GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. - Just a few hours after the death of Minnesota native Charles Schulz, his readers found a farewell in their newspaper.
Schulz’s final original Peanuts comic strip appeared in Sunday papers on February 13, 2000. It featured Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and a message from the man who brought the characters to life for almost 50 years.
The night before the comic’s final run, Schulz died peacefully in his sleep at home due to complications of colon cancer.
He had announced his retirement just two months earlier at Camp Snoopy inside the Mall of America.
“There’s a clause in my contract that says if I retire or die, the strip ends,” Schulz said during the December 1999 announcement.
The Peanuts phenomenon began in 1950 after Schulz signed with United Features Syndicate. At the time of his retirement, Peanuts was featured in 2,600 newspapers, reaching 335 million readers in 75 countries.
In his final comic strip, he shared a message to his fans and thanked them for the wonderful support and love throughout his career.
“Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, Lucy…how can I ever forget them…” Schulz concluded.