Ryan lely/Sonoma Valley Sun
Cartoonist Linus Maurer worked closely with Charles Schultz on the “Peanuts” comic strip. Maurer is the namesake for “Peanuts” character ‘Linus.’
The Art Instruction Inc. school in Minneapolis – famous for its promotional “Draw Me” matchbook covers – was a collegial kind of place in the 1950s, when instructors met daily to discuss students’ work and sat side-by-side in the busy studio.
Two of those instructors at the correspondence school, Linus Maurer and his friend at the next drawing board, “Sparky,” would noodle on their own drawings and cartoons in-between doing student evaluations, and frequently turned to each other for input and review.
Sparky was developing a strip with the title “Li’l Folks” that depicted a group of little kids, their neighborhood and their humorous – and sometimes poignant – interactions. Working on one of the male characters, Sparky turned to Linus and asked, “Do you mind if I name him after you?” Linus said “Sure,” and thus became indelibly connected to the most beloved cartoon strip in history “Peanuts,” created by Charles M. Schulz, known to his friends as “Sparky.”
“We were both developing our own comic strips and I learned a lot working with Sparky, but neither of us had any idea of what the future would hold,” said Maurer, “and I never dreamed that Linus Van Pelt would be my lifetime companion.” The two Linus’ share a philosophical attitude and a level-headedness about life, according to Maurer, “…but I have more hair.”
Schulz left the school to work on the “Peanuts” strip and in time moved to Santa Rosa. Maurer went on to produce a syndicated strip “Old Harrigan” for the next five years, then had the opportunity to do animation for television. “There’s a close correlation between doing a strip and animation,” said Maurer, who left the snows of the East Coast and relocated to San Francisco in 1963 to become an art director doing animated films and commercials.
“I had made periodic visits to see Sparky and his family and grew to like the Bay Area weather and lifestyle,” Maurer said. It was an exciting place to be in the 1960s, especially for a guy from Sleepy Eye, Minn., and Maurer’s creativity flourished in the stimulating environment. “I would get up with ideas and go to bed with ideas,” said Maurer, “I couldn’t turn it off.”
He began doing storyboards for ad agencies and TV stations to sell their ad concepts to the client, often going to the pitch meeting. Soon he was doing the presentation, discovering that the marketing aspect appealed to him. “I found out that if you want to be recognized for your capabilities you have to go beyond your core abilities. In marketing, you have to put yourself in the client’s place and ask what can you do for them? Then you have to answer that question.”
Always fascinated with mathematics (his career choices were aeronautical engineer or cartoonist), Maurer came up with an idea for a math puzzle that newspaper readers could do and called it Challenger. It was picked up by King Features and has been syndicated around the world, translated into numerous languages – even Arabic – and runs 364 days a year. King Features also asked him to do a newspaper version of Merv Griffin’s hit TV show “Wheel of Fortune” that was syndicated for five years.
His trips to Sonoma to see Charles Schulz convinced Maurer to move from San Francisco. He settled in Kenwood in the late ‘80s, then in the town of Sonoma. In 1991 he was named Treasure Artist by the City of Sonoma. Maurer was able now to make more time for painting, an art form he had always loved. His paintings are in private collections, galleries and reproduced as prints. His humor and whimsy are evident in the voluptuous, but somewhat blowsy women and large, rumpled men who inhabit many of his works. “I’ve always painted, though my style has changed over the years,” he said. “I’m having fun with this period of my life.”
Maurer acknowledges the impact that his cartoon namesake has had on him over the years and treasures the experiences it has brought him. “Sparky and I remained lifelong friends,” said Maurer, “I think my life would have been very different if not for Linus Van Pelt.”
A celebration in honor of internationally known cartoonist, painter, humor writer and puzzle writer Linus Maurer will be held Saturday, June 28 at the Showcase Gallery in Glen Ellen. The exhibit, which is free and open to the public, will feature original drawings and cartoons and current paintings. The celebration will take place from 3 to 5 p.m. at both the Showcase Gallery and at the historic restored Chauvet building at 13758 Arnold Dr., Glen Ellen; 707.935.3513.
