I’ve been informed that comics legend Julie Schwartz passed away over the weekend. He had been in ill-health recently, but always seemed to bounce back somehow. This time, he did not.
I do not have any more details at the moment, although I’m sure they’ll be turning up on the web in short order.
He was a wonderful guy, and I don’t really feel up to saying much more than that right now. More information will be posted as we know it, either here or at Harlan’s board.
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One of my first comics my mother bought for me was the Superman Limited Collector’s Edition from 1974, which had “The Origin of Superman” by Bridwell, Infantino, Swanderson, and Schwartz.
A year later, I saw an ad for Amazing World of D.C. Comics with a picture of a man saying, “Hi, kids! I’m Julie Schwartz, editor, and here’s some news about some upcoming…
Being a pre-schooler at the time, I tried to figure out who this “Julie Schwartz” was and what an “editor” did.
Having seen many editor’s notes in the Superman and Justice League of America books concerning the man of steel’s weakness to Kryptonite and Green Lantern’s ring’s vulnerability to the color yellow, I came to the conclusion that Editor Julie Schwartz was none other than… the leader of the Justice League of America!
Only he, as editor of the book could tell Supes, G.L., and the rest what they could and couldn’t do. If that wasn’t a super-power, then I don’t know what was?
Years later, at my second Wondercon (’97), I had the pleasure of meeting Julie and Murphy Anderson. After both men kindly signed my tattered copy of the Superman book, I preceeded to tell them about the above anecdote…
Murphy roared with laughter,while Julie looked bemused for a moment, but took it in stride.
It was wonderful meeting two of the men responsible for the ’70s man of steel, which is the version I grew up on, and have a chance to tell them how much their work on the character meant so much to me.
Godspeed, Julie Schwartz.
You made a young reader believe a man could fly…
Steve Chung
I’d like to think that Julie’s now with a collection of other industry greats, sadly far too numerous to list here, making up new stories.
Arthur C.:
I like your idea. I can just imagine the Pearly Gates Comics Compendium handed out to each new arrival in heaven
To be honest, I can’t say I’m very surprised…perhaps it is because of my nursing experience, but I had a feeling, with all the illnesses he suffered this year and especially in the last few months, that his time was nearing.
Julie was truly one of a kind, and a man who was not only shaped by his era, but who also helped shape the era he lived in. I will always remember him with love and a smile, which is the best way to be remembered–we should all be so honored!
My favorite memory of Julie is how he used to feed those pink sucking candies he kept in his office at DC (when it was at 666 Fifth) to my daughter Alixandra, who was only four when I first started in the business. She, with a young person’s true sight, saw right through his gruffness, and displayed no fear, only putting out her hand again and again for another candy, calmly and patiently staring down Julie’s gruff “You want another one?” until he delivered.
My other memory of Julie is one from before I became a comics professional, and dates back to the late ’50’s and early ’60’s, when Julie was the editor of the Superman books and I was six and/or seven–1959, 1960. Anyway, I was in a science quiz…the question was “How far is the Earth from the Sun?” Of course I knew the answer==93 million miles. The teacher and the principal were so impressed! And you know how I knew the answer? Because when Julie was the editor of Superman, and Supes flew to the sun, his Editor’s note said: “The Sun is 93 million miles from the Earth.” Julie always put little facts like that into his comics in those days…it was also how I discoverd that krypton is an inert gas, and how I learned what “invulnerable” means, and, oh, so many other things!
Julie, you were a true mensch, the living proof of how one life touches another and another and another until, to paraphrase the Talmud, you havae touched the world.
And I will miss you. We alll will. And when I told Alixandra (now 24) tonight that you had crossed over, she said, “I remember him. He used to give me all those pink candies.”
Alechem shalom, Julie.
Mindy Newell
Julie’s Associated Press obit is starting to show up on newspaper websites; so far Google News (news.google.com) is showing it at the Chicago Tribune and Newsday sites. No significant new information in it; no direct cause of death, and the only person quoted/referenced is Mark Evanier with bits he’d posted to his website (www.newsfromme.com). The NY Times site hasn’t updated its obits since this morning, so Harlan’s obit there has yet to show up.
My condolences to Julius Schwartz’s friends and family. It was my privilege to invite him back to Lunacon in the early ’80s after a long absence away, and I was thrilled when he gave me a Superman pin (that I still have). He was a warm, wonderful person, and I will treasure my the memories I have of him.
“The Sun is 93 million miles from the Earth.”
That’s funny. It’s because of Julie that I know what Geosynchronous orbit it.
I mean what Geosynchronous IS.
I have many warm memories of meeting with Julie at conventions, in the good old days of distribution at the DC offices and on several sales “vacations”.
His vision, humor, intelligence, and creativity amazed generations of fans. His guidance of hundreds of professionals in the field of fantastic literature will live forever in print and in the hearts and minds of the millions who have been touched directly or indirectly by his imagination.
A true gentleman, we will not see his like again.
I am sorry to hear of Mr. Schwartz’s passing. He was truly a legend and a wonderful person to talk to. I met him a couple of times, the first in 2002 in Baltimore, and it was the highlight of the whole time I was there. His stories and razor-sharp wit were truly memorable. He was the embodiment of all the great things in comics, the ultimate (original) “fanboy”, and one of the last vestiges of the spirit and wonder that was the Golden Age of Science Fiction.
When I spoke with him that first time, I mentioned to him that my grandmother had written science fiction for a brief while way back when and she, had she still been with us, would have loved to have met him. He recognized her name but we were interrupted before we could pursue the conversation further. If there is a heaven, I hope that finally, they get the chance to meet and “talk shop”.
He left an indelible mark upon pop culture and the literary world. Although he is immortal in that regard, he shall be, nonetheless, sorely missed. My prayers and thoughts are with his family and those who knew “The Legend”.
For years I read stories about the man who by force of will and a bit of luck became the agent to an early generation of Science Fiction and Fantasy greats, I finally got a chance to meet this gentle man a few months before his autobiography was published. Going to conventions has always been a chance to meet the men behind the creations I loved growing up, but I didnt have a single thing with me to ask Julie to sign. I found a blank white index card and asked him, after a long talk about the people he represented before his work with DC, if he would sign it for me. He seemed shocked that I would just want his signature, not a comic book or another piece of his work signed, that I just wanted his autograph, not something to resell years from now, Just an autograph, a small piece of the man, a way to see that signature and remember our talk. His reach is out there in so many forms of entertainment. Superman and the Flash are but a drop in the bucket. Ju;lie’s belief in and representation of Leigh Brackett, indirectly even, brought us “The Empire Strikes Back.” Leigh was the first writer to work on the film , and all because of Julie’s push to get her Sci Fi works published…. Julie we will miss you, but just looking around every day, some of us can see all you have given us, and you will never be forgotten.
Like many others, while I was growing up Julius Schwartz was the guiding force of the comics I read. Certainly alot of comics writers owe what they have today to him, as do all of the comics readers. I never knew him, I never met him, but….if it’s alright with everyone, instead of his passing away, I think I prefer to just think of him as going to Earth-2……*sniff*…. it would be more fitting.