Harvey Pekar, RIP

Harvey Pekar, the irascible writer who spun the mundane details of his own life and the quotidian existences of his fellow Cleveland residents into comic-book narratives, and who showed that the comic-book panel could include everyday feelings of anxiety and disappointment as easily as it does the adventures of costumed heroes, has died, The Plain Dealer of Cleveland reported. He was 70.

A spokesman for the Cuyahoga County Coroner’s office told The Plain Dealer that Mr. Pekar was found dead by his wife, Joyce Brabner, at around 1 a.m. An autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death. Mr. Pekar was given a diagnosis of lymphatic cancer in 1990, an experience he documented in the graphic novel “Our Cancer Year.”
[NY Times]

RIP Harvey.

A Brooklyn cartoon Harvey wrote, videos of Harvey recently shopping for jazz records (he was also a critic), classic David Letterman, and more, below…

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Click for a bigger one….

Bibliography
* American Splendor: The Life and Times of Harvey Pekar (Doubleday, 1986)
* More American Splendor (Doubleday, 1987) ISBN 0-385-24073-2
* The New American Splendor Anthology (Four Walls Eight Windows, 1991) ISBN 0-941423-64-6
* Our Cancer Year, with Joyce Brabner and Frank Stack (Four Walls Eight Windows, 1994) ISBN 1-56858-011-8
* American Splendor Presents: Bob & Harv’s Comics, with R. Crumb (Four Walls Eight Windows, 1996) ISBN 1-56858-101-7
* American Splendor: Unsung Hero, with David Collier (Dark Horse, 2003) ISBN 1-59307-040-3
* American Splendor: Our Movie Year (Ballantine Books, 2004) ISBN 0-345-47937-8
* Best of American Splendor (Ballantine Books, 2005) ISBN 0-345-47938-6
* The Quitter, with Dean Haspiel (DC/Vertigo, 2005) ISBN 1-4012-0399-X
* Ego & Hubris: The Michael Malice Story, with Gary Dumm (Ballantine Books, 2006) ISBN 0-345-47939-4
* Macedonia, with Heather Roberson and Ed Piskor (Ballantine Books, 2006) ISBN 0-3454-9899-2
* American Splendor: Another Day (DC/Vertigo, 2007) ISBN 978-1-4012-1235-3
* Students for a Democratic Society: A Graphic History (Hill and Wang, 2008) ISBN 978-0809095391
* American Splendor: Another Dollar (2009) ISBN 978-1-4012-2173-7
* The Beats (2009) ISBN 978-0-2856-3858-7
* Studs Terkel’s Working: A Graphic Adaptation (2009) ISBN 978-1-59558-321-5
* Circus Parade by Jim Tully. Foreword by Harvey Pekar. Introduction by Paul J. Bauer and Mark Dawidziak. (Kent State Univ. Press, 2009) 978-1-60635-001-0

Harvey Pekar at the Record Store Pt. 1

Harvey Pekar Shops for Jazz Records

Leave Me Alone! Harvey Pekar Opera Live on WCPN’s Around Noon