Growing up in Cleveland’s Kinsman neighborhood, one of Jerry Fine’s friends and Andrew J. Rickoff Elementary School classmates was Joe Shuster.
“He was an artist and I was an artist, too, and he was so good that he sort of discouraged me,” quipped Fine, now 97 years old and living in
Beachwood. “We collaborated on a column called ‘Jerry the Journalist.’ He depicted me as a grasshopper reporting on school events.”
Years later, however, that budding partnership came to an end. After graduating from Alexander Hamilton Junior High School, Shuster went north to attend Glenville High School while Fine attended nearby John Adams High School.
Looking out for his friend, Fine suggested Shuster get in touch with someone he knew at Glenville.
“I told him I had a cousin who worked for the (student) newspaper, ‘The Glenville Torch,’ and that maybe he could do things with him,” Fine recalled.
“Sure enough, they got together.”
That cousin was Jerry Siegel.
“They seemed to hit it off good. They clicked, and it seemed they were both interested in the same things,” Fine said. “My cousin was writing for magazines and so on, and … Joe was a very good artist.
“Turned out they got together and created the character.”
That character was Superman.
The rest is history. From the imaginations of two teenagers and the streets of 1930s Jewish Cleveland arose one of the most recognizable characters of all time, and 75 years after the first Superman comic book was published, the city is celebrating its hometown superhero.
Though for years Superman’s Cleveland roots flew under Northeast Ohio’s collective radar, in recent years awareness of the Man of Steel’s beginnings has soared – due in large part to the efforts of the Siegel & Shuster Society, a volunteer-based nonprofit formed in 2007.
“full-page spread in a Sunday Plain Dealer” that same year from reporter and comic book critic Michael Sangiacomo that took Northeast Ohio to task for not doing more to celebrate Superman’s connection to Cleveland. A meeting was subsequently arranged through Positively Cleveland for those interested in changing that.
“Probably 50 to 60 people showed up, and after a couple of meetings, somebody warned us it wouldn’t be OK to use the name ‘Superman’ because it was owned by Warner Bros.,” said Fine, a 84-year-old Moreland Hills resident and member of Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple in Beachwood.
“So, several volunteers went to New York to talk to DC Comics, and they were quite resistant to offer any assistance,” said Fine, explaining profits were the main hurdle. “They made it clear they wouldn’t let us use the name ‘Superman.’”
As a result, the Siegel & Shuster Society was formed as a nonprofit, and soon thereafter, the organization started tackling projects to re-establish the pair’s Cleveland ties.
The society’s first project was to rehab Siegel’s childhood house on Kimberly Avenue, which was in need of heating, plumbing and carpentry repairs. With help from author, TV show creator and Superman enthusiast Brad Meltzer, $111,000 was raised.
“To this day, one of the most exciting things for me was the morning we had the ribbon cutting, hundreds of people showed up,” said Mike Olszewski, Siegel & Shuster Society president, suggesting many attendees may not have otherwise known of the house or visited the neighborhood.
“Then it started to rain, and Jefferson Gray – and his wife, Hattie, who own the house – said, ‘I don’t know how many of you can fit on this porch or in this house, but you better get in out of the rain,” said Olszewski, adding that as people came inside, they took pictures and enjoyed the house’s rich history.
lights of Terminal Tower in
Cleveland were recently red, blue and yellow – the colors of
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Jerry Fine’s brother, Irving Fine, is a founding member of the society. He recalled a
Partnering with the Cleveland Foundation’s Neighborhood Connections program, the society later raised $5,000 to build a fence – featuring artistic depictions of the first Superman comic book – around the property where Shuster’s childhood house once stood at the intersection of Parkwood Drive and Amor Avenue.
SUPERMAN on page 29
A Chevrolet SUV with the license plate Kalel-1 sits in Jaime Reigle’s driveway, fresh off a 12-hour trip from Metropolis, Ill.
Reigle, 39, spent four days in the “Hometown of Superman” selling some of his 40,000 items of Superman memorabilia, comics and collectibles at the city’s 35th Superman Celebration.
“For 10 years, I set up in the streets there (Metropolis) with 150 feet of tables,” said Reigle, owner of www. supercollectibles.com. “This year, the opportunity came up for me and a couple of artists and comic book dealers to do a Super mini-con in a 2,500-square-foot building there. Half of it was Superman memorabilia.”
