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Pee-Wee Herman creator Paul Reubens passes away at 70. He left a final 'apology' to fans.

He secretly battled cancer for years.

Paul Reubens, Pwee-Wee Herman, Pee-Wee's last words

via Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia Commons and Alan Light/Wikimedia Commons

Paul Reubens, creator of the iconic Pee-Wee Herman character, has passed away at 70.

Actor Paul Reubens, best known for creating the iconic character of Pee-Wee Herman, died on July 30, 2023, at the age of 70. His death shocked many as he kept his six-year battle with cancer a secret.

Pee-Wee Herman ranks among television and film history's most popular and imaginative children’s characters. In a world where many of Hollywood’s ideas are recycled, the Pee-Wee character was unlike any that came before or after.

He had the signature look of a red bow tie, drainpipe pants and a flat-top hairdo. He was part man, part child, and he lived a life of pure whimsy and kindness. But, occasionally, when driven to anger, he could become maniacal, like a kid throwing a tantrum. As we learned in “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure,” never mess with Pee-Wee’s bike.

Entertainment Weekly perfectly summed up the character’s uniqueness and wide appeal.

“...he was more than a kid-show host, or a pop-culture oddity, or a tongue-in-cheek, time-warped fusion of Pinky Lee and the bratty kid next door. He was all of these at once. Anarchic, creative, obnoxious, and liberating, Pee-wee appealed to all sorts: to kids and to parents; to mainstream stars like David Letterman, and to maverick artists like Batman director Tim Burton and Playhouse designer Gary Panter. Pee-wee struck a chord with any perplexed soul who has ever echoed his famous cry, ‘I know you are, but what am I?’”

Reubens left a final note to fans that was shared on Instagram.

“Please accept my apology for not going public with what I’ve been facing the last six years. I have always felt a huge amount of love and respect from my friends, fans and supporters. I have loved you all so much and enjoyed making art for you.”

— (@)

The Pee-Wee Herman character began as the star of a show for adults that played at midnight at the Groundlings Theatre in Los Angeles in 1981 and later became an HBO special. In the character's first full-length theatrical film, 1985's “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure,” directed by Tim Burton, Reubens played a kid-friendly version of the character. The surprise hit film would lead to a sequel, “Big Top Pee-Wee” (1988), and a critically acclaimed children’s TV show, “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse,” which ran from 1986 to 1990.

“Pee-Wee’s Playhouse” earned 22 Emmy awards during that run, with Reubens being nominated for 14.

After an incident at a Sarasota, Florida, adult theater on Friday, July 26, 1991, Reuben’s image as a children’s TV host was tarnished, and CBS pulled all reruns of “Pee-Wee's Playhouse.” However, public opinion was decidedly pro-Reubens, with surveys showing that 9 out of 10 Americans supported him in the scandal.

Reubens reappeared as Pee-Wee at the MTV Movie Awards later that year, where he bravely poked fun at the controversy.

The scandal led Reubens to reinvent himself as a character actor, and he had scene-stealing roles in “Buffy The Vampire Slayer,” “Blow, “ Batman Returns,” “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “30 Rock.”

He revived the Pee-Wee character for a successful Broadway run in 2010 and a final film, “Pee-Wee’s Big Holiday,” for Netflix in 2016. “Big Holiday” was a success with critics and fans, earning an 80% rating on “Rotten Tomatoes.”

Before his death, Reubens was putting the finishing touches on two new Pee-Wee scripts.

“Last night we said farewell to Paul Reubens, an iconic American actor, comedian, writer, and producer whose beloved character Pee-Wee Herman delighted generations of children and adults with his positivity, whimsy and belief in the importance of kindness,” his reps wrote on Instagram. “Paul bravely and privately fought cancer for years with his trademark tenacity and wit. A gifted and prolific talent, he will forever live in the comedy pantheon and in our hearts as a treasured friend and man of remarkable character and generosity of spirit.”

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How a warm bowl of Korean curry came to represent love and sacrifice

Food can mean so many things.

All images provided by Kat Chao

A photo of Kat and her mom, and a bowl of her mom's famous curry

True

Whether it’s the mac n’ cheese that reminds you of simpler times, or the exotic spiced chicken recipe you acquired from your travels, every meal tells a story.

This rings especially true for people whose families immigrate to different countries to start a new life. Immigrant parents often not only save every penny, but spend most of their time away working in order to build a future for their children. Each comfort meal they manage to provide their kids in the very few spare hours they have tells the story of love and sacrifice.

