Center For Jewish History
Superman at 75: Celebrating American's Most Enduring Hero

Two First-Hand Reports from this January 27 event.

Robert Warshawsky: Hi Jim, My son and I attended the 75th Anniversary celebration last Sunday; it was interesting and informative. Fortunately I got to speak personally with both Larry Tye and Paul Levitz after the presentation. It was a sellout with all 240 seats taken. Most people were in their 40's 50's or 60's. I just wanted to give you a brief report because I didn't recognize anyone else from TAC, but probably there were a few.

Brian McKernan: Jim, I attended the “Superman at 75” event last Sunday at the Center for Jewish History, in New York.

An enjoyable event for any Superman fan, it consisted of a lecture by Larry Tye, author of Superman: The High-Flying History of America’s Most Enduring Hero, followed by a panel discussion.

After the lecture and panel discussion, audience members asked questions. One audience member in particular, a gentleman named Steve Iger – who also happens to be a grandson DC Comics co-founder Harry Donenfeld – related the following George Reeves anecdote that I thought would be of particular interest to TAC readers:

“In 1955, there was Superman at Palisades Park. George Reeves was there as Superman and comes out on stage, the middle of the summer, the hottest day of the year. George Reeves comes out as Clark Kent in his suit and glasses, runs off stage, comes back as Superman, and the crowd goes wild. This is the one of the biggest crowds ever at Palisades Park. And afterwards Superman autographs pictures of himself. I was a little pisher of seven years old, and I had a stack of pictures I’m handing to George Reeves and the poor man was shvitzing – that suit was wool! Afterwards we went into the executive offices and my grandfather, Harry Donenfeld, knocked on George Reeves’ dressing room door.
‘Who is it?’
‘It’s your boss!’
‘Hi, Harry.’
“And George Reeves came out and took a picture with his [Harry’s] six grandchildren. His arms were out to there, it was like his arms were seven feet long. And that’s the way we felt about George Reeves.

More from Bob Warshowsky: Hi Jim, When "Jim Nolt" wants something done we'll do it! Part of Larry Tye's presentation was that the Superman origin from exploding Krypton was copied from the Biblical Moses being cast adrift. Privately I asked Larry if Siegal/Shuster ever stated this information. Larry admitted it was merely an assertion on his part ;. of course we've read this educated guess before. I also asked Larry if he read Les Daniels ( now about 15 yrs. old) bio about Superman. Larry looked surprised at the question and stated he had. Larry also informed me that Les passed away within the last year. I was saddened to learn of this. In response to my questions Paul Levitz told me he published a fan mag. prior to working for DC Comics, he wasn't disappointed when he was replaced as Pres. of DC comics. Today he's teaching and writing, working harder than ever, and living in New York. I was hoping you would be there but of course you can't attend everything. Prior to and after the 3 hour presentation, " Superman on Earth"was being flashed on the auditorium screen, it was the only moving film shown. Glad I could help out and once again contribute to TAC. I'll keep in touch. Any more questions, just ask away.