Reigle’s Cleveland-area home serves as a shrine for his Superman collection. Above his couch hangs a $5,000 frame with the first Superman issue signed by Jerry Siegel, one of the last things Superman’s co-creator signed before he died in 1996. In his dining room stands a 6-foot-tall glass case displaying his most prized Superman memorabilia, which he calls his “holy grails.”
“A lot of that stuff in there, you wouldn’t see another one in the world,” Reigle said. “The old stuff is really what people want and what’s going to hold its value.”
Superman figurines from the 1940s, comics in different languages and newspaper clippings are among his prized collectibles. He also owns a hand-painted Superman animation cel (a celluloid sheet) used in a sequence for a Superman flying scene. A 1940s Macy’s game box with a Superman promotional sticker is on the top shelf. Reigle bought it for a bargain.
“The people that sold the game didn’t realize the sticker meant anything,” he said. “The last one in 2008 sold for $1,000, and I haven’t seen any since then.”
Above his fireplace, Superman picture frames fill the mantel showing his kids, Kalel, 11, and Lex, 2. Kalel is named after Superman’s birth name, Kal-El; Lex after Superman’s archenemy, Lex Luthor. Reigle told his wife when they started dating that he wanted his kids named after the comic’s characters.
“They were different, so I went with it,” said Reigle’s wife, Dawn, who attended a Superman convention just two days before she delivered her first-born.
Among the most expensive items in Reigle’s collection is a 1939 Brazilian magazine promoting the Superman comic book overseas, priced at $7,499.95 on his website. The most unusual are Superman condoms from Japan. Reigle also has a tattoo of the Superman “S” on his left calf.
Reigle said the piece most valuable to him is Siegel’s bedroom window, which he salvaged when the Siegel &
Shuster Society restored Siegel’s former home in Cleveland’s Glenville neighborhood in 2009.
“If you listen to any of his old interviews, he would say stuff about sitting at his typewriter and staring out his window,” he said. “I figured that’s the window he looked out and dreamed up Superman.”
In his office, boxes of Superman collectibles abound, from Pringle’s cans with Superman’s “S” logo to Superman pillows Reigle purchased from a dealer in Australia. On the wall closest to his desk, the original proof sheet from Mark Tyler Nobleman’s book “Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman” hangs, signed by various members of the Siegel and Shuster families.
“I tracked down every living member of Jerry and Joe’s family, and they each signed it and put how they were related,” he said. “It took me two years. I have second and third cousins on here. Joanne (Siegel) signed it. The grandkids are on here, too. There’s a lot of Jewish names there. I got a lot of good stories out of them.”
When Reigle discovered Superman’s Cleveland roots, his collection of Siegel and Shuster artifacts became top priority.
“I’d go out of my way for anything Siegel and Shuster,” he said. “I’ve sat down with their families and gone through their baby pictures and Joe’s original artwork. I’ve seen all kinds of personal stuff the families have never shown. I feel a lot closer to the families even though I never got to meet them (Siegel and Shuster).”
Riegle started collecting Superman comics when he was 4 years old, when comics had “no value.”
“We’d go in every weekend and hit the quarter boxes,” Reigle said. “I had a list of all the Superman and Batman issues I wanted and would go through box after box.”
Although he didn’t view himself as a collector when he was younger, Reigle said he kept all of his collectibles in their original packaging and put everything away as his collection grew. His interest in the “Man of Steel” continued when “Superman: The Movie” starring Christopher Reeve hit theaters in 1978.
“Superpowers hit in the ’80s and that’s when it re-
COLLECTOR on page 29
1914: Joe Shuster is born in Toronto on July 10. Jerome (Jerry) Siegel is born in Cleveland on Oct. 14.
1929: Siegel creates a fanzine called “Cosmic Stories,” consisting of his typewritten, rejected stories. Today, “Cosmic Stories” is recognized as the very first sci-fi fanzine.
1923: Shuster’s family moves to Cleveland when he is 9 years old.
1930: Siegel and Shuster meet at Glenville High School in Cleveland.
1932: The two publish “Reign of the Superman” in their fanzine, “Science Fiction,” where Superman is a bald, super-powered villain.
1938: Siegel and Shuster sell their first Superman issue and the rights to the character for $130 to National Periodical Publications. Superman debuts in “Action Comics” No. 1.
