Harvey Pekar Writes Newspaper Column

By: Dave Astor Updated at 3:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time

How does an editor at a mid-sized newspaper in suburban New York get Cleveland-based Harvey Pekar to write a column? He calls him on the phone.

David Daley, assistant features editor of The Journal News in White Plains, N.Y., has been a Pekar fan since seeing him on Late Night with David Letterman in the 1980s. "And I loved the movie," said Daley, speaking of this year's highly regarded American Splendor film about Pekar -- best known for his autobiographical "American Splendor" comic book series illustrated by artists such as Robert Crumb.

So Daley thought of a column he would suggest to Pekar -- called "Obscurity Knocks" -- that would "shine a spotlight on things that are underappreciated or unjustly obscure." He discovered that Pekar's phone number was listed, and called him directly. "He agreed right off the bat," Daley told E&P Online. "I was stunned! As it turned out, one thing he hoped the American Splendor movie would bring him was more freelance work."

The first column Pekar did exclusively for The Journal News ran Oct. 9 and focused on jazz musician Joe Maneri. "The next one is about Herman Melville titles that are not Moby Dick," reported Daley, who said Pekar's 800-1,000-word column will run approximately twice a month in "The Line," the paper's Thursday weekend section.

Daley said he's trying to offer "The Line" readers -- many of whom work in New York City -- content that includes quirky, alternative-newspaper-type material. The tabloid section also contains "Tag-Team Fiction," a feature in which two novelists combine to create a story.

Pekar has also written for other newspapers and magazines. For instance, he reviewed jazz regularly for the Cleveland Free Times for years and now writes a regular column for that publication, according to Editor in Chief David Eden.