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Jok Church

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Jok Church
BornNovember 28, 1949 (1949-11-28)[1]
Akron, Ohio, U.S.
DiedApril 29, 2016(2016-04-29) (aged 66)[2]
NationalityAmerican
Area(s)Writer, Cartoonist
Notable works
Beakman's World
You Can With Beakman and Jax
"You Can with Beakman: Science Stuff You Can Do'and various others by Andrews-McMeel Publishing

Jok Richard[3] 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[4] 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. Rather, it gives directions to do create an experiment to learn the answer.[5]

His weekly newspaper feature was posted to his Twitter mini-blog (@xJok) page the week after newspapers have published it.

Jok Church died in San Francisco from a heart attack on April 29, 2016.[2]

Early life and career

Jok Church was born in Akron, Ohio[6] 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 is also the webmaster for environmental artist, Christo whom he met in 1976 during the installation of "Running Fence."[7]

References

  1. ^ "Jok Church - Official Facebook". MakeMagic.org. Retrieved 2014-11-21.
  2. ^ a b Steve Rubenstein (5 May 2016). "Jok Church, of Beakman and Jax cartoon strip for kids, dies at 67". SFGate. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  3. ^ "Jok Richard Church -- Curriculum Vitae". MakeMagic.org. Retrieved 2014-08-12.
  4. ^ "Beakman's World makes science fun for kids of all ages". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
  5. ^ *Jok Church: Profile
  6. ^ Jok Church. "Jok Church: A circle of caring - TED Talk - TED.com". ted.com. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  7. ^ NoFavorite. "Christo and Jeanne-Claude". christojeanneclaude.net. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
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