2008 Merchandise & Miscellaneous News Archives

Siegel House

September 20, 2008: Exclusive Interview with Brad Meltzer

By Barry Freiman

I consider Brad Meltzer a friend and even I was a bit cynical at first regarding his efforts to restore and maintain the former home of Jerry Siegel at the time he co-created Superman. Meltzer visited the home while researching his novel "The Book of Lies" which, in the context of fiction, examines the connection between the biblical murder of Cain by Abel and the death of Jerry Siegel's father, Mitchell Siegel. Surely, I thought at first, an effort to restore the home of Jerry Siegel had to be shtick tied into the marketing of his new novel, didn't it?

Over the years prior to his 1996 death, Jerry Siegel had always told the tale of Superman's birth as occurring while he lay in bed and imagined into creation the Man of Tomorrow. He had been quoted as saying he ran over to the home of his friend Joe Shuster the next day and Shuster drew Siegel's inspiration into two-dimensional existence. Siegel's memory of that moment may be a bit of hyperbole given his first take on Superman was that of villain and the more recent revelation that Siegel may have consulted on his concept with a different artist prior to Shuster. Whatever the truth is, one thing is absolute: at the time Siegel conceived of Superman, he lived in the home located at 10622 Kimberly Avenue in the Glenwood neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio.

Meltzer learned of the story of Mitchell Siegel's death from Jerry Siegel's niece at a book signing two years ago. When he eventually visited the former Siegel home to research "The Book of Lies", he was taken aback at its dilapidated condition. Others have tried to energize an effort to restore the former Siegel home, but it took Meltzer's celebrity to energize not only the comic book industry but to focus world-wide attention on maintaining the home where Superman was born.

With the help of the nonprofit 'Siegel and Shuster Society', organized to help spread the word about Cleveland's important connection to the birth of Superman, Meltzer formed the website OrdinaryPeopleChangeTheWorld.com to auction off everything from Superman art to tickets to "The Colbert Report" and "Late Show with David Letterman" to help raise the $50,000 required to restore the home's exterior.

The Superman Homepage recently spoke with Meltzer about the status of this huge undertaking and its evolution into a movement.

Q: To those who might say "it's just a house", can you explain why it's important - not just to you but to history - to save the house where Jerry Siegel lived when he conceived of Superman?

A: We preserve Graceland, and Dr. Seuss's home, and so many others. This is the place where a seventeen year old sat up in bed and dreamed the impossible. How could we not want to remind people the importance of that?

Q: How did this go from something that occurred to you while researching a book into a veritable 'movement'?

A: The movement isn't my doing. It's everyone else. All I did was tell the story.

Q: How do you account for how huge this movement's become in such a short period?

A: Again, it's not me. It's Superman - and what he means to people. Never underestimate that.

Q: You're running auctions of not just Superman related items including scripts and original artwork, but things like tickets to the "Late Show with David Letterman" and "The Colbert Report" - how have you gained the interest of celebrities who have seemingly no ties to the comic book industry?

A: Thank all the other comic pros involved. Joe Quesada got Letterman. I got Colbert. Jeph Loeb got "Heroes". The dream lives everywhere.

Q: If a Superman fan wants to help but can't afford to bid on an auction item, what can they do to contribute to this effort?

A: Donate ten bucks to the Siegel & Shuster Society. Buy a shirt and wear your pride on your chest. Post the video on your Facebook page. We have one week to go. This is when we need the final push. And thanks to all for pushing.

Special thanks to Brad Meltzer for taking the time for this interview.



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