On October 13, 1990, much to Ellen’s amazement, the Peanuts cartoon strip was all about her. Ellen became good friends with Charles and Jean Schulz, and in 1997 Ellen wrote the piano concerto Peanuts Gallery inspired by the iconic Peanuts gang.
The strip that inspired it all is currently on view at the Charles M. Schulz Museum’s Strip Rotation Gallery, through November 8, along with its story:
“Charles M. Schulz referenced many empowered women in the Peanuts comic strip, including Billie Jean King, Farrah Fawcett, Cheryl Tiegs, and Peggy Fleming. One inspiration for two strips, a daily strip and a Sunday strip both on display in this exhibition, was Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, the first woman composer to be awarded a Pulitzer Prize for Music. Born in 1939 in Miami, Florida, Zwilich attended The Juilliard School for music in 1975, and was also the first woman ever to receive a degree in Doctor of Musical Arts.
“Schulz heard about Zwilich through The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour in 1990 and incorporated her into a Peanuts comic strip on October 13, 1990, which can be seen in this exhibition and on the back of this handout. The initial strip led to a friendship between the two, and in 1997 Zwilich composed a 13-minute piano concerto inspired by the Peanuts Gang.”