The original Linus is gone

The one-and-only D. D. Degg pointed me toward this obituary for cartoonist Linus Maurer, who passed away earlier this week at the age of 90. Mr. Maurer was, of course, the person whose name Schulz nicked when giving Lucy a baby brother (and I always thought it was a great choice; Linus is not a common name, not a freaky name, one that carries some gravitas – it works.)

Remember folks, if you want to do any research into the background of the pop culture you love, the time is now, it’s always now. The past does not stay with us in useful forms. With Peanuts, we are hitting a horizon soon. Schulz is gone, many of the people who were involved in its launching and success are gone. We still have plenty of people who knew him, but each day brings another loss of potential information, as people forget and people pass. We are in an era that is doing a great job of keeping a record of the present, as chronicles are stored online and may (or may not) be available for centuries to come. It is easy to forget that even the recent past was not so throughly stored.

Schulz/Peanuts news
New Peanuts podcast

Peanuts fans have had a number of podcasts to listen to over the years. Currently, there’s Unpacking Peanuts (working its way through the Peanuts canon four months per episode), Talking Nuts (working its way through the canon one month per episode), and It’s a Podcast, Charlie Brown (focused on, but …

Schulz/Peanuts news
Drawing Peanuts

Matt dropped me a line to show me this video that he had made, digging through every documentary source the he could find to clip footage of Charles Schulz drawing, including Schulz’s own commentary. It does get a bit mesmerizing. I kinda prefer that there was more strip work than …

Schulz/Peanuts news
Heads up: Schulzy stuff on CBS Sunday Morning tomorrow

On tomorrow’s episode of CBS Sunday Morning, they’ll be stopping by the Charles M. Schulz Museum and talking to Jeannie as well as my Schulz: 100 Objects collaborator Benjamin L. Clark about Schulz, his work, and the museum! 40 SHARES Share Tweet this thing Follow the AAUGH Blog