Sat 7/25 @ noon
Writer Harvey Pekar was a unique Cleveland voice with a writing style like no one else’s. Cranky, contentious and relentlessly pessimistic, his stories for the graphic novels he penned could also be surprisingly sweet and sentimental, displaying simultaneously a ruthless inspection of and deep affection for ordinary working people. When he died in 2010 at age 70, a piece of old-school Cleveland vanished.
Pekar has already been memorialized with a sculpture/display at the Cleveland Heights/University Heights Public Library on Lee Road, a place that was central to his life. Now he’s about to be memorialized at another place he hung out when the Coventry Outdoor Courtyard in Coventry Village will be renamed Pekar Park.
A dedication ceremony and series of events will mark the occasion. The official dedication will take place at 12:30pm, followed by live jazz from 1-3pm by the Heights Jazz Group (Pekar was also noted as a jazz critic and record collector). From 6:30-8:30PM, there will be storytelling at Pekar Park. And from noon-6pm there’ll be a Pekar Comics Festival going on. Finally, at 9pm, there’ll be an outdoor screening of the 2003 film American Splendor, the film about Pekar’s life, at the Coventry P.E.A.C.E. Park His wife (and collaborator) Joyce Brabner will give an introduction to the film.
All the events are free.
coventryvillage.org/pekar-park-dedication/
Cleveland Heights, OH
Cleveland Heights, OH 44106