I'm writing to let those of you who don't, know that Charles M. Schultz passed away Saturday night. He was the creater of "Peanuts", a wonderul comic strip. I am terribly saddened by this. I never met the man, but his work really meant something to me.

You see, my parents divorced when I was young. They had joint custody, so I spent many weekends with my dad. In those early years, however, I had a hard time sleeping there. One night, at a time when he was living in the house he grew up in, I just could not get to sleep. I got up and searched for something to read, which usually helped. I dug around some old books and came across some old "Peanuts" comic books. I was so excited. That was the first time I had seen comics outside of the newspaper. I read one book from cover to cover that night. And from then on, I always searched for those books. Sometimes I would read the same one again, just for pure enjoyment. The best one's were the earlier comics where the characters don't quite look like they do these days.

His work calmed me in those times, and, more recently, they've kept me in good spirits. I knew of his impending last comic that was running on Sunday, but who would've guessed that he would've passed away the night before. However fitting, it is still a tragic loss, and my heart goes out to his family.

I hope you all have found a little piece of joy in his comics, as I always have.

famous