Death Summary: In November 1999 Schulz suffered a stroke, and later discovered he had colon cancer that had metastasized. As a result of the chemotherapy and poor vision Schulz announced his retirement on December 14, 1999. This was very difficult for the artist.

According to Wikipedia, he is quoted saying to Al Roker on The Today Show, I never dreamed that this would happen to me. I always had the feeling that I would stay with the strip until I was in my early eighties, or something like that. But all of sudden it's gone. I did not take it away. This has been taken away from me."

Schulz died from complications related to colon cancer at 9:45 p.m. on February 12, 2000. He is buried in the Pleasant Hills Cemetery in Sebastopol.

The last original Peanuts comic strip ran the day after his death. Schulz had often predicted that the strip would outlive him.

Who was Charles M. Schulz : Schulz was a beloved cartoonist who is best known for his Peanuts comic strip.

He got his start in comics after he submitted one of his drawings to The Saturday Evening Post, they paid him $40 and asked that he send more. Schulz sent in a total of 13 comics before he ended his partnership with the publication.

Peanuts debuted on October 2, 1950; it would go on to become one of the most popular comic strips of all time.

Schulz drew most of his inspirations for Peanuts from his own life, even the main characters. Schulz’s father was a barber and his mother was a housewife (like Charlie Brown), Linus and Shermy were based on his good friends, Lucy was inspired by his first wife, Peppermint Patty was inspired from a cousin, and “The Little Red Haired Girl” that Charlie Brown is always pining over is based after a girl that Schulz had intended on marrying… but let her slip away.

Peanuts ran for nearly 50 years without interruption and appeared in more than 2, 600 newspapers in 75 countries.

Categories: Artists, Entertainment, Writers.