Growing up in Cleveland Heights in the 1960s was great.
As a pre-teen, I thought I enjoyed the best of everything. We lived in an old colonial on Cedarbrook Road, (built in 1920, I found out), I shared a room with my older brother, and attended the old Taylor Elementary School with some 400 or 500 other kids. There were drugstores like Drexler’s and Max’s, bakeries like Fairport Bakery and Lax and Mandel’s, and a Schwinn bicycle shop around the corner on Taylor Road.
We used to play football in the parking lot of a medical building and baseball in the parking lot of the Heinen’s across Taylor Road in University Heights. We also played in neighbors’ yards, and we played in the street – a lot.
Whenever we had enough kids, we played football or baseball or basketball. When we didn’t have enough kids, we played hopscotch or tag or war or jump rope or cowboys and Indians.
We often played Superman or another comic book hero or television hero. We just played, from sunup to well past sunset. Those were carefree years. Those were golden years, irreplaceable years.
Superman held a special place for me. I don’t know why.
Was it because his creators, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, were Jewish? Was it because they went to Glenville High School, the predominantly Jewish high school before Cleveland Heights High School, where I would go? Was it because of his super powers? Was it because he was a mildmannered reporter who worked for that great newspaper, the Daily Planet, in that fictional city, Metropolis?
Hey, maybe playing Superman was when this longtime reporter and editor got a glimpse of his future – though I always thought my passion for the Fourth Estate was sparked in a journalism class in 11th grade at Heights.
As I look back, maybe it was the days of running around with a towel (for a cape) around my neck and jumping off porch steps that launched my career as I chased kids trying to “kill” me with Kryptonite, or whatever old thing they could find in someone’s garage. It was all in good, oldfashioned fun.
I enjoyed watching the old, black-and-white reruns of “The Adventures of Superman.” At 5, 6, even 8, I wasn’t sure Superman would appear in that little screen called a television the following week. But somehow, he always did. After a few seasons, he even started to appear in color.
Superman, disguised as Clark Kent, was always a step ahead of the bad guys. I was glued to the TV when the show was on. Remember, we didn’t have the luxury of Superman marathons on TV back then.
Now, when I catch a Superman rerun, I am amazed at how juvenile the scripts were. Here’s some guy wearing tights and flying around Metropolis, beating up one gangster after another, saving his colleagues Jimmy Olsen and Perry White and Lois Lane.
Yes, it was juvenile, but I liked Superman. Maybe it was because when you are a kid, you think you are immortal. Superman is!
bjacob@cjn.org
1947: Although they are making $100,000 each per year, Siegel and Shuster hire attorney Albert Zugsmith to take DC Comics to court for the rights to Superman and Superboy.
1948: The two spend much of their money on legal fees and finally settle out of court for $200,000 for the rights to Superboy.
Sept. 19, 1952: “Adventures of Superman” debuts in black and white on television. George Reeves stars as Superman.
The Cleveland Public Library and The Ohio Center for the Book are hosting a summer-long Superman exhibit, “From Cleveland to the world in a single bound: The 75th anniversary of the Man of Steel,” at CPL at 325 Superior Ave. from June 14 to Saturday, Sept. 14.
The exhibit will showcase Superman regalia, memorabilia, photographs, and various paraphernalia from Mike Olszewski, president of the Siegel & Shuster Society. The library’s own collection of Superman books, graphic novels, photographs and collectibles will also be on display.
The Cleveland Public Library is hosting “From Cleveland to the world in a single bound: The 75th anniversary of the Man of Steel” Superman exhibit through Sept. 14.
“Superman was created by the creative minds of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster right in Cleveland’s Glenville neighborhood,” said Felton Thomas, director of the Cleveland Public Library, in a press release. “Celebrating 75 years of Superman is another reason to visit our main library and make it a great summer day in downtown Cleveland.”
The Glenville branch library will also host Superman family day from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 22. Superman enthusiasts will have the chance to make their own superhero cape, mask and comic book.
For more information about the exhibit, visit cpl.org or call the literature department at the Cleveland Public Library at 216-623-2881. For more information about Superman family day, call the Glenville library at 216- 623-6983
April 28, 1958: Final episode of “Adventues of Superman” airs on television.
