Famous Author Writes Letter to Young Boy

Growing up, my absolute favorite reading material was Peanuts. Every night, I would eagerly wait for my father to finish with the evening paper, then I would carefully cut out the comic strip and tape it into a keepsake scrapbook. Eventually, I had my very own Peanuts book. 

I struck gold on Sundays when we’d visit my grandparents. They had a large collection of Peanuts books, and I’d spend hours in a comfy brown leather chair savoring page after page of Snoopy, (a.k.a. The Red Baron, my favorite as he sat on top of his doghouse writing, “It was a dark and stormy night.”) Charlie Brown, Pig-Pen, Woodstock, and the rest of the gang. 

In the second grade, Mrs. Gibbs, our school librarian, taught us how to care for books. Never bend the corner of the pages, or write in the margins, keep it dry, and above all else, don’t lose it! She was a wise librarian, indeed, and one afternoon our assignment was to write a letter to our favorite author. Of course, I chose Charles M. Schulz. (Mrs. Gibbs not only knew everything there was to know about books, but she also knew how to obtain author’s addresses pre-internet.)

I don’t recall what exactly I wrote in my letter to Schulz, but I remember the thrill of receiving his response a few weeks later. I arrived at school the following day, excited to share everything with Mrs. Gibbs. For a long time, I carried this treasure around and shared it with whoever would take a moment to read it.

Unfortunately, his letter and the two drawings of Snoopy he enclosed with his response have long since disappeared from my belongings. I imagine now if I still had them, I could be on an episode of Antiques Roadshow. Every time I happen to see Peanuts; I’m reminded of how Schulz took the time to write back to a seven-year-old boy. Little did he know, he made a lifetime impression by merely sharing a few words in a letter to a young boy.

What famous author have you written?