I am not who I am without him. It doesn’t mean I would be better or worse, but I know I would be different and being different is what led me to him in the first place. There will be many tributes to Stan Lee, mine is short and simple. He wrote Spider-man’s origin story, so in doing so he helped write mine. The world is full of heroes, Stan Lee taught me heroes do not need to be perfect. It is OK to be flawed but it is important to do the right thing and be responsible when given the opportunity. Simple concepts that have stayed with me my entire life. My ‘power’ is my photography and that partially comes from connecting with Peter Parker as a kid. Peter is one of the reasons I picked up a camera to begin with and that is all due to Stan Lee. Thank you Mr.Lieber, you and Mr. Ditko influenced me more than I can say. Rest in peace, your life was full and filled so many others along your way, including mine. Excelsior!

tr/trp