Lincoln Peirce, the creator of the “Big Nate” comic strip, spoke in front of a sold-out crowd at One Longfellow Square Tuesday about his love for “Peanuts,” his career as a cartoonist and the inspiration for some of his characters.

Peirce was interviewed by the Portland Press Herald’s digital director and resident comics fan Chad Gilley for the newspaper’s event series MaineVoices Live.

“Big Nate,” which has appeared in about 400 newspapers in the U.S. for almost 30 years, is about a rebellious sixth-grader, his single dad and his friends in a fictional town in Maine. Peirce has been drawing the strip since 1991, focusing on the indignities and absurdities of middle-school life for kids, parents and teachers.

Peirce previously worked as a storywriter for shows on Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon. He also hosts a radio show called “South by Southwest,” dedicated to honky-tonk and western swing, every Monday morning on WMPG.