SCHULZ ADVISER RECOVERING WELL

''Peanuts'' financial adviser Ron Nelson is feeling ''somewhat lucky to be

alive,'' his doctor said Friday.

In an apparent domestic dispute, Nelson was shot twice in the lower back

last week while at his office in the studio of Charles Schulz, creator of the

internationally known comic strip.

Santa Rosa police arrested Nelson's estranged wife, Shirley, for the

attempted homicide. Nelson shot her husband twice before shooting herself once

in the chest, police said.

Ron Nelson is now able to talk and has told detectives what happened in his

office July 5. Sgt. Brian Davis would not disclose what Nelson said.

Nelson, 53, almost died from the shooting, but has been steadily improving

and could be out of the hospital in a week or so, Dr. Loie Sauer said.