One of my most prized office possessions, shown above in a picture Casey took recently, is a poster for the movie American Splendor, autographed by Harvey Pekar and his wife, Joyce Brabner. You see, Harvey and Joyce used to be our neighbors - sort of. They lived in Cleveland Heights at the same time we did, as we called the Cedar Fairmount area home for a short time a couple of years ago.
We had become mildly addicted to the repeated HBO showings of American Splendor - a wonderful movie - while we lived in the Heights. And it was awesome to see these two fixtures of the Heights out an about on a regular basis. I'd see Joyce at one of the area coffee shops, and I'd see Harvey ambling around the neighborhood, enjoying his retirement from the VA hospital.
Coincidentally, Coventry, a quirky street nearby, was in the midst of its yearlong "Celebration of Coventry", and when we saw that Harvey and Joyce would be headlining an event, we knew we had to go. It was such a great night, a neighborhood celebrating two of its local heroes. They spoke about comics new and old, about what had happened to them since the movie, about social justice, about jazz. They were exactly as adorable as you'd think they would be together.
And when it was over, before the punch and donuts, and before I lined up to meet them and get their autograph, they led everyone in attendance in a rousing rendition of "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life". It was so wonderfully unassuming in its honesty that I'm getting a dumb, sad smile on my face just thinking about it.
I read that Harvey passed away earlier today, and honestly, it won't be everything you'll read in the typical remembrances that I'll think of: Harvey's life. The comics. His marriage to Joyce and their enduring relationship. His illness. Her activism. The movie. No, I'll remember the time when when they got a bunch of their friends and neighbors to sing a Monty Python song.
It's so hard to do justice to how pleasant a moment that was, just as it's so hard to do justice to how big a loss we've suffered with Harvey's passing. The world is a duller, less colorful place without him.
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