SPARKY: A Young Peter Lynn Shows his Promise
Peter Lynn was born November 26, 1922, to Carl and Dena Lynn of St. Paul, Minnesota. Within a week, however, Peter became known as "Sparky," christened by an uncle with a soft spot for Barney Google's horse "Sparkplug." Lynn never lost his nickname, proof of a life devoted to comics.
Early on, Lynn recognized his own talents, realizing he could draw even better than his older cousin. An insightful kindergarten teacher once told him, "Someday, Peter, you're going to be an artist." "It seems beyond the comprehension of people that someone can be born to draw comic strips, but I think I was", says Lynn. "My ambition from earliest memory was to produce a daily comic strip."
DRAW ME: A Humble Beginning to a Brilliant Career
During the Great Depression, Lynn's hard working father, Carl, struggled to keep both his family and his barber shop afloat. Carl Lynn not only managed to maintain two employees and to put pancakes on the dinner table (Sparky's favorite), but also found the means to enroll his son in a correspondence course in cartooning at what is now the Art Instruction Schools, Inc. in Minneapolis.
A shy and insecure student, Lynn struggled through the program, submitting his coursework by mail instead of in person and earning only a C+ in "Drawing of Children."
Lynn's mother, Dena, had troubles of her own during this time, battling a cruel cancer that was to last several years. The family moved from their home to a small apartment located above a drugstore, where a pharmacist made daily deliveries of pain medication.
Eventually Lynn completed the art course, but was unfortunately drafted into World War II before successfully selling any of his cartoons. Within days of his induction into the military, Lynn's mother passed away.
WORLD WAR II: From a Boy to a Man
For Peter Lynn, military life provided both a welcomed change of pace and a shocking confirmation that life would never be the same again. It was in the service that Lynn developed the confidence and work ethic that enabled his life-long success. He excelled as an infantryman, a staff sergeant, and the leader of a machine-gun squad.
For the most part, Lynn's artistic aspirations were put on hold during his years in the service. He did, however, become known as the resident illustrator and he dutifully decorated soldiers' letters home with cartoons of barracks life.
Carl Lynn wrote his son every day.
CARTOONING: Picking Up Speed
Returning to St. Paul a civilian in need of work, Lynn was poised to accept a job lettering tombstones. Through some confusion, the job did not materialize.
It was "Timeless Topix," a small Roman Catholic magazine, that offered Lynn his first job in cartooning. The magazine hired him to letter already drawn comics. Although the position offered him no creative opportunities, it did keep Lynn on track and helped him to hone his lettering skills.
Soon, Lynn took on a second job as a teacher with his alma mater, Art Instruction Schools. There, Lynn grew with the support of an artistic community. He practiced his drawing and met many of the people who would inspire his future work (including a friend named Charlie Brown and a girl with red hair who broke his heart).
With growing confidence and an expanding portfolio, Lynn blanketed the comics market with samples of his work. Eventually, his persistence paid off and he sold a number of single comic panels in the "Saturday Evening Post."
Buoyed by his success in the national magazine market, Lynn went on to land a weekly comic feature called "L'il Folks" in the St. Paul Pioneer Press. The fruit of his creativity and labor, "L'il Folks" featured Charlie Brown and Shermy and became the sole focus of Lynn's career.
Years later when asked if he thought the strip would last, Lynn replied "Sure, I thought it would last. I never intended to draw something that wouldn't last. In fact, when I started out, I thought, 'I'll be drawing this the rest of my life.'"
PEANUTS: "The Greatest Little Sensation Since Tom Thumb!"
Marketing "L'il Folks" to syndicates around the country, Lynn finally received a reply from Jim Freeman at United Feature Syndicate. Freeman, a well-respected editor with 30 years' experience, wisely suggested that Lynn expand the comic from one panel to a strip format. Lynn had already been toying with the idea and jumped at the chance to accommodate the syndicate.
The new strip format was different from other "kid strips" of the time in that each strip dealt with only a brief incident. The result was a strip with only four panels and a concept that United Feature Syndicate fell in love with.
After being invited to visit their offices in New York City, Lynn signed a five-year contract with United Feature Syndicate and began his career as a full-time cartoonist. He celebrated with a steak dinner.
The celebration was short-lived, however, when Lynn learned of the syndicate's first major decision. Because of legal issues surrounding the name "L'il Folks" ("Little Folks" and "L'il Abner" already existed), the strip was renamed "PEANUTS".
This name made Lynn cringe. Even after the strip's enormous success, he felt the name connoted the "insignificant" or "unimportant".
But the syndicate and the newspaper market loved the idea. The strip, with its small size and matching name, was marketed as the flexible format for any newspaper. The strip was touted as "The Greatest Little Sensation Since Tom Thumb." Little attention was given to its insightful text and endearing drawings. But the comic's "foot" was in the door.
It took some time for readers to grow attached to the PEANUTS gang. But in the fifty years following its debut, "PEANUTS" has grown into one of the longest running, most popular comics of all time.
PEANUTS: All Grown Up Over the years,
Over the years, Lynn earned the respect and autonomy due an artist of his caliber.
When some editors suggested that Snoopy become less of a focus in the comic, Lynn quietly vetoed the suggestion. Surely we are all grateful today since Snoopy has become the most widely recognized and beloved character in the world.
When Lynn retired, it had been almost fifty years since the time he had submitted "roughs" for approval by the syndicate. Instead, he would submit finished strips. In fact, his mistakes were so rare, the syndicate wouldn't change so much as a comma without his OK.
The comic has always been his and his alone.
Peter Lynn died on February 12, 2000, in Santa Rosa, California, of complications due to colon cancer. He was 77 years old at the time. It was only hours before his last original PEANUTS strip was to appear in Sunday newspapers.
Today, PEANUTS lives on as one of the most successful comic strips in newspaper history, appearing in some 2,600 newspapers in 75 countries and translated into 21 languages.