Author, Undercity
What does it mean to grow up as the son of one of the most beloved cartoonists in history — and then find your own creative voice?
This week on “Ira’s Everything Bagel,” Ira sits down with Monte Schulz, author of the genre-blending fantasy/sci-fi thriller Undercity. The son of Peanuts creator Charles Schulz, Monte shares an intimate look at his upbringing, his artistic evolution, and the lessons in storytelling that shaped him.
Monte reflects on coming of age just as his father’s fame exploded — and how Charles Schulz recognized in his teenage son an ear for lyrical language. Encouraged to read deeply and widely, Monte’s creative path shifted from music to poetry, and ultimately to prose. Inspired early on by science fiction and history, raised on a sprawling 20-acre property that instilled in him a love of rural landscapes, Monte says he eventually “bloomed outward” as a writer.
He discusses how popular novels taught him pacing and storytelling momentum, while literary writers shaped his command of language. The poetry of Carl Sandburg continues to inspire him — “When I read Sandburg, it reminds me why I write,” Monte says. “Literature is endless. It doesn’t die.”
Monte also opens up about wanting to write about war, his writing technique, and the memorable advice his father gave him about overcoming writer’s block.
This is a thoughtful, revealing conversation about creativity, legacy, and why great literature — like great storytelling — never fades.
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ABOUT MONTE:
Monte Schulz received his M.A. in American Studies from University of California, Santa Barbara. He published his first novel, Down by the River, in 1990, and spent the next twelve years writing a novel about the Jazz Age. His most recent novel, award winning Metropolis, was published in 2022. His father is the late cartoonist Charles M. Schulz. He lives in Santa Barbara, California.