*drops head in silence*

Nice knowin ya, Chuck......

Damn. This is the second time in my life that the passing of a stranger has affected me so (the first time was when Roy Rogers died). Peanuts was the first comic strip I ever tried to read faithfully. Like so many others, I identified with the little round-headed kid who did not always succeed, but bore his fate with a dignity that those around him could neither see nor appreciate.

I remember when Snoopy flew his first "missions" against the Red Baron and delighted in all his strange, surreal adventures. I sympathized when Linus would not let go of his security blanket, and laughed at Pigpen, the perpetually filthy boy who could get dirty by just standing in place.

Charles Schulz illuminated the importance and dignity of the ordinary person. Although I never met him, he became an important part of my life, and I, along with so many others, will miss him deeply.

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I'm the Worlds First Fully Functional Homicidal Artist.....

Or, as C.B. might have said, "Rats."

I had been holding out hope that he might get better and start up again, since he loved doing it so much.

There's something truly... odd, about this, though. The "farewell" cartoon, announcing his retirement and the end of the strip, hit the paper Sunday morning.

It's almost as if it was planned that way. (not that I'm suggesting a conspiracy. It's just oddly poetic.)

I, too, identified with the Peanuts gang. When I was young, asked to describe myself, I said "cross Linus's smarts with Snoopy's imagination and add in Charlie Brown's luck and personality, and you've got it."

Of all the comic strips I've ever loved, I loved this one the best.

Be watching the comics in May. One day will be just for CB tributes. It was planned in secret, so that Shultz would open the paper and see it and be surprised, but they announced it after he died.

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Fool of a Took, throw yourself in next time!!
Gandalf