Often, when you hear about a hero, it is someone who hadone outstanding feat or conquest. I have come to recognize a true hero whoconsistently reached the inner child. The amazing man who touched the hearts ofpeople old and young worldwide was Charles "Sparky" Schulz.

OnFebruary 13, 2000, Schulz died of cancer, leaving an amazing legacy. For nearly50 years Schulz's comic strip, the "Peanuts" collection, has been themost well-known and loved in the world, with as many as 355 million daily readersin 75 countries.

Through his characters, Schulz focused on the simplelife and the troubles kids go through. He tried to give readers a happy feeling.His lifelong focus, both personally and professionally, was always to bepositive. He did not criticize government or highlight stressful issues of theday. He instead aimed to bring readers into his own world by writing about ahappy place with simple concerns.

Along with being an amazingly talentedcartoonist, Schulz was the father of four children. It's said that he neverfailed to stop his work to play a pick-up baseball game or have lunch with hisfamily. He was always very involved in his children's lives and supportive oftheir decisions. He taught them the importance of a person's inner worth as wellas the value of what they did for a career. His family describes Schulz as a manwith minimal needs.

The Peanuts gang was often a reflection of Schulz'sown family and life. His youngest daughter, Jill, noted, "Charlie Brown wasmost like him - he's a fighter, but he always has that doom andgloom."

When Schulz learned of the severity of his cancer, he wasforced to quit the job he adored - writing the "Peanuts" cartoons.Magically and ironically, Schulz died the night before the last strip of hisoriginal comics was to be run in the Sunday papers. Some might say this was fate,but I see it as the mark of a true hero who lived his whole life writing sopeople would be happy.

Charles Schulz put a little comedy into ouroften-stressful world. He is someone who will be remembered lovingly as theworld's favorite cartoonist. "You're a good man, Charles Schulz!"