In Memoriam: Stan Lee

This is a hard one.  I had the privilege of meeting Stan Lee at the Baltimore Comic-Con in 2012.  I only got to spend a minute or two with him, but he was absolutely wonderful about it.  I had a little elevator speech for Stan, down to under a minute, but I guess his handlers thought that was too much and tried to move things along.  Stan interrupted them with an, "Excuse me, I'm talking here!" like the good Bronx boy he was and we got to finish our little moment and have our picture taken.

Getting to have that minute with Stan was very important to me.  You see, Stan's work at Marvel Comics in the 1960's had a huge influence on me.  Everything I learned about how to be a man, how to be a good person, I learned from Stan Lee.  Not just "with great power comes great responsibility" (although that is itself a powerful lesson for a 10-year-old kid) but also that real heroes do what needs to be done without regard to cost to self or to inconvenience.  You stop to help that lost kid even if it means missing that job interview.  You help that little old lady even if it makes you late for a date and costs you a relationship.  You do the right thing.

I'm saying all this incredibly poorly.  I grew up in a house where my father, my one male role model, was a violent and abusive man who lied to his family and stole from his work.  On several occasions he lost his job because he was caught stealing from the company, petty stuff we could have afforded to be honest about.  I could list his sins for pages, but the bottom line is that I didn't learn much about how to live a good life, or to be a good father or even a good person from my own dad.

But I did learn that stuff from Stan, and I got to thank him for it.  He seemed to be appreciative, but I know I am only one of many, many fans who told him much the same thing.  Stan made the world a better place for his being in it, and I'm glad I got to meet him.