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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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