PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM 105 Sean, telling me, “You're like Lucy in the psychiatrist booth, Andrea.” Honoring a Legacy Sean and Jason’s filmmaking father left big shoes to fill. Lee found success early, winning a Peabody Award for his series of documentaries on San Francisco for KPIX-TV, followed by a dozen Emmys, three more Peabodys and a bunch of Oscar and Grammy nominations over his long and prolific career. But what impressed his sons more than all those trophies was Lee’s ability to get the best out of the people he worked with and to treat everyone with respect and kindness. “I don't know anybody who could say a bad word about him,” says Jason. “Even his ex-wives.” Despite putting their own creative imprint on the project, they say producing Peanuts records is a way to honor their father. “He always promoted the other person, and that's all we are doing right now— promoting Vince Guaraldi and, in effect, our father's work on the TV shows,” Jason says. “We feel like we're stewards.” From Willie Mays and animator Bill Melendez to Vince Guaraldi and his musical successor, David Benoit, Lee’s collaborators became a kind of family. “My dad would be on the phone with somebody I thought was a family member,” Sean recalls. “I’d say, who were you talking to? ‘Oh, that was Sparky.’ He’d talk to him like he was a brother or a cousin.” And that close community extends into the next generation. “Every time we do a clip show or a show about the history of Charlie Brown, I've never had anybody tell me they wouldn't show up,” says Jason. “They want to do it to thank Lee or Sparky or Bill, and they always say yes.” PHOTOGRAPHY: ANNIE BARNETT nuts about peanuts mendelsonproductions.com
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