'Non Sequitur' Comics Satirizing Schulz Book Donated to Schulz Museum

By: Dave Astor Wiley Miller has given the Charles M. Schulz Museum the originals of his recent "Non Sequitur" comics satirizing the controversial "Schulz and Peanuts" biography.

The Santa Rosa, Calif.-based museum asked for the strips -- which ran from Oct. 30 to Nov. 3 -- and Miller told E&P he was happy to donate them.

"We are grateful to Wiley as the comics are a part of the historical -- or 'hysterical' -- record," said Jeannie Schulz, widow of the late "Peanuts" creator and founder of the Schulz museum.

She told E&P that the museum might eventually display the "Non Sequitur" comics "but we have no plans for that now" because exhibits are scheduled through 2010. "We do have a place where we talk about new donations so we may feature them there," Schulz added.

Rose Marie McDaniel, a museum board member and head of its exhibit committee, said she asked Miller about donating the comics at the Ohio State cartoon festival that was held just prior to when the "Non Sequitur" strips ran. "Wiley and I were discussing the recent biography and he said the book had sparked a parody," McDaniel recalled.

Miller said in an e-mail: "The most important tool for a satirist is to have a sensitive b.s. detector, and mine wasn't just sending up a red flag when I read the excerpts from the book, it was sending up flares and blowing whistles, mainly because I happened to know Charles Schulz."

The cartoonist added: "A biographer knows that to get on the bestsellers list, their book needs to be controversial and 'expose the real person behind the public persona.' Such preconceived notions lead to overanalyzing the most insignificant details by magnifying and distorting them into something salacious. Clearly, this is exactly what the author of this biography did...."

Jeannie Schulz has said David Michaelis' book put too much emphasis on the negative,

Miller does "Non Sequitur" for more than 700 newspapers via Universal Press Syndicate, while "Peanuts" reruns continue to be distributed by United Media.