For Kat Chao, that meal was her mother’s Korean curry.

korean food A photo of baby Kat and her mom and dad

Growing up, Kat’s mom worked weekends to support her family. But that didn’t stop her from waking up Saturday morning to dice up some beef and fresh veggies and throw them into a large pot so that Kat’s dad could heat it up and serve it with some rice to her and her brothers later.

Curry was a quick, easy and inexpensive way to feed a full house, but it served more than just practical purposes. As Kat would wake up to the enticing aroma, she was reminded that her mom was always taking care of her, even if she couldn’t physically be there.

koran curry YUM

As Kat grew a little older, her attitude towards her mother’s curry shifted. Instead of looking forward to it, she would “roll her eyes at it,” as is customary of the rebellious teen. Those less-than-positive feelings were only exacerbated by the media constantly labeling carbs, therefore rice, as “bad.” As a kid who struggled with weight, her comfort food became a source of discomfort.

But as an adult, and now a mom herself, Kat has reached a full circle moment.

korean recipes, albertsons Kat, all grown up with her own familiy

As she makes her own kids the exact same curry dish (okay, maybe a leaner cut of beef, and organic veggies…but otherwise exactly the same!) Kat finds a whole new appreciation for the recipe, knowing how hard her mom worked to even make it happen.

Kat was lucky to have grown up with a meal to look forward to each night. Other kids aren’t so lucky. 1 in 8 kids currently experience food insecurity in the United States. But there’s an opportunity to decrease those numbers.

For every O Organics product you purchase, the company will donate a meal to someone in need through the Albertsons Companies Foundation—for up to a total of 28 million meals.

Is there a dish from your childhood that you’ve longed to rekindle with? You could do like Kat does and give it an O Organic twist. Luckily, the O Organics brand has a wide array of affordable ingredients, so creating healthy swaps is easier than ever. Plus, you can provide nourishment to another family at the same time.

Just think—the next meal you prepare could make all the difference to someone else. If every meal tells a story, that’s certainly a story worth telling.

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It's truly a win-win.

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When you’re a kid, summer means enjoying the fun of the season—plentiful sunshine, free time with friends, splashing in pools and sprinklers. But not every child’s summer is as carefree as it should be.

For some, summer means going hungry. According to Feeding America, food insecurity affects 1 in 8 children in the U.S., largely because families lose the free or reduced-price meals at school that help keep them fed during the school year.

But back-to-school time doesn’t make food insecurity disappear, either. Hunger is a year-round issue, and with the increased cost of groceries, it’s gotten harder for families who were already struggling to put food on the table.

So what can be done—or more specifically, what can the average person do—to help?

The good news is that one simple choice at the grocery store can help ease the burden a bit for those experiencing food insecurity. And the even better news is that it’s also a healthy choice for ourselves, our families and our planet. When we’re out on our regular shopping trips, we can simply look for the O Organics versions of things we would already buy.

But wait—aren’t we all feeling the pinch at the checkout stand? And isn’t organic food expensive? Here’s the thing: Organic food is often much more affordable than you might think. The cost difference between organic and non-organic products keeps narrowing, and many organic and non-organic foods are now almost identical in price. Sometimes you’ll even find that an organic product is actually cheaper than its brand-name non-organic counterpart.

Since 2005, O Organics has helped give health-conscious shoppers more options by making organic food more accessible and affordable. And now, it’s helping those same shoppers take action to fight food insecurity. For every O Organics product you purchase, the company will donate a meal to someone in need through the Albertsons Companies Foundation—for up to a total of 28 million meals.

Look for the O Organics label in every aisle.O Organics

Here’s what that means in real-world terms:

Say you’re throwing an end-of-summer backyard BBQ bash. If you were to buy O Organics ground beef, hamburger buns, ketchup and sea salt potato chips, you’d be donating four meals just by buying those four ingredients. If you added O Organics butter lettuce and O Organics sandwich slice pickles, you’d be donating two more meals, and so on.

And where are those meals going? Albertsons Companies Foundation works with a network of national and local charities fighting hunger, and regional divisions choose organizations to fund locally. So every O Organics product you purchase means a meal on the table for someone in your area who might not otherwise have the nourishment they need.

No kid should have to worry about getting enough food to thrive. We all make conscious choices each time we walk down a grocery store aisle, and by choosing

O Organics, we can make a difference in a child’s life while also making healthy choices for ourselves and our families. It’s truly a win-win.

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