Hiya, Harvey

Sep 6, 2003

When I was editor of Northern Ohio Live back in the mid 90s, I had the pleasure of drop-in visits from one Harvey Pekar, jazz critic for Live when he wasn’t filing medical records at the VA Hospital or swearing his head off on Letterman. I remember being highly amused by Harvey’s talkative style – complaining about Live’s notoriously slow payments in the same breath in which he animately pitched his idea for an article about some Cleveland jazz connection or another (Joe Lovano comes to mind).

Now, Harvey’s the subject and star of American Splendor, a movie that’s getting rave reviews. This Wednesday, the UNC-CH Department of Communication Studies is sponsoring a free screening of American Splendor at the Varsity Theater at 8 p.m. I’ll be there. Join me, and I’ll tell you more about what I remember of Harvey.

My friend John Ettorre blogged about Harvey a few weeks ago. Read John’s post here.

Anton Zuiker ☄