A Bob Kane model

On 3/4/12, at the Whidbey Island Writers Conference in Washington State, I had the pleasure of sharing a panel with, among others, agent Katharine Sands.

Not breaking with tradition, I mentioned Bill Finger and Batman. After the panel, Katharine told me that her late mother had once posed for Batman cartoonist Bob Kane—and she had a photo of it.

I felt I’d already seen that photo. The image that came to my mind was this, from the 1960s, which has been published in a book or two:

I even saw a resemblance between the model in my mind and Katharine. I pulled up the photo to show her. But that (Cat)woman, she said, was not her mom. This was her mom (and I'd estimate the photo to be from the 1950s):

I asked Katharine if she has any stories to accompany it. Her response:

“I do not believe he chased her around the divan—but Mom turned out to be a major liar about this kind of thing when I found her journal after she died. Shhheeeshhh…”