The family of “Peanuts” artist Charles Shultz, who lived for decades in Santa Rosa, 50 miles north of San Francisco [map], claims a newly released biography by David Michaelis, Schultz and Peanuts, mistakenly characterizes him as a melancholy, distant parent and fails to recognize what a wonderful fellow he was.

Of course, no one who read “Peanuts” for even six months during its long run throughout the second half of the 20th century — it debuted in 1950 and the last new strip was published in February 2000, just hours after Schultz died — could fail to miss the themes of rejection, persecution and despair that filled the cute strip about little kids (its original title was “L’il Folks”), and it didn’t take a psychiatrist to see that its creator had issues.


“Peanuts” was highly influential in both its art and its treatment of the 20th century themes of community, loyalty, and personal hostility. It offered an alternative to the inane mid-century Lawrence Welk/”Up With People” view of America which held that all you had to do to be successful and happy was to be middle class. (A few years ago I addressed the ambivalent messages of “Peanuts” in my blog.)

Schultz was a generous benefactor to Santa Rosa, where he built a popular ice skating rink and where the local airport is named after the artist. There’s also a museum dedicated to Schultz’s life and work.