Sigh.
On a day when most hearts were supposed to be filled with love, theirs were aching with childlike grief. They are “Peanuts” fans, and they’ve lost their favorite comic strip and, over the weekend, its creator, Charles M. Schulz.
From the drizzly streets of Los Angeles to the dizzying lanes of the information superhighway, fans mourned the loss of a man who’d entertained America with his simple yet poignant strip for nearly 50 years.
Standing over Schulz’s star on Hollywood Boulevard, Heather De Conde, an animation teacher on vacation from New Jersey, snapped a photo and said she wished she had a stuffed Snoopy to leave at the site.
“He had a creative gift,” said De Conde, 30, whose parents encouraged her to read “Peanuts.” “He brought out his feelings to the world.”
Another fan laid flowers and her 20-year-old Snoopy atop the star.
“The world is going so fast and so vicious,” said the 31-year-old woman, who asked that her name not be used. “He seemed kind and unselfish. To all the millions of people who had a dour time, his cartoon would wipe away their tears.”
Chat rooms and message boards devoted to the comic strip overflowed with similar sentiments.
“My heart is heavy today,” wrote a fan, one of hundreds who posted messages on the Web site of the Press-Democrat newspaper in Santa Rosa, Calif., Schulz’s adopted hometown. “Charlie Brown will never get a valentine from the little red-haired girl, but we sent God the very best valentine the world had to offer.”
Another message read: “When I read the final ‘Peanuts’ strip on Sunday, I cried. When I found out that Mr. Schulz had died [the day before], I felt as if my world had lost a hero.”
The cartoonist’s stature in American culture was illustrated in a White House statement on his death: “For 50 years, ‘Peanuts’ has shown us the way. There is not a cartoonist alive who is not indebted to him, and all of us will miss his gentle and wholly original talent.”
Schulz died of a heart attack in his sleep Saturday night at his home in Santa Rosa with his wife, Jeannie, by his side. He was 77.
Schulz was considered the world’s most influential cartoonist. His comic strip ran in 2,600 newspapers in 75 countries and reached an estimated 355 million people. “Peanuts” also fueled more than 50 TV shows, four films, at least 1,400 books and wide array of plush dolls, figurines and the like.
Though he’d been battling colon cancer since late last year, his death came as a surprise to family and friends.
“When I saw the bulletin on television, I didn’t believe it. I was outraged,” said Mell Lazarus, a friend of 42 years and the Woodlands Hills cartoonist behind “Momma.” “But later it sank in, and the feeling I have is one of disbelief at this point.
“His work became so much a part of my psyche,” added Lazarus, who recovered from cancer over the last two years. “He gave us permission to be pessimistic but still be cheerful.”
Indeed, it’s the cartoonists who may miss “Sparky”--Schulz’s nickname from boyhood--the most. Some of the most heartfelt goodbyes came from his colleagues, those who struggled daily to reach Schulz’s level of wit and warmth.
“I became a cartoonist because of the influence his work had on my life growing up,” said Kevin Fagan, creator of “Drabble.” “This is a real sad day. I still have my childhood collection of ‘Peanuts’ books, and I still read them almost every day. . . . I [can still] get lost in his world.”
So beloved is Schulz that it’s not clear if his death will quiet the torrent of praise that began when he announced his retirement in December after being diagnosed with cancer. The news prompted a rare written thank-you from the creator of “Doonesbury,” Garry Trudeau.
“While the public at large regards ‘Peanuts’ as a cherished part of our shared popular culture, cartoonists also see it as an irreplaceable source of purpose and pride, our gold standard for work that is both illuminating and aesthetically sublime,” Trudeau wrote. “We can hardly imagine his absence.”
One tribute lies ahead. The National Cartoonists Society will posthumously honor Schulz with a lifetime achievement award over Memorial Day weekend.
On May 27, cartoonists will dedicate their strips to Schulz and donate proceeds to the Peanuts museum under construction in Santa Rosa, across the street from a community ice rink Schulz built for the public.
“We wanted to keep it a secret,” said Daryl Cagle, president of the society. “It’s sad that there’s no reason to do that now.”
His family asked that donations be sent to the National D-Day Memorial Foundation, P.O. Box 77, Bedford, VA 24523; (800) 351-DDAY. Schulz fought in France and Germany during World War II, attaining the rank of staff sergeant and leading a machine gun squad. The money will go toward a gallery of World War II comic strips named after Schulz’s friend, Bill Mauldin.
Family and close friends gathered for a private funeral service on Monday. And plans for a public service were in the works.
