‘Post-It Note’ Artist Dies Near Lake Chabot

Castro Valley artist Ed Attanasio, 64, was best known for creating art of people’s pets on Post-It notes, which he used to help raise money for pet rescue providers during the COVID-19 pandemic .

Edmund “Ed” Attanasio, a Castro Valley artist known for his sketches of dogs and cats on Post-It Notes, was found deceased in a car near Lake Chabot last Tuesday, the Alameda County Sheriff’s has confirmed.

On July 18, Alameda County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) deputies responded to a body found in a car on Lake Chabot Road near the park at 1:00 p.m. Calls to dispatch said the person was slumped over the steering wheel in a vehicle near the park. The Alameda County Fire Department worked on Attanasio for more than 30 minutes but could not revive him.

Investigators noted there were no obvious signs of trauma. Attanasio was 64.

“The cause of death is still pending, as results from the toxicology and other tests are not back yet,” ACSO Lieutenant Tya M. Modeste told the Forum.

Attanasio’s website noted that Ed had suffered a stroke in 2009, which he says “scrambled” his brain but did not negatively impact his motor skills. He was, unfortunately, unable to continue his longstanding profession as a journalist and advertising copywriter. As part of his rehabilitation, speech therapists suggested that Attanasio do simple daily tasks. Ed took up sketching abstracts on Post-It Notes for 14 months as part of his recovery. Many were abstracts, while others were characterizations of sports figures, animals, aliens, and dinosaurs.

His wife kept the artwork, which had grown to 400 sketches by then, and the idea for a new career blossomed. In 2013 Ed produced “Bushers,” a graphic novel based on a series of sketches of minor league baseball players in action. The publication got him noticed locally.

Attanasio was most recently known for launching “The Pandemic Pet Project” in 2020. Ed’s 3-inch by 3-inch artwork of people’s pets was given out to bring them joy during the pandemic in return for suggested donations to pet rescue operations.

“What a great run! 3,328 drawings, 26 countries, and every state in the country received my art. It went viral and became a national story,” Attanasio wrote on his Facebook page last year.

Ed’s Post-It Note artwork can be seen on his website (my3x3world.com) and includes many of his sketches.

Attanasio’s family has not announced plans for memorial services.