Page 3 of 3

56 Superman & Batman: America didn't just want heroes; we had to have SUPERHEROES!!

57 Bob Dylan: not only for "freeing our mind," as Springsteen said, but for being the most visionary popular entertainer we've ever had.

58 The fact that Americans even think in terms of "visionary popular entertainers."

59 Derek Jeter's amazing relay throw to the plate in the 2001 playoffs against the Oakland A's -- and his nonchalant humility about it later.

60 Cars, especially convertibles, as big as barges; mobile sofas; land yachts.

61 Mae West: Although she later became a self-parody, she broke many barriers in show business for both women and, through her employment practices, for people of color.

62 The Addams Family: Charles Addams' brilliant cartoon characters brought to life in a parody of family life. Truly American in that it's both thought provoking and silly.

63 National Public Radio.

64 Seventies sitcoms: All in the Family, M*A*S*H, The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Hard to believe TV was ever this witty and insightful.

65 The moving, desperate courage of AIDS activists in the 1980s.

66 State fairs: the cheesy displays, the stomach-in-your-throat rides, the oddball sideshows, the greasy sweets, the sawdust, the daredevils, all of it.

67 Woody Guthrie: not only for his hundreds of songs, but for the example he left of an authentically lived life.

68 California wine country: what Eden must have been like.

69 Michael Jordan: sure, we're leery of his money-grubbing and the Nike sweatshop connection, but who can keep that in mind while contemplating the mind-boggling, improvised moves he made in the prime of his career?

70 All-night grocery stores and diners.

71 Surfing.

72 The Vietnam War Memorial, for its egalitarianism, the air of loss, and the way it ennobles war deaths without glorifying the politicians who caused them.

73 Brian Wilson's haunting falsetto.

74 Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus, and Miles Davis.

75 Massive yard sales: different parts of the country do it differently, but it all boils down to recycling.

76 Independent bookstores.

77 Our steadfast resistance to the metric system.

78 Planned Parenthood.

79 The original Saturday Night Live.

80 Backyard barbecues: burn a few, drop a few, eat "em anyway.

81 Jim Henson: as influential in his own way as Disney, and a lot more gentle on kids' nerves.

82 Wrigley Field in Chicago.

83 Frequent flyer miles.

84 The gorgeous desert country of the American Southwest.

85 Fanzines. Truly independent, alternative publications live, in all their ragged glory.

86 Divorces. Despite their frivolous use in many cases, they're a matter of life and death for some and can represent the difference between a life of enforced misery by church or state decree, and freedom.

87 The way the exciting newness of television and rock & roll subverted the repression of the 1950s.

88 Bubble gum.

89 Email.

90 Road trips -- packing a quick bag, getting some caffeine-laden soft drinks and climbing in your ride to go somewhere. It's your own little world; with a few bucks and some time, you can see a lot and go anywhere.

91 Gary Larson, creator of The Far Side. As time elapses, his old work just keeps getting better and better.

92 Automatic teller machines.

93 The Kentucky Derby.

94 Professional regional theater.

95 American football. The rest of the world has soccer, but we have this garish, glorious, primal sport to call our own.

96 Willie Nelson. To quote Kris Kristofferson, "He's a poet, he's a picker, he's a prophet," and he really is, whether you particularly like his music or not, an American treasure. He fought Nashville and won, even though he later lost out to the IRS.

97 Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. One was graceful and the other was athletic, but each transformed the art of dancing into music for the eyes.

98 Independent radio stations, like WNCW in Spindale, that are free to play an eclectic musical mix, and aren't chained to a dull, corporate-mandated playlist.

99 The country's continually changing "rules" in response to social pressure from the grassroots, personified by the fact that when a woman gets married today, her maid of honor, if she wishes it, can be a man.

100 Big, tacky, goofy, semi-public monuments, such as the Peachoid in Gaffney, SC.

Contributors to this list: Chris Arvidson, Sam Boykin, Matt Brunson, Tim C. Davis, Lynn Farris, Mike Fawcett, John Grooms, Molly H. McKinney, Fred Mills, John Rodgers, Tara Servatius, Ann Wicker.