1975: Siegel and Shuster go back to court in an attempt to sue DC for the rights to Superman and protest the company’s treatment toward them. The court decided DC does not owe the two any money. The comic company gives the two a $35,000 “pension” every year for the rest of their lives and credit for the Superman creation.
SUPERMAN from page 26
Other Siegel & Shuster Society projects have included installation of an iconic Superman display at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport that explains the character’s ties to Cleveland to visitors and the proclamation of April 18, 2013 –the 75th anniversary of Superman’s 1938 appearance on the cover of DC Comics’ “Action Comics” No. 1 – as “Superman Day” in Cleveland. Currently in the works is a Superman-themed Ohio license plate.
“This is a can-do thing, and hopefully people will understand that things come out of Ohio that are extremely famous and very well done,” said State Rep. Bill Patmon, D-Cleveland, the license-plate bill’s sponsor. “This is a huge example for young Clevelanders in and out of the neighborhood.”
That their creation has not only maintained worldwide appeal but also continues to inspire others – especially in their hometown – is something Siegel and Shuster would likely find very fulfilling.
“They would be amazed,” said Leigh Goldie, Siegel & Shuster Society secretary and whose grandfather was first cousin to Shuster. “Being recognized here would be a big deal. People didn’t consider it a big deal here because it was just ‘Jerry and Joe.’”
At Park Synagogue East in Pepper Pike, Goldie teaches a Jews in American History class to sixth-graders. The class covers Louis Brandeis, Jonas Salk and Irving Berlin – as well as Siegel and Shuster.
“(Students) learn who Jews were in American history, and cause and effect: what did they do to affect people later?”
1978: “Superman: The Movie” soars into theaters.
1987: Cleveland celebrates Superman’s 50th anniversary with the exhibit, “The Vision of Superman,” at the Western Reserve Historical Society. Clevelanders Dennis Dooley and Gary Engle publish their book, “Superman at Fifty: The Persistence of a Legend.”
July 30, 1992: Joe Shuster dies in Los Angeles.
said Goldie, of Solon.
Students present to the class someone in their family who they feel has “changed the world” and served as a role model. Goldie’s daughter, Rebecca, was in the class this year, and when she presented Shuster, Goldie said it gave all the kids a closer connection to Superman as well as the creative process behind the character.
“Hopefully, Joe can serve as a role model artistically for kids to try in graphic design or create their own comic book hero,” she said. “(Superman) teaches morals and values and allows kids to pass on those traditions of helping others. Just like Superman, helping others can never end.”
Olszewski counts himself among those who better appreciate Siegel and Shuster’s contributions after learning their story.
“When I was a little kid, I loved Superman, but when I learned he was from Cleveland, I became that much more interested,” said Olszewski, a 60-year-old Aurora resident. “The more I learned about Superman, I learned my heroes were Superman, Siegel and Shuster – but not in that order. I’d put Siegel and Shuster first.”
Sharing Siegel and Shuster’s story is the cause to which the Siegel & Shuster Society is dedicated.
“Superman means something different to everyone, but it’s something important and something good and something inspiring to many,” Olszewski said. “When you think about this strong, emotional bond that people have in the character, and think about how all of this started in the minds of two teenagers – both of them living right in our backyards – it’s staggering to think of the impact they had and continue to have.”
mbutz@cjn.org
Jan. 28, 1996: Jerry Siegel dies in Los Angeles.
July 2009: Cleveland’s Siegel & Shuster Society raises $111,000 to renovate Jerry Siegel’s former home at 10622 Kimberly Ave. in Glenville
April 18, 2013: Mayor Frank Jackson proclaims “Superman Day” in Cleveland.
June 14, 2013: “Man of Steel” is released in theaters to celebrate the 75th anniversary.
COLLECTOR from page 27
ally took off,” he said. “I was collecting and going to flea markets and all types of shows on the weekends.”
Although Reigle liked other superheroes when he was younger, he fixed on Superman because “the others didn’t have a choice.”
“When you’re sitting playing superheroes, Superman is always going to win,” he said. “You know one got bit by a spider, one walked into a nuclear reactor and the others had powers and stuff like that. Superman was the most human one.”
Michael Sangiacomo, comic book collector and reporter for The Plain Dealer, agreed.
