I’m sure you recall that a couple of weeks ago I was on Stu’s Show, a feature on Shokus Internet Radio. I promised to post my five minutes on the program, and here they are.
[audio:https://s3.amazonaws.com/dogratcom/Audio/2011/Nov/ShokusRadio.mp3|titles=Stu Shokus with Monte Schulz]I was pleased to have an opportunity not only to speak with Monte, but to provide a quote from the book attributed to him that he could directly refute. And Monte certainly does that.
I got wrapped up in listening to Monte and forgot to hang up! So I took advantage of that to add a comment. I end the audio clip with Monte answering a question I had asked here on the blog, about David Michaelis’ first draft of Schulz and Peanuts.
Wednesday, animation expert Jerry Beck will be the guest on Stu’s Show at 7 PM ET. Jerry is Webmaster on CartoonBrew.com, where much of the discussion about the Michaelis book has been taking place. Charles Schulz’s wife Jeannie has kept things interesting by adding a comment on Monday.
Thanks for the compliment, Monte. I got a very big kick out of your answer to my question about the quote from the book, because it really rang true.
All it took for me to know that damage has indeed been done by the Michaelis book was one off-hand comment from somebody at work who had read a review. These days, the only way to counteract the effects of something like that is to aggressively go on the offensive. And with the book still in Amazon’s top 100, you are more than justified in what you have been doing, Monte.
I’ve been very impressed by most of the fan comments I’ve read on Cartoon Brew (Suzan being an exception) and elsewhere. Peanuts enthusiasts seem to be an intelligent and articulate bunch!
I’ll be sure to read your essay in The Comics Journal. Way back in 1970 I exchanged letters with Gary Groth, before he became such an important figure in the critiquing of comics and cartooning. Groth interviewed Michaelis at a book signing recently, and a little bit of it is on YouTube here and here.
We all understand both your speaking out against the book, and your desire to move on. It has indeed all been very worthwhile, Monte, and greatly appreciated.
Monte, no apologies are necessary! We’ve all enjoyed meeting you, and not just because you’re Charles Schulz’s son. In your case, you’ve had every right to set the record straight, which is a far cry from whining.
Well, listening to your clip there, I was even more impressed by what a good question you asked, and by what you chose to read. For my part, I was amazed by how lame it sounds to be the son of a famous person and talking about it in public. Really, it’s sort of embarrassing because somehow it comes off as though I have no significant life of my own and I’m only on the radio because of someone having written a book about my dad. Which is true, of course, and why I really do need to get finished with all of this. I’m writing an essay for Gary Groth, and once that’s done, so am I. Or at least I hope so. You can imagine how anxious I am to talk about my own work. Nothing I say is adequate to my dad’s career, and had David Michaelis written the book I had hoped and expected him to, no one would’ve had to hear me whine like this, week after week. On the other hand, I would not have met all of you on these internet blogs, and doing so really has made all of this worthwhile.