Charles Schulz got hate mail, and newspaper editors threatened to pull his strip "Peanuts," after he showed Charlie Brown meeting Franklin Armstrong on the beach on July 31st, 1968. All because Franklin was Black ... in fact, the first Black character in a mainstream daily comic strip.

This time on Off-Ramp, we're listening back to my 2014 interview with the two friends who made it happen: Harriet Glickman, a white teacher, and Ken Kelly, a black aerospace engineer.

Harriet died two years ago at 93, and Ken died a year ago at 92 ... and by the way, Ken has an amazing life story you'll hear about at the end of the episode.

Advisory: Ken and Harriet use old fashioned language to describe Black people. They use the polite terminology of the time, NOT the N-word, but if this is upsetting to you, you should skip this episode.

This program is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

(Off-Ramp theme music by Fesliyan Studios.)

Pico Boulevard, Pico Union, Pico Rivera ... they tell the story of one of the most fascinating figures in California's 19th Century history: Pio Pico, the last governor of Alta California under Mexican rule, and a revolutionary who helped make the missions forfeit their land. But at the time of his death, he couldn't afford his own grave. Off-Ramp contributor Chris Greenspon has his quintessentially Californian story.

Originally broadcast September, 2015.

Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live.

This program is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

(Off-Ramp theme music by Fesliyan Studios.)

Welcome to Doo-Dah; Doo Dah Surf - Part One; The Duke of Surfing; Doo Dah Surf - Part Two; Doo Dah Surf - Part Three; Hang Tiki; Surf Break; Time Capsule

Wine Country: Echo Park; Wine Country: Slow Pickings; Wine Country: A Tasting; Spitting Good Wine; United in Hate; Parkers Posing; Hail, Little Caesar; Twelve Tones, Hanging Ten; Lucille Ball Remembered

A Christmas Carol Redux

R.I.P. Ike Turner; From Face Paint To Real Paint; Paul Stanley Gets the Led Out; Christmas in Longo; Season's Giving: My Friend's Place; Give the Gift of Modernism; Father Boyle Parable; Tried and True; LA Punk Turns Thirty; O' Christmas Tree

Getting a Handel; Homeless Get Robbed; Follow-Up with Union Rescue Mission; Skid Row Serial Killer; Sing Along; Join the Chorus; Songs of Freedom; Cocktail Rules; Do Nothing Writers; Epic Waves Hit California; City Officials Kick Up Heels for Hanukkah; Light Thieves; ValleyWood; KPCC's News Zocalo

On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me....; John Rabe is Selected; Skid Row's Only Women's Shelter; Food for Stuffed Animals?; A Taste of Geisha; Coach Carroll Reaches Beyond USC's Ivory Tower; KPCC's Big Dog breaks down Big Game; You Are a Grain of Rice; Keach as Galileo; LAUSD Flunks P.E.; The Other Scrooge; Country Bumpkin tops the Charts in the Big City; First Lady With Style

Note from John Rabe

Happy Thanksgiving; Charles Phoenix; In Time For Turkey; The Ernie Kovacs of the West Coast; It's A Jingle Out There; The Basque Valley; Norman Mailer Was My Editor; The Abundant Pharmacy; Herbal Taste Test; Cast-Offs; Cross Talk