Charles M. Schulz:

[applegrove]

In 1970, students in a fifth-grade class at Hawthorne School in Beverly Hills were assigned to write a letter to someone they admired, asking them “What makes a good citizen?"

So 10yr old Joel Lipton wrote to Peanuts cartoonist Charles M. Schulz.

Joel got a reply.

— Michael Warburton (@michaelwarburton.bsky.social) 2026-04-06T07:22:00.457Z

[Dave Bowman]

1. Are anybody still called a citizen? These days it's more like consumers or even products.

[OldBaldy1701E]

22. We are either numbers or the enemy. (n/t)

[DBoon]

26. We are non-performing characters

We exist in the background devoid of volition, to be used by the technocratic elite

[Dave Bowman]

35. That's a pretty good way to put it. 👍

[underpants]

2. That's great.

[Just_Vote_Dem]

3. This brought back a memory from when I was about 7 years old

My mom knew I loved to read, but we were poor and I could only afford the occasional comic book. At the beginning of that summer, a box was delivered to the apartment, and my mom encouraged me to open it up. Inside was a virtual ton of Peanuts paperback books, (ok, probably about 15 or so, heh.) She had saved up for quite a while so I could spend part of my summer enjoying one of my favorite pastimes.

A few years later, she saved up again and I got a set of encylopedias.

God bless you mama, I will never forget you, love always

[SheltieLover]

4. Awww what a sweet memory!

Ty for sharing with us.

[Just_Vote_Dem]

5. My pleasure!

[SheltieLover]

9. 😃

[malaise]

7. What a lovely memory

😀

[70sEraVet]

17. A set of envyclopedias was BIG money back then.

The ones I got for my family in early 80's came from a thrift store -- a couple of decades out of date and one or two volumes missing!
The kids didn't know that we had gone to the moon until they went to high school (just kidding on that)!
Your mom must have really sacrificed.

[Just_Vote_Dem]

24. The encyclopedias were later, when I was in my teens

I've been working at least part-time since I was 13, so luckily, things were not quite as bad as when I was younger.

[FemDemERA]

34. Oh....wow. That brought tears to my eyes,

A lump in my throat and a wealth of emotion…. Not a bad thing, just thinking how wonderful special she made you feel, and then missing my own mom intensely for a moment. Thank you for sharing that memory.

[Dave Bowman]

36. Being a bookworm I can remember how great I felt when we got that encylopedia.

[SuzyandPuffpuff]

6. Gorgeous

Simply gorgeous... thank you

[spanone]

8. K&R

[LoisB]

10. Cool.

[MustLoveBeagles]

11. Charles was wise 🦉

[BaronChocula]

12. Makes me giggle

I had a boss many years ago who always referred to Schulz as a "sanctimonious prick." He had seen some informal press meeting with Schulz who ended things by saying something like "well, I have to go now. I can't keep Snoopy waiting." And from that, a very strong opinion was born.

I don't think my boss knew much more about Schulz than that and I don't know if anything would have changed his mind. He was a stubborn curmudgeonly communist, but one of the funniest people I ever knew. I miss him. I guess I miss Charles Schulz too. We need more like him.

[Tree Lady]

13. Here is what I know about Charles

When he moved to my town Santa Rosa, CA he built an Ice Skating Rink because his daughter wanted to ice skate. Every year at Christmas he put on an ice skating show with star skaters and priced the seats so locals could afford to go. I went every year and we were pretty broke then. He put in a lot of his own money to cover it.

After he died even though he left a lot to family Christmas shows stopped. They did keep rink open, I bet prices were raised.

[Cha]

18. Awesome to know about Charles Schultz

and the Ice Skating Rink!

I lived in Phoenix, Arizona for about 5 years in the '60s and there was an Ice Skating Rink there and I learned t Ice Skate.. Loved it!

[Unwind Your Mind]

23. Hi neighbor

When I was a kid here in Santa Rosa, every fourth grade class went to the rink for skating lessons, eight weeks I think and provided by the Schulz family

We took some out of town friends to see the rink and the museum last fall and really enjoyed it, recommended

I don’t know if people remember but their family home burned down in the Tubbs fire in 2017. My understanding is that much of his art was lost but fortunately more was being organized in a warehouse for the museum at that time

[Tree Lady]

28. Wow I didn't know his home burned down

I left the area in 2000. My daughter was renting up in the hills and her rental burnt down, she barely got out.

[Unwind Your Mind]

32. Yikes, I'm sorry to your daughter, that is so scary

My in laws lost their house in the hills too

It took my FIL weeks to tell us that he knew the house had to be gone before we had confirmation. It was a terrible time

[Tree Lady]

33. After the fire she moved near police station in Rohnert Park

Wanted to feel safe.

[Joinfortmill]

14. Amen

[Botany]

15. Sparky!

Wisdom and thought behind his words

America shows and grows strength in
real citizens who treat minorities well
and don't dwell in "The good old days
were better than now fluff."

Peanuts was powerful stuff to me growing up. Btw "A Charlie Brown Christmas" was and still is as good as it gets.

[KPN]

16. Yup, true for more than 50 years now. Love seeing this because

it validates my sense of how long what’s going on has been going on. Pretty much my entire adult lifetime plus a bit in my opinion. And I’m 75.

Thanks much for sharing.

[WestMichRad]

19. An excellent message that still today resonates.

[marble falls]

20. Sounds right to me.

[FakeNoose]

21. He spelled his name the German way - SCHULZ

Most Americans spell it Schultz or Schults.

[efhmc]

25. Interesting. I think it has to do with pronunciation.

[Prairie_Seagull]

27. I generally like to ease into my DU day.

This would have been a much better OP to read first instead of...

[LetMyPeopleVote]

29. K&R

[Goonch]

30. ;-{) AAUGH!

[FakeNoose]

31. Hooray for Lucy!

Maybe he'll break a hip when he falls backwards. That would be nice!

[czarjak]

37. President Pee-Nut!

[drmeow]

38. My grandmother

was friends with Charles Schulz and she had (and my father now has) a signed original by him of Snoopy begging for and getting a treat. That heirloom may cause some conflict when my dad is no longer with us!