Flo Steinberg
Florence Steinberg (March 17, 1939[2] – July 23, 2017)[3][4] was an American publisher of one of the first independent comic books, the underground/alternative comics hybrid Big Apple Comix, in 1975. Additionally, as the secretary for Marvel Comics editor Stan Lee and the fledgling company's receptionist and fan liaison during the 1960s Silver Age of Comic Books, she was a key participant of and witness to Marvel's expansion from a two-person staff to a pop culture conglomerate.
Flo Steinberg
Florence Steinberg
March 17, 1939
Boston, Massachusetts
July 23, 2017 (aged 78)
New York City[1]
American
Publisher
Steinberg appeared in fictionalized form in Marvel Comics, spoke at comic book conventions and was the subject of a magazine profile.
Early life[edit]
The daughter of a taxi-driver father and a public-stenographer mother,[5] Steinberg was born in Boston, Massachusetts, United States[6] and raised in that city's Dorchester and Mattapan neighborhoods.[5] Steinberg was Jewish.[7] She attended Roxbury Memorial High School for Girls, serving a term as president of the student council. Steinberg majored in History at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she was a sister of Sigma Delta Tau sorority and received her B.A. in 1960.[5] Afterward, while working as a service representative for the New England Telephone Company in Boston, she was a volunteer on Ted Kennedy's first U.S. Senatorial campaign. After moving to New York City in 1963, Steinberg additionally worked in what she said was "in a minor way" for Robert F. Kennedy's Senate bid.[5]
Homages[edit]
A fictionalized Steinberg starred alongside Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Sol Brodsky — all transformed into a Marvel Bullpen version of the Fantastic Four — in the alternate-reality comic What If #11 (Oct. 1978). Written and drawn by Kirby, the odd tale featured Steinberg as the character then called the Invisible Girl.[31]
In the alternate universe series Ultimate Fantastic Four #28 (May 2006), writer Mark Millar added a brief tribute to Steinberg. She serves as the secretary to President Thor on an Earth populated almost entirely by superheroes. She warns the Human Torch not to burn the rug, to which he replies, "I know, I know. No need to be such a nag, Miss Steinberg".[32]
Death[edit]
Steinberg died on July 23, 2017, from complications from a brain aneurysm and metastatic lung cancer.[3] In a statement, Marvel eulogised Steinberg as having "… always been the heart of Marvel and a legend in her own right."[4] She was announced to be interred at the Jewish cemetery in Kerhonkson, New York.[33]
