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The most important American artist of the second half of the 20th century was the cartoonist Charles Schultz.

And this dear listener is not a statement of preference, it is a statement of fact.

Because peanuts, Charles Schultz's comic strip, debuted on October 2, 1950 and ended on February 13, 2000.

Charles Schultz wrote and drew his comic strip every day during the second half of the 20th century.

But there were also TV specials and movies and toys and gigantic parade balloons and advertising campaigns.

His characters Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, Lucy, Peppermint, Patty and Schroeder were everywhere.

Millions upon millions of Americans had a relationship with peanuts.

Which really was a relationship with Charles Schultz as all of the characters emanated from his own inner world.

So if someone can point to another American artist to achieve more than this, then sure, I'm happy to offer a correction.

But otherwise, I'm sticking with my statement.

Charles Schultz was the most important American artist of the second half of the 20th century.

Today though, it is difficult to explain to someone who didn't grow up in a world of comic strips or even daily newspapers,

just how powerful of a platform Charles Schultz had for his art.

But I recently came across a new book that helps.

It's called Charlie Brown's America and it's written by Blake Scott Ball, an assistant professor of history at Huntington University in Montgomery, Alabama.

His book, he told me, began with a desire to study historical events through the everyday lives of people who lived them.

I was looking for an avenue to get closer to an everyday experience of the second half of the 20th century after World War II.

And I thought, you know, what better source than peanuts with it as you pointed out, being everyday for 50 years.

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