to United Feature Syndicate, which changed the strip's name to Peanuts. That same year on October 2, the first Peanuts comic strip was printed and seven newspapers carried it! He had earned $90.00 in his first week! In 1965, Peanuts appeared on the cover of Time magazine and a TV special called, A Charlie Brown Christmas premieres. Finally, in 1969, Apollo X Astronauts carried Charlie Brown into space with them. This had made Charles Schulz very happy. As you can see, Charles Schulz had many accomplishments.

Charles Schulz had many character traits. First, Charles Schulz was always very determined. When he was fired from the St. Paul Pioneer Press job, he still tried to get another job in the "comic community." Finally, he had stayed as a cartoonist when he sold his comic to United Feature Syndicate and made many movies and comics. Second, Charles Schulz was also very brave. In 1943, after being in only a couple art classes, he was drafted for World War II. Luckily, he had persevered through the entire battle without any treacherous wounds! Lastly, Charles Schulz was very strong. While he was in World War II, his mother died. He was sad, but he tried to stay strong. Then, in 1966, his father died while visiting Charles in California. Finally, Charles Schulz was diagnosed was cancer. He had stayed strong as long as he could until he couldn't anymore. Sadly, the disease had taken his life in 2000. As you can see, Charles Schulz had many character traits.

Charles Schulz had always loved his family and friends. In fact, Charles had loved them so much he added them into his comic. Charlie Brown is a copy of Charles Schulz as a boy. Charlie Brown's parents were just like Charles parents; Charlie has a dad who is a barber, and a mom who is a housewife. Charles had a pointer named Spike; Charlie has a beagle named Snoopy. In Peanuts, Spike is Snoopy's cousin. Linus and Shermy were Charles' childhood friends. Peppermint Patty is one of Charles' cousins, Patricia, whose favorite candy is a Peppermint Patty. There is also a little red haired girl that Charlie Brown loves in Peanuts. This red haired girl is a character who you never see or learn the name of. This is a woman who Charles had loved but, when he proposed, she turned him down and married somebody else. As you can see, Charles had loved his family and friends.

There is an important lesson that I have learned from the way Charles Schulz had lived. This lesson is that, anything could have happened when he was fired from the St. Paul Pioneer Press. He could have become a business man or worked at a fast food restaurant, but he didn't. Instead, Charles Schulz kept trying and trying to live his life's dream as a cartoonist. He tried, until finally, United Feature Syndicate had bought his comic. This is a great lesson to young people, like me, to learn from. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. I think this would be a great motto for someone like Charles Schulz. As you can see, Charles Schulz is a hero.