Introduced Version






HOUSE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION No.
________




DIGEST OF INTRODUCED RESOLUTION


        A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION memorializing Charles M. Schulz, the creator of the Peanuts comic strip.



Brown C




    _______________________, read first time and referred to Committee on








Introduced

Second Regular Session 111th General Assembly (2000)


HOUSE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION



        A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION memorializing Charles M. Schulz, the creator of the Peanuts comic strip.

    Whereas, Charles M. Schulz, the creator of the Peanuts comic strip, died Saturday, February 12, 2000, on the eve of the last publication of his comic strip. Schulz was 77 years of age;

    Whereas, Schulz, who was diagnosed with colon cancer and suffered a series of small strokes during emergency abdominal surgery in November 1999, died in his sleep about 9:45 p.m.;

    Whereas, Schulz, who retired a few weeks after his surgery, stating that he could no longer meet the rigorous demands of a daily deadline, stipulated in his contract that no one else should ever write his now famous comic strip;

    Whereas Peanuts - the trials and tribulations of Charlie Brown, his friends, and his dog Snoopy - appeared in 2,600 newspapers and reached an estimated 355 million readers daily in 75 countries;

    Whereas, The final Sunday strip appeared February 13, 2000, and the final daily strip was published January 3, 2000;

    Whereas, Charles Schulz's first feature, Li'l Folks, was developed for the St. Paul Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1947 and was sold to syndication on October

2, 1950, under the name Peanuts, a name Mr. Schulz did not originally like;

    Whereas, The rest, as they say, is history;

    Whereas, The main character in the strip, Charlie Brown, is named after an art school friend of Charles Schulz and was, to some extent, the cartoonist's alter ego;

    Whereas, Charles Schulz, who struggled with anxiety and depression, according to his biographer, Rheta Grimsley Johnson, poured these feelings of uncertainty into his strip and turned Charlie Brown into Everyman;

    Whereas, The little red-haired girl is modeled after a girl who, according to Johnson, rejected Schulz's proposal of marriage in 1950;

    Whereas, Snoopy, his wise but weird beagle, was inspired by a dog Charles Schulz had as a child that he recalled as "the smartest and most uncontrollable dog that I have ever seen";

    Whereas, Although Charles Schulz remained mainly a private person, the comic strip brought him international fame;

    Whereas, In 1955 and 1964, Charles Schulz won the Reuben Award, comic art's highest honor, and in 1978 was named International Cartoonist of the Year, an award given by the 700 comic artists around the world;

    Whereas, In 1965 CBS first aired the television special "A Charlie Brown Christmas", which won an Emmy and rerun immortality. Many more specials followed;

    Whereas, There was even a hit Broadway musical based on the popular comic strip;

    Whereas, Peanuts' popularity is due in large part to the fact that it is a reflection of everyone's life, and the characters display a little bit of the characteristics that we all see in ourselves and our friends;



    Whereas, Throughout the years, the Peanuts gang has become a part of American pop culture, delivering humor based on a child's view of human weaknesses;

    Whereas, Everyone, at one time or another, has identified with Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, or Snoopy;

    Whereas, The identification with Charlie Brown's character becomes even more direct when you happen to have the same name;

    Whereas, Representative Charlie Brown, Gary, Indiana, corresponded with Charles Schulz on January 25, 2000, to let him know just how his now famous name has affected his life;

    Whereas, Charles M. Schulz's Charlie Brown represented the best of all of us: he was ever the underdog, yet he faced misfortune with a mild "Good grief!" and continued to try to overcome the obstacles placed in his way, even in the face of odds that always seemed insurmountable: Therefore,

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives

of the General Assembly of the State of Indiana,

the Senate concurring:


    SECTION 1. That the Indiana General Assembly wishes to express its sincere condolences to the family of Charles M. Schulz on the occasion of his death and also to let the family of this talented cartoonist know just how much we appreciated and loved the comic strip Peanuts and will miss Mr. Schulz and his wonderful characters. Our lives will never be the same without the daily insight provided by Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Snoopy and all the rest of the beloved Peanuts characters.
    SECTION 2. That the Principal Clerk of the House of Representatives transmit a copy of this resolution to the family of Charles M. Schulz.