Charles M. Schulz (1922-2000) was the American cartoonist that created Peanuts, the comic strip, and the cartoon characters Charlie Brown, Snoopy and their friends — a comic strip beloved by millions that spun into books and television specials, like A Charlie Brown Christmas. Peanuts ran in American newspapers from 1950 to 2000. Schulz was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Schulz loved drawing and sometimes drew his family dog, Spike, who ate unusual things, such as pins and tacks. Spike was the inspiration for the cartoon dog Snoopy. Peanuts made its first appearance on October 2, 1950, in seven newspapers. The weekly Sunday-page debuted on January 6, 1952.  Peanuts eventually became one of the most popular and influential comic strips of all time. At its height, Peanuts was published daily in 2,600 papers in 75 countries, in 21 languages.

Schulz had been a resident of Sonoma County since 1958. The Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center in Santa Rosa opened on August 17, 2002, two blocks away from his former studio, celebrating his life’s work and art of cartooning.

Books by Charles Schulz, and biographies include:

(source of this bio and photo: wikipedia.org)