“Superman is one I care about a lot because he is the first,” said Sangiacomo, who lives in South Amherst. “Others try to get the job done, but Superman does things the right way, even at expense to himself. He is the superhero ideal.”
Sangiacomo, who said he learned to read through Superman comic books, has known Reigle for 10 years through covering different Siegel & Shuster Society events.
“I’ve only seen part of his collection, and it’s pretty impressive,” said Sangiacomo. “I agree that it’s one of the biggest in the world.”
Steve Presser, owner of three Big Fun toy stores, said Reigle has achieved stardom befitting an advanced collector.
“I think scarcity (of items is what sets
it apart,” Presser said of Reigle’s collection. “He has a lot of key collectibles. He’s got some Top 10ers. His advanced collection of Superman is world-renowned, and lots of people know he’s the go-to guy and is knowledgeable.”
A founding member of the Siegel & Shuster Society, Reigle said he is proud that Cleveland has “gotten a lot more awareness out” about Superman’s connection to the city.
“You have everyone wearing Superman shirts now,” he said. “I’m glad to see that everyone’s on board and recognizing that he was created here.”
mwiner@cjn.org
• Staff Reporter Carlo Wolff reviews “Man of Steel”
• Long, hard battle to earn creators fame, if not fortune
• Superman creators reflect their times
Brad Ricca’s “Super Boys” brings the world up to speed on Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the troubled, dynamic Jewish duo from Cleveland that gave birth to Superman. His book pays due to complex boys from the Glenville neighborhood who conceived the first comic book superhero, only to lose control of their creation. Like legacy jazz, blues and rock ’n’ roll artists, Siegel and Shuster were exploited, though they were by no means blameless for their situation.
The two developed their respective verbal and graphic talents at Glenville High School, refining them into craftsmanship in pulp and science fiction magazines of the day. They relinquished their seminal, procreative idea in March 1938, when they signed a so-called slave contract with Harry Donenfeld and Jack Liebowitz, New York Jews who bought the rights to Superman for $130.
Granted, 1938 was a Depression year, money was tight, and Siegel and Shuster were tired of hustling their work to meager payoff. Still, the contract they signed was so clearly egregious, sympathy for them comes hard, particularly considering how diligently they’d labored to break onto the national stage. Their “deal” brought comic books starring Superman to millions, and newspaper syndication brought him to millions more. It also brought millions of dollars to corporations with the clout to make Superman a household word. Superman has become as integral to growing up as McDonald’s. The base comic is an unqualified success, one that has spun off into other media including television and the movies.
At the same time, Siegel and, particularly, Shuster were struggling. In 1941, Ricca writes, Donenfeld was making $500,000 a year, Siegel and Shuster combined $150,000. The disparity built into the original contract generated disputes nearly as famous as Superman himself. One motif in the book is ongoing litigation between the Siegel and Shuster families and the conglomerates that distribute Superman and its related products.
Another is restoring Siegel and Shuster to their rightful place as inventors of a figure as well known as Santa Claus but far less dated than Tarzan, like strongman Charles Atlas and Cleveland’s East Tech High School track star Jesse Owens an inspiration to the pair.
If it’s hard to ennoble these symbiotic Glenville friends, it’s just as hard to underplay the economic forces that steamrolled them. Ricca’s look into early comic books and newspaper “funnies” suggests those executives at National, the DC Comics predecessor that acquired Superman, knew exactly what they were about. If Siegel
WHAT: “Super Boys: The Amazing Adventures of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster – the Creators of Superman”
WHO: Brad Ricca
PUBLISHER: St. Martin’s Press, 448 pages, $27.99 READINGS, SIGNINGS: 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 25, Beachwood Library; 7 p.m. Thursday, June 27, Brecksville Library
and Shuster were small-scale bumpkins, those early comics titans were cartoonishly venal.
Ricca’s book, which references Michael Chabon’s 2001 Pulitzer Prize-winning 2001 novel, “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay,” in its subtitle, is ultimately about pop culture and pop business. It moves like a thriller as Ricca weaves the strands of a baroque tapestry, building his narrative through interviews with surviving family members, the scouring of comic book hoards, eye-straining library work, and a drive to get to the bottom of a story that’s devilishly difficult to tell.
