Document text
No more Blockhead? Photo by Jim Craven Charlie Brown, of Ashland, sits with his dachshunds Sally, top, and Snoopy, beside a parody of the "Peanuts" cartoon on his front door. One of several Charlie Browns in the region, Brown says he'll miss the comic strip creations of Charles Schulz. The last weekly strip appears on today's Comics page. Charlies will miss cartoon namesake By JONEL ALECCIA As a certain round-headed kid might say: "Rats." That's the consensus of local men who have more reason than most to mourn the comic strip "Peanuts," which publishes its last new daily panel today. Despite the snickers and comments and cries of "Blockhead!," local guys who share the name Charlie Brown say they'll miss their namesake -- and the man who created him. "Oh, yeah, I'm sad," said Charlie Brown of Ashland, a 42-year-old born nearly eight years after Charles Schulz began producing his comic strip in 1950. Schulz, 77, decided to retire after nearly 50 years following a diagnosis of colon cancer in November. His contract stipulates that no one else will ever draw the comic strip. `It's been a big part of my life," Ashland's Brown said. "I grew up with the Charlie Brown books and everything. We always had dachshunds and I named them Lucy, Snoopy, Woodstock and Sally." Once, he even dated a woman named Patty -- she was his "Peppermint Patty," he says -- but that didn't work out. For Charles R. Brown of Central Point, the comic strip altered his very identity. Now 65, Brown spent his teenage years as "Chuck." But that was before the popularity of the strip that now appears in 2,600 newspapers, reaching an estimated 355 million readers daily in 75 countries. "When it caught on, everybody changed my name for me," Central Point's Brown says. "I became Charlie Brown. They called me a `blockhead,' too, because of what Lucy called Charlie Brown. Maybe now I'll get some relief." But Brown really didn't mind too much. He says it's a rare day that he doesn't check on the antics of his comic strip namesake. "Every time I look at the funny paper, I pick that one up to take a look at him," he says. "It's to see what I'm up to that day, I guess. Honestly, I think I'm really going to miss it." The single-panel farewell strip appears in today's paper on page 12B. A final new Sunday strip by Schulz will run in newspapers on Feb. 13. After that, United Features Syndicate will publish "Peanuts" reruns. Charles A. Brown of Medford was a grown man when "Peanuts" became popular. Now 81, he has spent nearly a half-century enduring comments. "I didn't think much of it, though," he said. "I don't have a dog named Snoopy or anything like that." None of the local Browns have been particularly troubled by the comic strip allusion. Ashland's Charlie Brown -- who gets his eyes checked by local optometrist Charles Brown -- says he's glad his father prevailed when his parents were choosing names. "My dad just liked the name `Charlie,"' he says. "My mom wanted to name me `Larry."' Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA