The recent death of Charles Schulz has sparked the memories of one Island resident about his inspirational meeting with the Peanuts cartoonist.

Senior Customs Officer Troy Caines was 19 when he was travelling around the world with Up with People (UWP).

Mr. Caines had been visiting Santa Rosa, the famous home of Charles Schulz.

"I remember Santa Rosa as being a very pretty town,'' he said. "I guess it has to be for someone in his line of work. You need to be in a place that's going to foster your creativity.'' The meeting came when the UWP group was invited to the skating rink that Mr.

Schulz owned for free skating and lunch.

"In spring of 1981 we were travelling through the southwest US and one of the places we stopped in was Santa Rosa,'' he said. "He (Charles Schulz) extended the invitation to the skating rink which he owned and that's where I had the opportunity to speak with him.

"We sat in the coffee shop at the ice rink and talked for about an hour,'' he said.

"That's where I got the memories of a man who was in touch with his community and supported his community.'' He went on to say that meeting Mr. Schulz was the highlight of the year long trip.

"Definitely, meeting him was the highlight of the tour for me and I think meeting him was probably the highlight of many people's lives,'' he said. "He was easygoing and from what I saw I know that he probably had to work hard to get where he was.

"There was no haughtiness and not a hint of arrogance in him. I just saw a very nice man, easygoing, easy to talk to. I was 19 at that time but there was no generation gap at all.

"I left the conversation feeling very enriched.'' Mr. Schulz may not be the main force which drives Mr. Caines, but he was someone he holds in very high regard.

"You see that this man is just a man -- that was how he carried himself.'' he said. "Peanuts had always been one of my favourite cartoons, but when you know this person it is a different feeling -- a personal interest which develops.'' He explained that as a child he always read the comics. Every Thanksgiving and Christmas he was in front of the TV watching the specials.

"I always hoped that at least once Charlie Brown would be on the winning side.'' Hearing about his struggle with cancer and the subsequent death of this cartoon legend came as a shock to Mr. Caines.

"When I heard that he had been diagnosed with cancer I was very interested because not only was he a famous man but this was someone that I had met,'' he said. "Also I felt a sort of sadness because I had gone through the same experience with my mother.

"I heard about his death when I caught the tail-end of a 60 Minutes segment.

It said that someone had died and I thought `Who died'? "It wasn't till I heard it later that I realised that it was Mr. Schulz. I realised then that it was the end of an era.''