5 MINUTES WITH HARVEY PEKAR: An interview with American Splendor's Harvey Pekar. By Memo Salazar 8/24/03

Harvey Pekar

(Read the review of American Splendor)

(Read the interview with American Splendor directors Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini)

When Fine Line informed me that, due to a flurry of last-minute interest in Harvey Pekar, my interview time with him would be cut down to a mere 5 minutes, I had to ask myself "what on earth could we possibly talk about in such a short time without ending up with the usual trite, shallow and pointless sidebar?" Anyone who's read American Splendor knows Harvey has a lot to say about a lot of things, and that he's always honest, intelligent and entertaining. After coming up with a list of regrettably stupid questions for him, I decided I would wing it by letting him decide what we should talk about.

"What's on my mind? Increasing my income, to tell you the truth. I'm on this pension now, and I need more money to take care of my wife and my kid's education and stuff like that. That's what I'm concerned about; I'm trying to get freelance writing gigs to improve my situation. I signed up with a guy that keeps an eye out for speech opportunities and stuff like that. All kinds of things. I'm doing okay now, you know, because I'm getting extra work due to all this attention from the movie, but I don't know how long that's going to last, or how the movie will do commercially. I'll just have to wait and see… but I'm working on trying to get more money."

Absent from his speech was the cantankerous shtick associated with his essays and diatribes. In retirement, after a second recent bout with cancer, and now also a father in his 60s, Harvey just seemed plain tired. I actually wanted to leave him alone, despite my mere 5 minutes, and just let him rest-- though rest was definitely not on his schedule. Led around the city by college interns from Fine Line, Harvey was shuffled from room to room and place to place as they tried to turn his "blue-collar everyman" angle into box office gross. Harvey didn't seem to care one way or another-- a far cry from the man who has spent his life criticizing the exploitation of average people by the government and media. Is he enjoying this publicity tour?

"It's enjoyable in some ways. You get to see new things and new people. When I'm at home, I lead a kind of solitary existence and it can get kind of depressing. I'm hoping this movie takes longer for people to get over, because it makes my life more interesting."

Taking a look back at the 25 years worth of American Splendor, I asked him what he thought of his accomplishments.

"Yeah, I'm happy with it. I'm happier than if I hadn't done it… who knows where I'd be if I hadn't done it… probably living by myself, in a room, with a pension… who knows. I can see [my influence] in other comics' work. There are guys that are doing far better than I am in comics, in terms of making money, that have acknowledged my influence. Some of them are good, some of them aren't so hot, but… that kind of ticks me off a little, that I've had a pretty strong influence on alternative comics, directly or indirectly, and, well, I don't have much to show for it. Maybe it'll come with this movie. Maybe it'll get me some more writing work. I gotta take every day as it comes and just keep on going."

How are you feeling?

"I feel all right. I'm in remission, you know, from cancer. I'm doing okay right now. I'm going to be around here till Saturday, then I go to England to some kind of a festival there, and then, you know, I get to go home."

Time was up. As the Fine Line girl led Harvey away from our room, I reflected on my own experience with his work. I started reading it in high school, many a moon ago, when Harvey Pekar's stark honesty and commitment to detailing even the most seemingly insignificant things struck a chord deep inside me. I longed to see that same approach in the film world, an industry that is anything but honest and simple. Somehow the creative team behind American Splendor (the movie) avoided the obvious traps and made just that-- a worthwhile and fitting portrait of Harvey Pekar, human being and comic book character. Once the hype dies down and the media finds a new hero to champion, those books (and now this film) will be there for people to stumble upon and connect with… which is just about the greatest thing a human being can achieve. Not too bad for a retired hospital file clerk from Cleveland.

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