RIP Harvey Pekar:
I'm still stunned by the sudden death of Harvey Pekar on Monday. He was just here in Las Vegas three months ago, on a tour with Alison Bechdel. I'm glad I made it, because while I have a lot of respect for Pekar's work - American Splendor, the adaption of Working - I was really there to see Bechdel who is one of my heroes.
Except that Harvey's talk really inspired me, and I thought that he seemed excited about his upcoming projects. In particular, the one on Israel and Palestine, which I thought about a lot as I traveled the region in consideration of making my own comic about it.
He looked pretty good, is what I'm saying, for a 70 year old who'd fought off cancer. He was thrilled to be alive and still working, and it's sad to know he's gone. Even sadder, for me, to think that the book on Israel will probably never come out. I'm glad I fought off my own 'must not spend money, am poor' issues - with I think, the help of
kadymae, to get an autographed book, because I could have missed out on even the brief moment I met him.
Here's Allison Bechdel's blog post about his passing, with a short video of the two of them in Las Vegas.
Anthony Bourdain wrote one as well, about the episode of 'No Reservations' they based around Cleveland and Harvey's work.
Heidi at the Beat collected the rest of the tributes here.
Except that Harvey's talk really inspired me, and I thought that he seemed excited about his upcoming projects. In particular, the one on Israel and Palestine, which I thought about a lot as I traveled the region in consideration of making my own comic about it.
He looked pretty good, is what I'm saying, for a 70 year old who'd fought off cancer. He was thrilled to be alive and still working, and it's sad to know he's gone. Even sadder, for me, to think that the book on Israel will probably never come out. I'm glad I fought off my own 'must not spend money, am poor' issues - with I think, the help of
kadymae, to get an autographed book, because I could have missed out on even the brief moment I met him.
Here's Allison Bechdel's blog post about his passing, with a short video of the two of them in Las Vegas.
Anthony Bourdain wrote one as well, about the episode of 'No Reservations' they based around Cleveland and Harvey's work.
Heidi at the Beat collected the rest of the tributes here.