{"id":1389,"date":"2007-10-17T16:23:25","date_gmt":"2007-10-17T16:23:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/idolchatter\/2007\/10\/peanuts-unshelled-new-biograph.html"},"modified":"2007-10-17T16:23:25","modified_gmt":"2007-10-17T16:23:25","slug":"peanuts-unshelled-new-biograph","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2007\/10\/peanuts-unshelled-new-biograph.html","title":{"rendered":"‘Peanuts’ Unshelled: New Biography Makes Schulz’s Darkness Visible"},"content":{"rendered":"

Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography<\/em> isn\u2019t the first biography about Peanuts creator Charles Schulz, but according to at least one review<\/a>, it might be the deepest, and offer some insights into the spiritual journey behind the beloved comic strip.
\n\"peanutssm.gif\"Charles Schulz died in 2000 and had been known as one of the more enigmatic and private public figures of his day. His comic strip, “Peanuts,” was read by millions, turned into TV shows and movies, and continues to be many Americans\u2019 first source for hearing the gospel of Luke\u2019s version of the Christmas story. Previous biographies have explored his life, but according to reviewer Michael Taube of the Christian Science Monitor, this one has more for the spiritually inclined reader.
\nDavid Michaelis is the author of this new biography, and according to Taube he is \u201cimpressive\u201d as he explores \u201cthe troubled genius behind \u2018Peanuts.\u2019\u201d The new biography explains how Schulz \u201cfound solace in religion\u201d and \u201cbecame a firm believer in Jesus Christ\u201d in his younger years, but later \u201cdrifted away from the church.\u201d He was quoted as saying, \u201cI\u2019m not an orthodox believer and I\u2019m becoming less of one all the time.\u201d I find this fascinating because it means Schulz was just about a decade ahead of his time\u2026which is perhaps why such a wide audience found humor and depth in his comic strip.<\/p>\n


\nCountless numbers of Americans are more and more disenfranchised with organized religion, but believe they\u2019re on a spiritual journey. A recent Barna poll<\/a> confirms this, and both Barna and Gallup<\/a> have showed this over numerous surveys in recent years.
\nSchulz followers know that his \u201ctwo marriages were far from perfect, and he cheated on his first wife.\u201d Michaelis goes on to point out that \u201cSchulz was not a warm individual\u201d and he \u201crarely showed affection, even to his children.\u201d Other cartoonists called him \u201ccompetitive.\u201d Like some (but not all) successful people, he \u201cdisliked appearing in public\u201d and \u201csuffered greatly from self-doubt.\u201d
\n\u201cThe burning question of his life,\u201d Michaelis says: “Will I be \u2013 was I ever \u2013 truly loved?”
\nThe genius of Michaelis\u2019 book is that it portrays Schulz as someone a lot like you and me: he used an environment he could control\u2014and in which he felt safe\u2014to work out his deepest thoughts and feelings. Therein was his genius, and his humanity, expressed through cartoon characters. A decade later, an entire generation may not have Schulz’s genius for cartoons, but they\u2019re expressing themselves through Facebook pages, forum postings and websites. Schulz may have been more normal than even he himself realized.
\nThat\u2019s why more and more churches are working to be authentic and real places where people don\u2019t have to put on airs to impress each other. It\u2019s too bad Schulz couldn\u2019t have found a place like that. Michaelis says it was his \u201cneed to be loved\u201d that drove him. Taube\u2019s conclusion: \u201cGood grief, he sounds a lot like you and me!\u201d
\nI agree.
\n(For more about Charles Schulz and depression, see this post at Beyond Blue<\/a>…)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography isn\u2019t the first biography about Peanuts creator Charles Schulz, but according to at least one review, it might be the deepest, and offer some insights into the spiritual journey behind the beloved comic strip. Charles Schulz died in 2000 and had been known as one of the more enigmatic and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-television"],"yoast_head":"\n'Peanuts' Unshelled: New Biography Makes Schulz's Darkness Visible<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2007\/10\/peanuts-unshelled-new-biograph.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"'Peanuts' Unshelled: New Biography Makes Schulz's Darkness Visible\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography isn\u2019t the first biography about Peanuts creator Charles Schulz, but according to at least one review, it might be the deepest, and offer some insights into the spiritual journey behind the beloved comic strip. 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