Copiously footnoted, multiply sourced, “Super Boys” crackles with authority, and even though its main target is comic book fans, it’s broadly appealing. Why shouldn’t it be, given Superman is celebrating his 75th anniversary this year? Why shouldn’t it be, as Superman is the brand that keeps on giving, a multimedia phenomenon continually open to new interpretations and formats?
In addition to being a psychological profile of Siegel and Shuster, the auteurs of Superman and Clark Kent, his probing, passive doppelgaenger, “Super Boys” has fresh information on the model for Lois Lane; how Siegel’s father died – of a heart attack after a robbery, not of a gun shot during it; Shuster’s work on dirty comics, one of them his last collaboration with Siegel; and the murky provenance of a Cleveland man who was not only Siegel’s fictional alter ego but a person who went by such names as Bernard Kenton (an occasional Siegel nom de plume) and Bernard Kantor.
In a recent telephone interview, Ricca, who lives in University Heights, mentioned three “eureka moments”
that struck him during years of research fueled by his notion that the lives of Superman’s creators were reflected in the comic.
The first involved Lois Lane, said Ricca, a full-time lecturer in the Case Western Reserve University English department. “There’s always been a story there was a real Lois Lane, that it was this woman who put an ad in the paper and they (Siegel and Shuster) answered it and she claimed that she was Lois Lane, But nobody ever had the ad, so there was no proof.” So he “kept looking and looking and losing my eyesight,” poring over Plain Dealer microfiche until one Sunday afternoon, he came across the giveaway classified, which included a post office box number. He called the former Joanne Kovacs (Siegel’s wife and champion, who died in 2011) and confirmed it.
Other such moments were finding Siegel’s father’s death certificate, which lists cause of death as “acute dilatation of the heart” following a theft in his clothing store, assembling facts about Siegel and Shuster’s last collaboration, and discovering the person behind what heretofore was thought of merely as a Siegel alias.
In the mid-’50s, Ricca writes, Shuster, who was out of work, wound up illustrating “Nights of Horror” comic books for Eddie Mishkin, “the owner of some of the seedier bookstores in Times Square.” Ricca suggests this fine illustration work relocates Superman-based characters like Clark Kent, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen to a more shadowy world. “It may be unnerving for some to see Clark, Lois and Jimmy involved in weird acts of bondage,” he writes, “but there is no mistaking the pedigree.” Ricca suggests Shuster might have looked at such work as the “ultimate revenge against National.”
Finally, thanks to ancient, valuable Plain Dealer reporting, Ricca nails down the identity of G. Bernard Kantor, aka Bernard J. Kenton, an old Glenville buddy of Siegel’s with a similar interest in science fiction writing. In Kantor-Kenton, fantasy and fact blur, reflecting one of the dualities at the heart of Superman and his creators.
Ultimately, Ricca suggests, this creation story is about the reader. As he writes in his epilogue, this is “as much about the beginnings of corporate America and its relationship to popular culture as it is about artistic creation and familial relationships… That a colorful pamphlet intended to be thrown away after reading has grown in value from ten cents to several million dollars in seventy-five years is not because old paper has become more valuable, but because we as a culture have determined that the character itself has.”
By chronicling Superman’s originators in all their fierce and flawed humanity, “Super Boys” puts Superman in perspective, bringing him down to earth while preserving his immortality.
cwolff@cjn.org
Allan Licht / Pepper Pike
“It’s amazing to me that an item that cost 10 cents during the war years today could fetch over $1 million. Through the years, my dad has shared many great stories about his childhood growing up in Cleveland. My favorite is how in 1939 at the age of 9, he purchased a copy of Superman No. 1 at Murphy’s Drug Store and got it signed by the creator, Jerry Siegel.
Dad grew up near the Glenville area of Cleveland, on Clairdoan, not far from where Siegel lived. As fate would have it, Siegel walked into the neighborhood store at the same moment Dad was in the store buying the comic. He asked Siegel to sign it and the rest is history.
Dad traded that 10-cent comic book a few weeks later for a few toy lead soldiers, which might have been an equitable trade in 1939, but those soldiers today are only worth about $20 each, and that signed Superman No. 1 in mint condition would easily fetch over $1 million.
Marlene Spanner Goodman / Charlotte, N.C.
My uncle, Jerry Siegel, gave me a Superman costume and my girlfriends wanted to be Lois Lane, so I schlepped them around. Later, I wore my costume to a Halloween party where the girls came dressed as “Gilda” and “Pistol Packin’ Mama.” Needless to say, I trashed my costume.
