Not Just An Ordinary Man - Harvey Pekar Dead at 70
By Chris Kavan - 07/12/10 at 12:16 PM CT
Harvey Pekar, whose life was chronicled in the film American Splendor, has died at age 70. His comic might have been about the mundane life, but it wasn't mundane to the many people who found his art imitating their lives.
Aside from American Splendor, Pekar was an infrequent guest on the Late Night With David Letterman show in the 1980s. He also made friends with a variety of illustrators, including R. Crumb.
Paul Giamatti portrayed him in the 2003 film, which followed in part the "Our Year of Cancer" story when Pekar was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer in 1990. There are no reports if this illness played a part in his death or not.
Mr. Pekar was truly an original, and even though his time associated with film was brief, he deserves to be recognized for bringing the extraordinary out of ordinary.
