Gave me valuable insight into the creation of this beloved comic strip and memorable characters. ( )

I've been a comic strip reader as far back as I can remember. One of the things that disturbs me most about the lack of daily newspapers in Detroit (they publish only three times a week for home delivery) is that I've lost convenient access to the comic strips. I follow them online, but much more selectively than in years past.
Charles Schulz's Peanuts had a quality run for fifty years, with a thriving aftermarket for collections and merchandise ten years after the author's death. I had known something of Schulz's background (his own father was a barber, and Charley Brown was named after a childhood friend), but this posthumous collection of Schulz's prose writings gave me new insights into the art and craft of cartooning. Schulz discusses character development, plot development, and what it's like to face deadlines for seven days a week. ( )