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February 10, 2012
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David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
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Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
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Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
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Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
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Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
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Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
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Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
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Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
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January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
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January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
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Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
July 7, 2006
/ 11 Tamuz, 5766
Superman, Lois Lane and Me
By
Michael Arnold Glueck
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The author with Lois Amster |
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My afternoon with the Real ‘Lois Lane’
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
What Would Superman Do?
The answer has been obvious to generations of children and the adults they
became. He would fight for Truth, Justice, and the American Way. Even in this
postmodern era, when Truth and Justice are dismissed as meaningless abstractions
and the American Way as pernicious, Superman inspires. How do we know this?
Because of the untold billions that his admirers have spent and continue to spend
on comic books, films, memorabilia, costumes, and branded merchandise.
But the saga of Superman has a darker side. I mention this not because of the new
movie but because I recently discovered that Lois Lane and Superman and I are,
well, mischpocha — a Hebrew word meaning family, but often in a very broad
sense of unchosen or accidental affinity.
You see, Lois Lane is my close cousin. More precisely, the woman upon whom
Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, his creators, patterned Lois Lane. At least, I have
strong evidence to believe that she is.
Superman, according to that excellent website, www.superman.ws, was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1933, in the midst of
the Great Depression, when everybody needed reassurance. His creators were two
high school students, devotees of science fiction and the pulp magazines in which it
often appeared. One night, it all came together for Jerry Siegel, all the sci fi and
personal fantasies. He wrote the first Superman story. The next day he showed it
to Shuster, an aspiring artist. Their first collaboration was a mimeographed affair.
For the next six years, they tried to sell the idea to the syndicates and companies
that turned out newspaper comic strips. Finally in 1938, DC Comics, pioneer of the
new genre of comic books, gave them $130 for all rights, forever.
Against all odds and expectations, Superman took off. Siegel and Shuster spent
much of the rest of their lives doing comic books as employees and suing to have
their agreement renegotiated. They died in obscurity and, if not poverty, certainly
not wealth.
Which brings me to the mischpocha angle.
Siegel and Shuster attended my father's alma mater, Glenville High School in 1933.
One week ago, I returned for my class reunion. Never mind what number. While
there, I visited the new Maltz Museum of Jewish History in Beachwood, which
boasts a large multi-colored figurine of Superman with Glenville yearbook pictures
below of the dynamic duo (to coin a phrase) and the pretty young female classmate
upon whom they based Lois Lane.
By their own admission, Siegel and Shuster had several crushes on girls who would
not have gone out with them, even if they had been able to change the course of
tall buildings or leap mighty rivers with their bare feet. In an interview with the
Washington Star in 1975, Siegel revealed which of these girls he immortalized and
it was Lois Amster. One look at a picture of my cousin Lois as a young girl, and
you know for sure.
My wife and I visited Lois Amster while we were in Cleveland. She is now 90, still
beautiful, spunky, independent, and witty. The fictional Lois was a very strong
female character and well ahead of her time. So is the real Lois, who is immensely
proud of her two sons, their wives and four grandchildren.
Siegel, Lois recalls, was in one of her classes and always staring at her. He was a
rather unkempt nerdy fellow with uncombed hair who wore pajamas that stuck out
from under his pants. She avoided looking at or speaking to him. Once, a classmate
told Lois that Siegel sometimes would follow her around. Unsuccessful at this
pursuit, the young man contented himself with fantasies of a dual life
"mild-mannered reporter and Man of Steel" that might seem bizarre or pathological
to some, but gave the country two of its most enduring icons.
But fantasy can only take you so far. Those who created Superman, and two men
who played him, came to sad and tragic ends. It's hard to believe that Superman
would have wanted it that way. And perhaps there's a cautionary tale here. Ideals
and fantasies, when carried too far or taken too literally, destroy.
So what would Superman do nowadays? Fight for Truth, Justice, and the
American Way, of course. But like any Earth man, he would never forget his love
for Lois Lane.
But above all, he would remain grounded in his ideals.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in Washington and in the media consider "must reading." Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Michael Arnold Glueck, M.D., is a multiple award winning writer who comments
on medical-legal issues. He flew to Cleveland and back to report this story. Comment by clicking here.
© 2006, Michael Arnold Glueck
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