Charles Schulz used his Peanuts comic strip to reveal secrets and angst in his own life, according to a new biography of the strip's creator.
David Michaelis, author of Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography, said he noticed a connection between the Peanuts strip and Schulz's life as he researched the book.
For example, as Schulz began to find success with sketching, his father warned him not to get a big head, Schulz said. Years later, Schulz created the Charlie Brown character, whose main feature is an enormous head. And Schulz, like Charlie Brown, consistently absorbed rejection and moved forward in life.
And there were private moments that made their way onto the page.
Take a strip that features Snoopy swooning over a girl beagle he had just met at Daisy Hill Puppy Farm. Michaelis discovered that the same day the strip was published, Schulz had sent a postcard to Tracey Claudius, whom he had met a few months prior at his ice arena. At the time, Schulz was married to his first wife, Joyce Halverson.
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