Stan Lee Volunteers to Record Comic Book for Students with Disabilities Thu, 17 Apr 2008 18:26:00 +0000
Stan Lee, world-famous creator of "Spider-Man," "Iron Man," "X-Men" and "The Incredible Hulk," is accustomed to writing comic books, but on this day at the Hollywood studios of Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic (RFB&D), he helped record one for students who struggle with reading because of a visual impairment or learning disability such as dyslexia.
For 60 years, RFB&D has been the nation's largest educational audiobook library serving people who cannot read standard print because of a print disability.
Lee was joined by Matthew Atherton, better known as the superhero "Feedback," and winner of the Sci-Fi Channel's season one, ''Who Wants to Be a Superhero?'' Lee immortalized the "Feedback" character, created by Atherton, on the pages of the comic book, which is now accessible to the more than 185,000 students served by RFB&D.
When not donning his "Feedback" costume, Inland Empire resident Atherton also regularly donates his time and resources as a volunteer reader and donor for RFB&D. "With RFB&D, reading is a superpower anyone can have," he says. Lee agreed with the importance of having access to reading materials. "As a youth, I read just about anything and everything I could get my hands on," he asserted. "I was a voracious reader."
"With more and more comic books being made into movies, including the upcoming 'Iron Man' movie, we wanted to celebrate the excitement of the action/adventure genre that comic books have inspired over the years, using our unique facilities," said Mike Davis, Executive Director of RFB&D's Inland Empire/Orange County Unit. "Although it is a departure from the educational books we normally record, it's a wonderful way to have our students develop the joy of reading."
