Goodbye Mr. Pekar.

I just found out this afternoon that Harvey Pekar passed away early this morning. I have a handful of heroes in art and comics and Harvey was at the top of the list. His stories, particularly "Our Cancer Year", changed my life and quite honestly helped save it. That book inspired me to keep a sketchbook throughout my treatments for cancer. Other than visits from friends and family my sketchbook was the light at the end of the tunnel. I owe that to Harvey and his wonderful wife Joyce Brabner. If you have read any of Mr. Pekar's comics, or seen the movie inspired by his life, you feel like you know him, intimately. He was recently experiencing another wave of interest since the release of his webcomic "The Pekar Project."
Today I feel like I lost my cool, curmudgeon of an uncle that wrote amazing comics. Harvey was a pioneer of the medium of comics and his presence will be missed. My thoughts and prayers are with his wife and daughter.

The drawing above is by Jeffro Kilpatrick. Jeff drew this at a lecture Harvey gave about the power of the medium of comics. It hangs in my studio as an inspiration and a reminder.