Inspiration
A former coworker, Donna Mae Johnson (born circa 1929 in Minneapolis, Minnesota), was Schulz's inspiration for the character. A 1947 high school graduate, Johnson was working in the accounting department of the Art Instruction, Inc., a correspondence school where Schulz worked. Johnson and Schulz eventually became romantically involved and dated for three years, but in 1950 when Schulz proposed to her, she turned him down, saying she was already engaged to fireman Allan Wold. She married Allan on October 21, 1950. Schulz was devastated, but he and Johnson-Wold remained friends for the rest of his life.
Said Schulz of the relationship, "I can think of no more emotionally damaging loss than to be turned down by someone whom you love very much. A person who not only turns you down, but almost immediately will marry the victor. What a bitter blow that is." This experience became arguably the most poignant of all story lines for the entire Peanuts strip.
Only one known Schulz drawing (aside from the aforementioned silhouette) of the little red-haired girl exists. It was drawn in 1950, long before the Little Red-Haired Girl was mentioned in "Peanuts". The girl in the drawing strongly resembles Patty, a character who was prominent in the early days of the strip. A book containing the sketch also has a photo of Johnson with Schulz.
"I'd like to see Charlie Brown kick that football, and if he gets the little red-haired girl, that's fine with me", Donna said around the time Schulz announced his retirement in 1999.
On Valentine's Day 2011, the Schulz Museum gave free admission to all redheaded girls (and boys) in honor of the Little Red Haired Girl.
Read more about this topic: Little Red-Haired Girl
Famous quotes containing the word inspiration:
“Shakespeare carries us to such a lofty strain of intelligent activity, as to suggest a wealth which beggars his own; and we then feel that the splendid works which he has created, and which in other hours we extol as a sort of self-existent poetry, take no stronger hold of real nature than the shadow of a passing traveller on the rock. The inspiration which uttered itself in Hamlet and Lear could utter things as good from day to day, for ever.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“For a painter, the Mecca of the world, for study, for inspiration and for living is here on this star called Paris. Just look at it, no wonder so many artists have come here and called it home. Brother, if you can’t paint in Paris, you’d better give up and marry the boss’s daughter.”
—Alan Jay Lerner (1918–1986)
“The ironies in the commonplace are my inspiration and delight.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)