Martin
was born in New York City a few days after Christmas. His parents had emigrated from Romania during
one of the worst economic periods in American history. Martin didn’t have many toys, but he made up
for it with a vast imagination. Riding
his bike through the streets of New York, he often pretended it was a spaceship
or a knight’s horse. His mother guided
him to start reading at an early age, and his father helped instill a strong
work ethic in his son. Above all, though,
they encouraged him to dream.
When
Martin was 9 years old, his brother and only sibling Larry was born. It was then, while his parents were
preoccupied with their new infant son, that Martin discovered the magical world
of movies. Going to movies nonstop
fueled his creativity and brought to colorful life every swashbuckling tale of
adventure and heroism he could think of.
A few years later, he entered a writing contest in one of New York’s
largest newspapers, and received an encouraging letter from the editor
suggesting that he consider becoming a professional writer when he grew up. Finally, an outlet for his boundless
imagination!
Martin
got several writing-related jobs during high school, including writing
obituaries for a news service and ad copy for a hospital. However, he was determined to write his own
stories one day, and, after he graduated, he successfully landed a job as an
assistant in the new comic book division of a magazine publishing company.
Still
in his teens, Martin’s goal was to learn everything he could about how a
publishing company worked, even as he handled menial tasks like filling inkwells,
erasing pencil marks from finished pages, and getting coffee and lunch for the
artists. Fortunately, the staff was very
small, putting him in the right place to take advantage of any opportunities
that arose.
Demand
for hero comics grew, so the company kept adding titles to their output. The workload increased, and the creative
staff grew increasingly buried. Finally,
unable to meet all the deadlines themselves, they enlisted Martin to help. He was given the chance to write a two-page
story in one of the more popular new titles.
Two issues later, he graduated to writing regular backup features. Barely out of high school, Martin had become a
full-fledged published author.
Things
moved forward at an incredible pace.
Less than a year after he was hired, the comic division’s editor, who
was also their main writer, left over a dispute with the publisher. Martin, not yet 19 years old, was cornered by
his boss and asked, “Do you think you can hold down the job of editor until I
can find a real replacement?” Martin
accepted without hesitation, and was installed as interim editor. Taking to the job with enthusiasm and vigor,
he displayed such a knack for the business as well as the writing duties that
his “real replacement” would never be hired.
Eventually, he received an official promotion to editor-in-chief.
A
number of years after his promotion, Martin found himself at a crossroads. Interest in hero-themed comics had dropped
dramatically, forcing Martin to focus on writing romance, western, humor,
science fiction, and horror comics. He
found the subject matter tedious, and became so dissatisfied with the direction
of his career that he considered quitting.
Once again, though, his mind returned to the tales of heroism he’d loved
since childhood. If he was going to leave
the industry anyway, he had nothing to lose by writing the stories he wanted to
tell.
Stanley
Martin Lieber, under his pen name Stan Lee, began writing stories that, for the
first time in comic book history, featured complex, well-rounded heroes who
were truly human. They could be grumpy,
jealous, vain, and worry about bills and impressing their girlfriends. The characters he created – including The
Hulk, The Fantastic Four, Iron Man, The X-Men, and Spider-Man – were so
relatable that their popularity was instantaneous and lasting, and helped make
the company where Stan had started as a gofer become the best-known and most
popular comic book publisher in the world:
Marvel Comics.
Last
month, Marvel Comics celebrated its 75th anniversary. Along with his countless character creations,
Stan Lee has held the titles of Head Writer, Art Director, Editor-in-Chief,
Publisher, President and Chairman of Marvel Comics. He has never stopped writing and, now in his
nineties, Stan continues to remind us that dreaming big and never giving up on
your dream is at the heart of living the life you truly desire!
Until next week...
Live Your Dreams!
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