Stan Lee was the American dream.  The son of immigrants, he was born to modesty, grew to wealth, and made a million people smile along the way.  He never took himself too seriously and he respected what he did.  He spoke for those who had no voice, looked to the future, and left the world better than he found it.  His legacies are many but I hope the legacy of creating smiles and feeling proud of doing just that is never overlooked.

I never had the honor of meeting him, but I’ve known many who have and to the one, they all spoke of a man who was modest and pleasant and a delight.  He seemed encouraging and fun and kind.  As you scroll through social media and see people sharing their pictures and their stories of him, note how many of them show genuine, unguarded smiles.  Stan Lee helped create much of our modern world, in ways big and small.  He helped pioneer ‘the great hero as an ordinary person’ perspective of fiction.  He inspired.

Not a bad legacy, that.

RIP, Stan Lee.