How did you become interested in cartoons and comics? Always liked them. There was a dime store where I lived and it had all the books. I gradually got overwhelmed by them.
Why did you use kids exclusively? I knew that little kids live a life that is different from the adults’. I always had this feeling that little kids are trapped on playgrounds or in other places and in order to get away you have to learn how to work your way around. It’s tough to be a little kid.
Lucy still hasn’t let Charlie Brown kick the football. When I was trying to figure out what to say [to readers about his retirement], I was thinking, here I am quitting the strip and the poor guy never gets to kick the ball!
Were you as shy a child as Charlie Brown is? I think the term “stupid” is much better! Don’t you think back about the dumb things you did when you were little? I was terrible in school but nobody said anything.
There have been occasions when some people objected to your strip because of its message. The only editor who ever complained was when Franklin [a black character] came in in the 1960s. The strip showed Franklin in school with Charlie Brown [the editor objected to an integrated school]. But I just ignored him.
When you compare your strip to the more satirical or cynical comics of today, like “South Park,” what do you think? Lee Mendelson [his longtime animation producer] and I keep saying, “We don’t care what those other people do, we can still do something that is decent,” and we have beaten every one of them.
Was it a hard decision [to retire]? No. A friend called me and she said, “How are you going to think about this in six months?” And I said, “All I care about now is tomorrow– I want to feel better tomorrow.” I used to think of cartoons all the time. Lying in bed at night, or driving in my car. Right now? Not a bit.
You have always done the strips by yourself. Every one of those strips were my ideas and I lettered every one of them.
There is a melancholy streak that runs through your work. I’m glad you bring that word up because I have said that about myself a lot. It’s just who I am… I wouldn’t doubt that it is a part of a lot of other cartoonists or comedians. I think it is part of all of us… Have you noticed that I do a lot of spiritual things? [On the CBS “Christmas Special”] I said, “We cannot do this show without the passage from St. Luke. I don’t care what CBS thinks.” I liked Biblical things.
Did you ever question whether your work was still relevant? As you grow older, you understand more. Unless of course you become boring. Now that’s what you’ve got to worry about.
