Back in 1970, all the students in a fifth-grade class at Hawthorne Elementary School in Beverly Hills, California, were asked to write a letter to someone they truly admired, asking “What makes a good citizen?”
A ten-year-old Joel Lipton, wrote to Charles Schulz, the world-famous creator of Peanuts. Here’s the response…
What Makes a Good Citizen?
Dear Joel:
I think it is more difficult these days to define what makes a good citizen then it has ever been before. Certainly all any of us can do is follow our own conscience and retain faith in our democracy. Sometimes it is the very people who cry out the loudest in favor of getting back to what the call “American Virtues” who lack this faith in our country, I believe that our greatest strength lies always in the protection of our smallest minorities.
Sincerely yours,
Charles M. Schulz
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Charles M. Schulz, 1922-2000
© 1970 Charles M. Schulz
Photo of Charles Schulz in his studio
