“Exercise is a dirty word. Every time I hear it I wash my mouth out with chocolate.” – Charles M. Schulz
About Charles M. Schulz
Charles Monroe Schulz (November 26, 1922 – February 12, 2000), nicknamed Sparky, was an American cartoonist best known for the comic strip Peanuts (which featured the characters Charlie Brown and Snoopy, among others). He is widely regarded as one of the most influential cartoonists of all time, cited as a major influence by many later cartoonists, including Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson.
Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Schulz grew up in Saint Paul. He was the only child of Carl Schulz, who was born in Germany, and Dena Halverson, who had Norwegian heritage.
Schulz’s first group of regular cartoons, a weekly series of one-panel jokes entitled Li’l Folks, was published from June 1947 to January 1950 in the St. Paul Pioneer Press, with Schulz usually doing four one-panel drawings per issue. It was in Li’l Folks that Schulz first used the name Charlie Brown for a character, although he applied the name in four gags to three different boys as well as one buried in sand. The series also had a dog that looked much like Snoopy.
In addition to his lifelong interest in comics, Schulz was interested in art in general; his favorite artist in his later years was Andrew Wyeth. As a young adult, Schulz also developed a great passion for classical music. Although the character Schroeder in Peanuts adored Beethoven, Schulz’s personal favorite composer was reportedly Brahms.
Schulz died in his sleep at home on February 12, 2000, at around 9:45 pm, from colon cancer.
(Source – Wikipedia)