Charlie Meyerson interviews

It’s a tradition on the birthday of Marvel Comics’ fearless leader, Stan Lee, for me to revisit one of my favorite encounters with him: A July 18, 1998, sitdown at the Wizard World pop-culture convention in Rosemont, Ill.This time, though, something different: Raw, unedited (stereo; he’s in the right channel, I’m in the left) audio of the session we recorded—followed by the sound of one of my Merry Marvel Marching Society membership perks, a record featuring Stan and many of the old Marvel Bullpen team.

As you’ll hear by comparing the session below to the finished product, not much wound up on the cutting room floor, but you’ll get a sense of Stan’s off-air demeanor by listening to the banter before and after the “official” session.

Enjoy this? Check out my 1997 list of 10 things I learned from Marvel Comics written by Stan Lee, an interview with Howard the Duck co-creator Steve Gerber and Understanding Comics author Scott McCloud …■ … and (update, Dec. 28, 2024): My 2021 interview with two of Lee’s biographers

(Photo: Stan Lee in 2014, by Gage Skidmore; CC BY-SA 3.0.)

Nov. 19, 1959, brought the debut of one of the greatest cartoon shows of all time: Rocky and His Friends. Bill Scott, Bullwinkle, June Foray (Credit: beyondthemarquee.com). Click for audio.Later known as The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show and The Bullwinkle Show, it had everything a little kid could want: A protagonist who could fly (Rocket J. Squirrel), a sidekick who was funny (Bullwinkle J. Moose) and parental approval—because it was layered with cultural and political humor a lot of us would only come to understand much later. (Wait: There’s an opera called Boris Gudunov? Really?) So what a cool thing to meet the people who brought those characters to life, as I did when June Foray and Bill Scott visited the WXRT-FM studios in 1983. Here are four audio segments, presented in reverse chronological order: Dec. 2, 1985: Bill Scott obituary by Charlie Meyerson on WXRT-FM, Chicago.Nov. 10, 1983: Full interview on WXRT with Bill Scott and June Foray, in town for an appearance at the Chicago Film Festival; host: Frank E. Lee (at 0:57).Nov. 4, 1983: Meyerson’s report for WXRT on Scott and Foray’s then-forthcoming visit to Chicago (at 15:15).Nov. 4, 1983: Unedited Meyerson telephone interview with Scott (at 16:35). (My autographed copy. Hear the audio from this record on YouTube here.)Bonus: Rocky and His Friends Golden Record audio. If you enjoyed this audio, check out my interviews with TV cartoon pioneer Joe Barbera; Sesame Street co-creator Jeff Moss; the man behind Captain Kangaroo, Bob Keeshan, who was none too fond of Barney the Dinosaur and the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers; and even more of my conversations with thought-leaders through the years on this website, in Apple Music, on Spotify, via your favorite podcast player, and at Chicago Public Square. And don’t forget to sign up for free email alerts of new content on this blog.