In a message dated 2/13/00 9:12:27 PM Eastern Standard Time, no_surprises_21@hotmail.com writes: << For any of you who didn't hear already...not only was Sunday the last ever new Peanuts comic strip..but late Saturday night Charles Shultz passed away.
Talk about a terrible weekend. His son said that after Mr. Schultz decided to end the strip in December he seemed to lose his will to fight, and coupled with colon cancer and Parkinson's Disease, it didn't look promising. Its comforting to know that he died in his sleep, but something would be terribly wrong with a man who brought happiness and comfort to millions dying a painful death from cancer. I kind of formed an unhealthy bond with the strip in high school when everything in my life seemed to go wrong and the strip was the only thing that made sense to me (especially the way Charlie Brown handled defeat). Schultz said he wrote the strip with adults and high schoolers in mind because they were the only ones who could truly appreciate childhood for what it was. I agree with Chris that the holidays cartoons will never be topped. Personally, I can't imagine Christmas or Thanksgiving without their respective Charlie Brown episodes, and when you think about, I really can't imagine how America got on without the strip at all. Its probably not too evident to the UK folks on the list, but such a huge portion of our American lexicon and consciousness were formed by the strip that its end is pretty scary. I guess in a way its really sad that Charlie Brown never talked to the little red-haired girl, never hit the winning homerun, never kicked the football and never got a Valentine, but I like it better that way. Snoopy never finished his novel, never won a battle with the Red Baron and never won a case in court. Life rarely works out the way we intend, and I think that was the essence of Chuck Brown and the entire Peanuts crew. It was kind of comforting to know that even though the strip had ended, Schultz would still be with us and hopefully recovering from cancer. Its doubly distressing to lose the strip and its creator in the same weekend, right before Chuck Brown's vaunted Valentine's Day. I had always hoped to send him a letter or meet him in person, but I guess I missed my chance. Sorry for pissing on everyone's Valentine's Day... Steve C. *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* "Which Paul?" "BLAH!" visit http://callowkids.tripod.com or your crush will hate you forever +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the undead Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister@missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo@missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "tech-heads and students" +-+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+