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This weekend was the 32nd annual Superman Celebration in Metropolis, Illinois. I didn't go but I did find this 1979 articlette in the now-defunct Washington Star about the humble beginning of the event:

First read part 1 and part 2.

In February 2008, five months before Boys of Steel came out, I pitched my Jerry Siegel Race idea to the wonderful Glenville Development Corporation and they liked it. They earmarked a tentative month for the event. They sent the letter I’d written to the celebs. They suggested that we look for a corporate sponsor and mentioned one company in particular that was looking for a health initiative to fund. Running is healthy! I imagined that whatever sponsor we got would foot the bill for the race T-shirts.

I also pitched the Jerry Siegel Race to the organizers of the annual Superman Celebration in Metropolis, Illinois, which I was planning to attend that June. Of course, that would not take place on the actual route, but would still be a sixth of a mile accompanied by John Williams.

Eventually, I even planned to do a third race in my town, sponsored by the local independent bookstore.

However, none of the races happened. Here's why:

Cleveland—It was hard for me to do as much as I wanted to do from afar and I wouldn't have asked anyone else to take on the responsibility.

Metropolis—A town official ended up nixing the race because the road chosen for the route would have had a cable (yes, I do remember it being a single cable) strung across it for another aspect of the Superman Celebration. That was a safety concern. (Somehow marathons with thousands of entrants and probably as many potholes, among other little bumps, go on anyway.)

Hometown—I was following up on too many promotional ideas at once and that one—though among my favorites—was set aside. I could tackle most of the other ideas on my own but that one would require help and, again, I didn’t want to burden anyone at the time.

Yet I remain determined to make a Jerry Siegel Race happen one day, particularly in Cleveland. In fact, I’m quite certain it will, and I’ll be running it with a big smile, in a hurry to get to one of those Superman mini-pizzas.

This short interview filmed on a digital camera under an overhang during a rainstorm begins at 1:52:



The interviewer is the kind Steve Younis, maestro of the Superman Homepage. We'd met in person for the first time mere moments before. He introduces me as "Mike." He did correct himself with no prodding, but even if he hadn't, it's still better than spelling "Marc" with a "k."

Tomorrow, my good friend Liz Gallagher (a.k.a. lizgallagherTHE OPPOSITE OF INVISIBLE</a>, hit the stores! I met Liz several years ago, when my grad school mentor Lisa Jahn-Clough introduced us because she thought we had similar writing styles. Apparently, slayground agrees, because she references my BRINGING UP THE BONES in her glowing review of OPPOSITE. You can read that here; an interview with Liz is available here.

Anyway, I got a chance to read a draft of this novel before it sold, and I was really impressed by Liz's style. She's one of those writers like Angela Johnson who can say a million things by using words sparingly. I hope you all check it out, because it's really good. And Liz rocks.

For those who live in Northern DE or Eastern PA, you can hear Liz read from her book in person! She'll be reading/signing at the Chester County Book & Music Company in West Chester, PA, on Saturday, January 12th at 1 p.m. I'll be there, so if any LJ readers are coming, give me a heads up and we can cheer Liz on together!

Want to know more about Liz or her book? Check out the Class of 2k8 website for a bio, an excerpt, and more!


Up next: read about another good friend's latest book - Laurie Stolarz's PROJECT 19 - when the Girlfriend's Cyber Circuit virtual tours return to "Girl, Uninterrupted" tomorrow.