The book I wrote with Peanuts fan extraordinaire Nat Gertler has been nominated for a Will Eisner Award by the people who bring you Comic-Con International in San Diego each year! Voting has closed for the comics publishing industry award, but it’s been a thrill just to be nominated. I’ve never won an award and tended to roll my eyes at the idea of being grateful for a nomination, but I get it now. This is a recognition of the hard work of *so many* people. I’m so proud and grateful to my team at the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center, our publishers Weldon-Owen, and all the fans of Charles M. Schulz, who have supported the museum and all do a part in preserving and sharing the legacy of Charles Schulz and Peanuts.
Of course, the book is still available everywhere that good books are sold, and proceeds support the Schulz Museum. You can also buy the book directly from the Schulz Museum, which is a way to support the museum doubly. You can even leave a note when you purchase to request that I sign it, and I’m happy to do that.
About the Author: Benjamin L. Clark writes and works as a museum curator.
It’s hard to believe, but I had a book come out on November 1st! You can get it anywhere good books are sold, but if you buy it from the Charles M. Schulz Museum, it will be signed by none other than Jean Schulz!
Working with Jeannie on the book was a very special experience. I get to work with her quite a bit developing exhibitions for the Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, California, and for Snoopy Museum Tokyo, and she’s always happy to pitch in with research — connecting me to contacts, making ID’s in photos, and sharing memories. But this was different. We got to reflect on Sparky as an entire person together and dig into various parts of his life and personality we’ve not done a lot about at the museum for whatever reasons.
The book is almost like a visit to the Schulz Museum — 100 Objects from the museum’s collections are featured in gorgeous detailed photos, and a bit of history is shared about each, often with other supporting images of other objects that help tell the story. We also asked 50 contributors, from cartoonists, celebrities, politicians, friends, and members of the Schulz family, to share their own stories and remembrances related to these objects.
Interior spread from 100 Objects
All of us are very proud of the book, and I hope you will like it, too. It’s out just in time for the holiday gift-giving season, so if you know someone who loves Peanuts (and who doesn’t?), this is something a little different and totally new they will love. If you do buy a copy, be sure to rate and review it wherever you bought it, as it helps other fans find the book. Thank you!
About the Author: Benjamin L. Clark writes and works as a museum curator.
It’s been 20 years since Charles M. “Sparky” Schulz died. It’s hard to believe it’s been that long ago. As tributes and remembrances pour forth today, I can’t help but remember that day too.
Charles M. Schulz at the drawing board, 1956
I remember it pretty well when I read the news, though for me it was otherwise unremarkable. I was a Sophomore at York College in York, Nebraska. As was my routine, when I was “home” on campus for the weekend, I went to the library when it finally opened after lunch to read the Sunday newspapers.
It was cold. In rural Nebraska, the winters are cold and February can be the worst. My friends and I were excitedly planning a trip to the west coast for Spring Break. It would be my first trip there.
Going into the library, the periodical racks weren’t far from the entrance. At that time (perhaps still?) there were a couple of couches and comfortable chairs where one could relax and read. It was one of my favorite places on campus.
The display was such that you could see several front pages at once and more than one newspaper had the news that Charles Schulz had passed away. I probably read the story, but I don’t remember anything about it. Maybe I didn’t read it first. Maybe like millions of other readers, I found the comic section to see the final comic from the man himself. I remember that final strip crystal clear, realizing as I read the message over and over that he announced his retirement, he somehow knew it meant his life was ending. It still brings a tear to my eye all these years later.
Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz, 2/13/2000
Peanuts was on the front page of the Sunday comics section, above the fold in our newspaper. It had earned the spot long before I was born as the most popular, most syndicated comic of all time. That day, I remember also wondering what happens to comic strips when the creator passes away, not knowing that the comic section in my hands included several strips by artists who had died long ago.
Of course, back then I had no idea I would one day get to know the life and art of Charles Schulz on a much deeper level than as a more-days-than-not reader of the funnies. Since becoming the curator of the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, California two years ago today, I’ve read pretty much all the books about Schulz, I’ve watched all the interviews, I’ve read all his comics. I’ve read his personal correspondence and squinted into his family snapshots. I’ve met his kids and have gotten to know his widow. I can recognize his handwriting. In that time, I’ve gotten to know him about as well as I can not actually knowing the man. Schulz was a lot of things, and to me, I’ve only become a bigger fan.
So, I’ve had a drastic move in my day job: It’s been about a year since moving to California for a dream job: I’m now the curator of the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center. Yes, that makes me the official historian of Snoopy, Charlie Brown and the whole Peanuts Gang. It’s been fantastic, but it’s been hectic in my first year here and it’s not left any time at all for much creative writing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m writing constantly … for work. We have six exhibitions per year, and I write all of them, and there have been special projects that were waiting as well, so it’s been crazy but the end is in sight.
We’ve also been busy as a family getting to know our incredible new home. Sonoma County and the Bay Area, in general, is just a very special, beautiful place, and as people who love the outdoors, it’s easy to put the notebooks aside for the weekend and just go. The beach, the mountains, the Redwoods, several hundred wineries, world-class dairies with their specialty cheese shops — it’s a lot to take in for a family of midwesterners who are used to holing up for the winter and not seeing true warmth and daylight until May.
Also, (back to work), I’ve had a lot of reading to do. Like how to do you become an “overnight” expert on a man who has had a handful of biographies, has given hundreds of interviews, and wrote and drew a daily comic strip for nearly 50 years (to the tune of 17,897 strips!) — A lot of reading. A lot, lot of reading. And to read his influences. And his acolytes. And I’m not done, by a long shot, but I think I’m starting to see the margins of life reforming where I can slip in a creative word or two outside my journal.
I’m a blockhead
In the past year, I’ve been learning a lot about comics and how they fit into pop culture in the 20th Century and coming forward to now. So, in an effort to keep my bona fides current, and to be a good creative person, I’m showing my work (#showyourwork) as a sort of disciple of Peanuts fan Austin Kleon has taught in his wonderful books which really kicks off with Steal Like an Artist, his follow up Show Your Work, and the just-released Keep Going.
