I actually teared up reading Alex’s tribute to A Charlie Brown Christmas.
Alex writes:
“There is a market for innocence” says Schulz, whose discipline still drives him to his studio every day “to get feelings of depth and roundness, and (to know) the pen line is the best pen line you can make…I don’t think I’m a true artist. I would love to be Andrew Wyeth or Picasso…But I can draw pretty well and I can write pretty well, and I think I’m doing the best with whatever abilities I have been given. And what more can one ask?”
Sniff! Sniff!
I still get chills when I think of Linus on that big empty stage, with his voice echoing up to the rafters as he tells the story of “what Christmas is all about”. Alex points out something I have never noticed:
During his famed speech, Linus, who is well known to be dependent on his “Security Blanket”, actually lets go of it when he recites these words: “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy” which is from Luke 8:10.
Alex writes:
It isnt just that the speech Linus gives is poignant, it is relevant. There is never a time when the world is not going to need a Special about good will and peace on earth. Its a careful reminder of what we hope to achieve. Not just at this time of year, but always and while we are living on the planet with each other.
Christmas isn’t Christmas without ACBC.
I was in the building Charles Schultz was born in (a bar in St. Paul with apartments upstairs) the night he died. Apropos not much, but Schultz was one of my favorites…
The one Christmas special I can’t miss each year is Charlie Brown. It was brilliantly written and each year I get a chill when Linus takes the stage.