The Museum’s tribute to Sparky’s centenary is “Charles M. Schulz: The Art and Life of the Peanuts Creator in 100 Objects.”

We are enormously proud of this book, coming out on the 20th Anniversary of the Museum’s opening.

The Museum ordered 500 for me to sign so they could be sent to purchasers.  I have done quite massive signings before, and I have to say I thought of this with a little dread.

The Museums newest book arrived on a pallet ready to be dismantled.

However, it would take a team of the Museum’s staff to open, unwrap and lay out the books on the front page to assist me in the signing process.

It is necessary to vary the attack on the books: from the right to the left for a while and then switch from left to right. This tactic allows your body to remain in balance with the rotation of the earth.

Another lesson learned from hours of signing is a good pen is essential. While others may have their favorite pens, my pen of choice is the Sharpie Ultra fine Point Marker. I wish I knew how to write with Sparky’s favorite, the dip pen with the Esterbrook 914 nib, but I don’t know how to do that.

Sparky varied the ‘attack’ on the comic strip- inking and then allowing the ink to dry as he might be penciling in another square, which is what you see here.

And the Interesting thing to me is that I began to sense what Sparky talked about when he described the flow of the pen across the paper. There is a very satisfying ‘whole body’ experience duplicating the rhythm of the circles and loops of the old ‘Palmer Method’ of handwriting, which I learned in school.

Sparky described the feeling of the pen nib being gripped by the 3-ply paper, which required him to exert a specific amount of pressure to create the exact line that he required for that particular drawing or expression.

My task, of course, is much simpler: my name 500 times, and I hope mostly the same.

—Jean Schulz