Saturday, August 25, 2012

Audience folk who knew the Boys of Steel and the Boy Wonder

After many talks I’ve given on Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman and, as of recently, Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman, someone comes up to me to share a connection s/he or someone s/he knows had to the Superman or Batman creators. Here are a few that come to mind:

  • the man whose relative lived across the street from Jerry Siegel (talk: Bethesda, 4/12)
  • the man whose sister dated Joe Shuster in the 1970s (and still has some letters he wrote) (Miami, 2/12)
  • the woman whose grandfather worked in the same building that housed Joe’s studio (Washington DC, 11/11)
  • the woman whose father was a paperboy for Jerry Siegel and/or Joe Shuster (New York, 6/13)
  • the woman who, in 7th grade, was best friends with the daughter of Bill Finger’s second wife (New York, 6/12)
  • the woman whose mom modeled for Bob Kane (Whidbey Island/Seattle, 3/12)
  • the woman (Sidra Rausch) who co-created superheroine manga musical Astra with Jerry Robinson (Washington DC, 10/12)

...not to mention...

  • the boy who claimed he found a copy of the most valuable comic book in history (Providence, 4/10)
  • the woman whose father-in-law was once married to Joe Shuster’s sister Jean (and who inherited letters Jean wrote, some of which mention Joe) (e-mail)
  • the man whose father was a photographer for Stars and Stripes and who e-mailed me WWII photos featuring Jerry Siegel

And at least one woman who knew someone who was allegedly an inspiration for Lois Lane.

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