The result of Michaelis' digging, "Schulz and Peanuts" (Harper), appears Tuesday.
Mental Floss: Really good grief: About Charles Schulz. From 2000: 'Peanuts' fans mourn death of Charles Schulz. I-Report: Memories of Schulz, 'Peanuts'. but behind so much of it was a real guy who had placed himself in the characters of 'Peanuts.' There was a certain amount of biographical ore to be mined." " things about himself in a self-deprecating way, with such a sense of humor. "I thought there had to be more," he says in a phone interview from his home in New York. Or was he between the lines in "Peanuts" itself, in the melancholy of Charlie Brown, the exuberance of Snoopy, the intellectualism of Linus, the directness of Lucy and the bafflement of Peppermint Patty?īiographer David Michaelis was intrigued by the seeming divide between the popular image of Schulz - one the cartoonist fostered in interviews and talk-show appearances - and the depth of emotion manifested in the comic strip. Was he the grandfatherly cartoonist hailed as a towering figure in American popular culture, who revolutionized the comic strip and created not only a multimillion-dollar business, but a daily touchstone for fans worldwide? But the strip was anchored in the collective experience and hardships of Schulz′s generation-the generation that survived the Great Depression and liberated Europe and the Pacific and came home to build the post-war world.Was he the man who suffered anxiety attacks, remembered slights for decades and put every ounce of existential angst into his comic strip, "Peanuts"? Schulz′s Peanuts profoundly influenced the country in the second half of the 20th century. It was the central truth of his own life, that as the adults we′ve become and as the children we always will be, we can free ourselves, if only we can see the humour in the predicaments of funny-looking kids. 
With Peanuts, Schulz embedded adult ideas in a world of small children to remind the reader that character flaws and childhood wounds are with us always. And these early experiences would shape his entire life. The sense of shock and separation never left him. In 1943, just three days after his mother′s tragic death from cancer, Schulz, a private in the army, shipped out for boot camp and the war in Europe. The son of a barber, Schulz was born in Minnesota to modest, working class roots. Now, acclaimed biographer David Michaelis gives us the first full-length biography of Schulz: at once a creation story, a portrait of a hidden American genius, and a chronicle contrasting the private man with the central role he played in shaping the national imagination.
Charles Schulz, the most widely syndicated and beloved cartoonist of all time, is also one of the most misunderstood figures in American culture.
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