Charles M. Schulz

Charles Monroe "Sparky" Schulz (November 26, 1922 – February 12, 2000) was an American cartoonist and creator of the comic strip *Peanuts* (which featured the characters Charlie Brown and Snoopy, among many others). He is widely regarded as one of the most influential cartoonists of all time, cited by cartoonists including Jim Davis, Bill Watterson, Matt Groening, and Dav Pilkey.

Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on November 26, 1922, Schulz was the only child of Dena and Carl Schulz. From birth, comics played an important role in Schulz’s life. At just two days old, an uncle nicknamed him “Sparky” after the horse Spark Plug from the Barney Google comic strip, and throughout his youth he and his father shared a Sunday morning ritual reading the funnies. Schulz always knew he wanted to be a cartoonist and was very proud when Ripley’s newspaper feature, Believe it or Not, published his drawing of the family dog in 1937.

Schulz put his artistic ambitions on hold during World War II while serving as a machine-gun squad leader, though he regularly sketched episodes of daily army life in his sketchbook. Following his discharge in 1945, Schulz returned to St. Paul to pursue a cartooning career. Between 1947 and 1950, he drew a weekly comic panel for the St. Paul Pioneer Press and also sold seventeen comic gags to The Saturday Evening Post.