Penny Kaufman / South Euclid
While attending Glenville High School, my mother happened to be in the main
office one day when Jerry Siegel visited his alma mater. The principal introduced the high school student to the famous graduate. My mother loved recollecting this meeting, delighting in a memory of her beloved school.
Nate Arnold / Beachwood
When I give my usual tours of historic Jewish Cleveland, we always stop at the Siegel house on Kimberley and the panels on the fence at Parkwood and Amor. I am always happy to point out the street signs of Jerry Siegel Lane, Joe Shuster Lane and of course, Lois Lane.
On our last tour, a few weeks ago, we stopped for pictures on Kimberley and the present residents came out to talk with us. They were extremely nice to us and it was a very pleasant experience. I honestly feel that Superman’s creators are an important part of Cleveland Jewish history. I also enjoy referring to Superman at the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage in Beachwood.
Leigh Goldie / Solon
Cousin to Joe Shuster
During Superman Week June 1 to June 8, the Terminal Tower was lit at dusk with the colors of Superman – red, yellow and blue.
I am wondering if we can use this to inspire random acts of kindness (tikkun olam), as the sign refers to what Superman and Clark Kent do.
Thank you for all you are doing.
Jamie Reigle / Cleveland West Side
I am a Superman collector that has been collecting 36 years now and have one of, if not the largest, collections of Superman memorabilia in the world. I have 40,000 items.
I am active with the Siegel & Shuster Society in Cleveland, doing all the events (one of the founders) and I travel the United States setting up at Superman conventions, movie premieres, toy shows, etc. as well.
My two sons are legally named Kalel (Superman’s real name) and Lex (after Lex Luthor). I also have a Superman tattoo on my leg, so Superman can go to the grave with me.
I also make a living by buying and selling Superman collectibles full time.
Our sincere thanks to the Cleveland Jewish News for promoting these two remarkable Clevelanders.
The Siegel & Shuster Society was formed to let people know that a legend was born here in Cleveland. Over the past few years, we have successfully pursued several significant projects to show how important the work of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster was 75 years ago right up to the present day, and our work is far from over.
I’ve collected Superman memorabilia from before I could even read, and I’m most interested in artifacts from the character’s earliest adventures to about 1970, which is right around when Jerry Siegel was winding down his writing career for the Man of Steel.
But my main interest remains in the men who created the Man of Steel, and Siegel’s and Shuster’s personal stories. Our group wants people to know, as the author Brad Meltzer put it, that ordinary people can do extraordinary things. Every time I handle one of those cherished pieces that I’ve kept for so many years, my thoughts immediately focus on the creators as well as the character. I often ask my students if they’ve heard of Tarzan. Everyone’s hand goes up, and the hands go down when I ask if they know who created him. Our group’s mission is to make sure that Siegel and Shuster will always be remembered for their role in popular culture.
I said our work is far from over. We’ve restored Siegel’s boyhood home and erected memorial fences on Kimberly and Amor avenues in the Glenville neighborhood. We’ve also established a permanent display at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, and should have word very soon about our state license plate project.
Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson honored the Siegel and Shuster families, as well as the society, by declaring April 18 as “Superman Day” in the city. We have more high-profile projects to be announced, but keep in mind that every person reading this newspaper can help. Next year marks 100 years since Siegel and Shuster’s birth. Let your kids know – in fact, let everyone know – that two guys who loved Cleveland created something that is known the world over and will live for many years to come. Let’s make sure the memory of Siegel and Shuster lives on just as long.
Where: Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage, 2929 Richmond Road, Beachwood
When: Sunday, June 23 from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Admission: Free for museum members. General admission for nonmembers is $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and students (above 12), $5 for kids (ages 5-11) and children under 5 free. Lolly the Trolley tours are $12 for museum members and $14 for nonmembers.
INFO: www.maltzmuseum.org/events/ its-a-superman-celebration.
MADELEINE WINER
CJN Staff Reporter
The Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage will celebrate Superman’s 75th anniverum’s way of continuing to feature Jewish walls in our museum’s permanent collecjama Diaries. Participants can then choose to attend a screening of “Superman II” at 1 p.m. or follow the history of Superman in
Rembrandt said employees of the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation will be at the event from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. to test