Miss Peach

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Miss Peach was a syndicated comic strip created by Mell Lazarus. It ran for 45 years, from February 4, 1957 to September 8, 2002. The strip was set in Kelly School, named after Pogo cartoonist Walt Kelly. In the summer, the scene usually shifted to a summer camp, Kamp Kelly. The daily strips often contained only one panel. The format was "gag-a-day". The drawing was stylized: the children had full-sized heads on tiny bodies, and flounder faces (both eyes on the same side of the nose).^[1]

The November 29, 1963 episode was pulled from syndication because one of the characters fantasized about saving the President of the United States' life — one week after John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Cartoonists prepare their strips many weeks before publication. (Source: Editor and Publisher magazine)

From 1982, several television movies were made based on the strip under the name Miss Peach of the Kelly School, featuring a live actor as Miss Peach and puppets as the children (some of whom were voiced by Martin Short). These focussed on special holidays, notably Thanksgiving and Valentine's Day.

In the 1990s the strip's title was changed to the more modern-sounding Ms. Peach. Mell Lazarus ended the strip in August 2002 — the last strip ran on September 8. His other strip, Momma, is still running.

The regular characters included

• Miss Peach and Miss Crystal, the teachers
• Mr. J. W. Grimmis, the principal
• gym teacher Mr. Musselman
• Miss Peach's students, Marcia Mason, Ira Brom, Arthur Strimm, Francine, Freddy Foster, Lester Larson, Linda, Walter, Stuart, and Sheila.

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