My dear friend Len Strazewski died in April. Here is the obituary I wrote for him, as published in the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times.
Learn a little more about him:
- Vivian Richey, The Columbia Chronicle: “‘Getting a compliment from him felt like a Pulitzer’: Former Columbia professor, comic book writer Len Strazewski dies at 71.”
- Rich Johnston, Bleeding Cool News: “Len Strazewski, Creator Of Prime And Jesse Quick, Has Died, Aged 71.”
- Georgia Garvey, Creators Syndicate: “We Lost One of the Great Grumps This Week.”
- World Balloon podcast: “A Tribute To Writer Len Strazewski PRIME JSA and More.”
You are welcome to post your memories of Len at his memorial Facebook page, or at the “Tributes” section of this Haben Funeral Home & Crematory webpage. Some photos of him are shared there. A bigger selection of photos of Len, his family and friends is published here on my Google Photos site.
A memorial service was held in July at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Evanston, led by my wife, The Rev. Elizabeth A. Harding, AM, MDiv, LCSW. Musical peformances were provided by Steve Dawson and Diane Christiansen, with Melissa Bach on cello.
A recording of the service is available on YouTube; it gets underway at the 13-minute mark. Here is the order of service, with links to that portion of the service in the video.
Prelude: “Souvenirs” ~ John Prine
Welcome ∞ Opening Words ∞ Candle of Life
Readings: “Of Mere Being” ~ Wallace Stevens
“Red Skelton at the Seashore” ~ Len Strazewski
Musical Reflection: “Sooner Than Expected” ~ Steve Dawson
A Time for Sharing
(Joshua Winchester, Steve Bogira, Art Foley, Betty Jo Moore, Willie Schubert, Randy Erford, Terry Jinks)
Reading: “Len Strazewski’s 3 Simple Rules for Dining Out”
~ Kevin B. O’Reilly (text)
Musical Reflection: “Summer’s End” ~ John Prine
Prayer ∞ Extinguishing the Candle of Life ∞ Benediction
Postlude: “Fish and Whistle” ~ John Prine
∞ ∞ ∞
Following the service and some refreshments at the church, many headed to Candlelite Chicago in the West Ridge neighborhood. It is a classic Chicago pizzeria, born in 1950, and it was one of Len’s favorite haunts in his final years. They even honored Len with a place on their landmark marquee, which sadly was not big enough to accommodate “Strazewski.”
P.S. Check out this lately published poetic remembrance by Henry Stimpson. It is the fourth poem down at this page from the “Lighten Up Online” poetry journal, and it is entitled “RIP Len.”
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