STEVENS POINT – The creator of the “Krazy Kat” comic strip, which ran in newspapers from 1913-1944, will be the focus of a free public lecture at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point next week.

Author Michael Tisserand will talk about his book, “Krazy: George Herriman, A Life in Black and White,” at 7 p.m. on Tuesday in Room 221 of the Noel Fine Arts Center on campus. A book signing will follow the lecture.

An American cartoonist, Herriman is credited with influencing the work of “Peanuts” creator Charles Schultz, “Calvin and Hobbes” creator Bill Watterson and many others.

“Krazy” has been named a finalist in the National Book Critics Circle Awards for biography and the Pen America/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for biography. It was also selected as a Kirkus Best Nonfiction Book of 2016 and one of Vanity Fair’s “Must-Read Books of the Holiday Season.”

A New Orleans-based author, Tisserand also wrote “The Kingdom of Zydeco” and “Sugarcane Academy: How a New Orleans Teacher and his Storm-Struck Students Created a School to Remember.” His work has appeared in several magazines. He wrote an 11-part Hurricane Katrina series, “Submerged,” that was published in alternative weeklies across the country. He has also appeared in the documentaries “Dear Mr. Watterson” and “Zydeco Crossroads.”