Jok Church | |
---|---|
Born |
November 28, 1949 Akron, Ohio, U.S. |
Died | April 29, 2016 Castro District, San Francisco, California |
(aged 66)
Nationality | American |
Area(s) | Writer, Cartoonist |
Notable works
|
Beakman's World You Can With Beakman and Jax You Can with Beakman: Science Stuff You Can Do by Andrews-McMeel Publishing |
Jok Richard Church (November 28, 1949 – April 29, 2016) was an American cartoonist who created the Universal Press Syndicate syndicated comic strip You Can With Beakman and Jax, later adapted into the TV series Beakman's World. The series premiered September 18, 1992 on The Learning Channel (TLC) cable network and in national syndication (225 stations, a freshman year record). On September 18, 1993 it moved from national syndication to CBS Saturday morning children's lineup. At the peak of its popularity, it was seen in nearly 90 countries around the world.
He created his comic strip You Can with Beakman & Jax in 1991 for his local newspaper in Marin County, California—inspired by a stint answering kids' letters for Lucasfilm. It was the first ever syndicated newspaper comic drawn and distributed by computer, a Macintosh SE using Adobe Illustrator-88. The comic strip does not answer readers' questions directly; it gives directions for creating an experiment for one to discover the answer independently.
His weekly newspaper feature was posted to his Twitter mini-blog page the week after newspapers have published it.
Jok Church died in San Francisco from a heart attack on April 29, 2016.
Jok Church was born in Akron, Ohio raised in Akron and Munroe Falls, Ohio and attended high school in Stow, Ohio.
After running away from home, Church hitchhiked to San Francisco, California and began working in what was then called "underground" radio with news director careers at KTIM, San Rafael; KERS and KZAP, Sacramento.
As a co-founder and resident at Damian House Gay Men's Collective in Sacramento, Church "came out" as a gay man on the air on KZAP in 1970. He and his late-partner Adam Kazimir Ciesielski were together for 34 years. Church was also the webmaster for environmental artist, Christo whom he met in 1976 during the installation of "Running Fence."