Harvey Pekar - American Splendor

 

"I very frequently get letters from people that say, 'yea, I went through that myself, and I really got a lot of comfort from your story.'  That makes me feel good.  People who've had lousy experiences like to read about somebody else going through the same crap, so they find out they're not the only ones.  Misery loves company.  There's a lot to that."

Harvey Pekar was born in Cleveland, Ohio on October 8, 1939.  He was the oldest of two sons born to Polish immigrants Saul and Dora, who owned a local grocery store.  Although the family lived right upstairs, Pekar would state that he seldom ever saw his parents, due to their hectic work schedules.

After high school, Pekar did a short stint with the Navy before enrolling at Case Western Reserve University.  College life wasn't for him however, and he dropped out after one year.  He was hired by the Veterans Administration as a file clerk in 1965, a job he would hold until his retirement in 2001.

In the 1960s, Pekar became good friends with artist Robert Crumb.  It rekindled in him a long-held desire to draw comic books.  That dream came to fruition in 1972, when the two collaborated on their first project together, Crazy Ed, which was published in Crumb's comic book series The People's Comics.  They'd continue working together over the next few years before launching the series American Splendor, for which they are best known.

Rather than focusing on traditional comic book tropes, such as heroes and villains, the series was an autobiographical peek into Pekar's life as a file clerk, with a focus on the mundane.  It proved extraordinarily popular, with Amazon later declaring it "one of the first and most groundbreaking literary memoirs in comic history."  It ran for 32 years, ending its run in 2008.

In 1990, Pekar was diagnosed with lymphoma, the first of several cancer diagnoses he'd receive over the next two decades.  He ultimately passed away on July 12, 2010, but it wasn't cancer that ended his life. An autopsy revealed he'd died of a drug overdose at the age of 70.  Doh!

Harvey Pekar was cremated.  His ashes were interred at Lake View Cemetery in his hometown of Cleveland.  To date, it is the most decorated grave this blogger has ever visited, even surpassing PBS artist and host Bob Ross.

Location: Section #7, Lot #9, Grave #1
Inscription #1: Beloved Husband and Guardian
Inscription #2: Life is About Women, Gigs, An' Bein' Creative

Rest in peace.

Trivia

• If you want to learn more about Harvey Pekar, take a voyage to your public library or Amazon.  It's all in books.
  
  
• Pekar was a recurring guest on The Late Show with David Letterman, for which he was paid peanuts.  For his final appearance in 1994, he received a paltry $600.  Somebody with too much time on their hands compiled all of those interviews into this YouTube clip.
  
  
• In 2003, HBO produced the biopic American Splendor, featuring Paul Giamatti as Pekar.  Check out the trailer on YouTube.
  
  
• One year after his passing, Pekar was inducted into the Will Eisner Comics Hall of Fame.  Check out his profile here.
  
  
• Other notable Lake View internments include our 20th president James Garfield, business magnate John D. Rockefeller, and "the father of Rock and Roll," DJ Alan Freed.  Pekar's headstone is right next door to famed federal law enforcement officer Eliot Ness.