You’re a Good Man, Charles Schulz

It’s a slow week in the literary community as the new year begins. And it’s a sad week for fans and admirers of “Peanuts” creator, Charles Schulz. As of Monday, he will retire his pen and ink, shifting his focus to his health and his family.

Drat! No more new woes for Charlie Brown, the world-famous cartoon character who never quite gets it right.

So why does this news matter to us? It matters, because his words are read in more homes than those of many literary giants. Schulz, better know as Sparky to his friends, is our own friendly philosopher with the slightly bemused view of life. He also happens to be a friend.

When we first met it was June 1983, and the Santa Barbara Writers Conference was in full swing. Seated on a couch in the auditorium of the Miramar Hotel in Santa Barbara, Schulz asked where I was headed and invited me to sit down.

I got to hang out with him and his wife, Jeannie, then and for many conferences after that, no credentials required. He treated me to an ice cream cone once, his favorite treat. Another year, at a dinner with his family on Father’s Day, Jeannie learned I could analyze handwriting. Everyone at the table scribbled samples to analyze. Schulz watched with a skeptical eye.

Last year he skipped the conference--not feeling well was the word. Since then, he learned he has colon cancer.

In December, UPS delivered his yearly Snoopy calendar with the usual holiday greeting from Sparky and Jeannie. A few weeks earlier, a heavier package had arrived. It was his latest publication, “Peanuts--A Golden Celebration: The Art and the Story of the World’s Best-Loved Comic Strip” by Charles M. Schulz (Harper-Collins, $45).

It is vintage Schulz--an upfront and personal view of life before and after the creation of “Peanuts.” Written in his easy conversational style, you read how Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the cast of characters evolved over the years.

In 1960, for example, Snoopy began to think his own thoughts and got up on his hind feet and began walking around. As for Charlie Brown, Schulz says he likes him for his kindness and gentleness. Not surprisingly, Schulz comes across the same way.

Ten years ago, I got the opportunity to write about Schulz for a monthly publication. Would he grant me the interview?

“Will it help you?” he asked. Yes, it would, so we did it.

Unfortunately, the magazine changed editors and direction in the interim and the piece never got published. I dug it out last week. Titled “Happiness is a Warm Hockey Stick,” it centered on Snoopy’s Senior World Hockey Tournament held yearly since 1975 at the Redwood Empire Ice Arena in Santa Rosa. Schulz built the rink for the community and himself.

Schulz had been swinging a hockey stick since his childhood days when maternal grandmother Sophia Halverson played goalie at the foot of the basement stairs. Since he was an only child, she won the position by default.

“I like to think that she made a lot of great saves,” Schulz said.

Talking about his comic strip, he said, “Sometimes I’ll draw something I think is so funny, my hand really can hardly hold still, I’m having so much fun doing it.” Then, he added with a typical self-deprecating jab, “About once every five years.”

Asked which of his characters he is, he said, “You have to be all the characters, otherwise you can’t create them.”

He summed up his life that day 10 years ago.

“It’s my world,” he said. “I would rather be at the studio on the good days when I have something good to draw than be out playing golf or tennis or hockey or anything. Just a normal day is what I like to have.”

DETAILS

* Monday: 11 a.m. Story time with art. Borders, 125 W. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks, 497-8159.

* Monday: 7 p.m. Ongoing discussion of Neale Donald Walsch’s “Conversations with God,” led by Jim Newell and Jim Michael. Borders, 497-8159.

* Tuesday: 10:30 a.m. Story time. Adventures for Kids, 3457 Telegraph Road, Ventura, 650-9688.

* Tuesday: 7 p.m. Learn practical SAT test-taking skills from the experts at the Princeton Review in this 90-minute session. Borders, 497-8159.

* Wednesday: 7 p.m. Gerald Schiller will speak at the east county chapter of Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network. Schiller will discuss his children’s books and how they were published. For more information, contact Carol Doering at cdoering@gte.net or 493-1081. Borders, 497-8159.

* Friday: 1 p.m. Creative Gatherings Group will focus on ‘The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron. Borders, 497-8159.

* Saturday: 10:30 a.m. Bear stories. Thousand Oaks Barnes & Noble, 160 S. Westlake Blvd., Thousand Oaks, 446-2820.

* Saturday: 4 p.m. Local author Robin Westmiller will discuss and sign “Red Wine for Breakfast.” Borders, 497-8159.

* Saturday: 7 p.m. Pajamamania story time. Borders, 497-8159.

Information about book signings, writers groups and publishing events can be e-mailed to anns40@aol.com or faxed to 647-5659.