Mayo Kaan, Personal Ttrainer, Maybe Original Model For Superman, 88

[DGH]

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Mayo J. Kaan, a body builder and personal trainer who said he was the
original model for Superman, died in Boca Raton Community Hospital in
Florida, at the age of 88.

Mr. Kaan, who also practiced what he called "naturopathic health care,"
said that movie publicist Art Moger introduced him to high school
students Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster before the duo created the
"Superman" character in 1937.

The former owner of the House of Health in Lynnfield, Massachusetts, he
sometimes dressed as the "man of steel" to promote his business. "When I
put on that costume, I really feel like Superman," he once said.

Shuster who died in 1992, and Siegel, who died in 1996, both denied Mr.
Kaan posed for them, as did a spokesman for DC Comics, owner of the
Superman franchise.

In 1997, to support his claim, Mr. Kaan presented photographs of himself
in a Superman costume posing on the steps of the Hatch Shell, which was
built four years after he said he modeled for the duo.

A Boston, Massachusetts, native, he served in the Navy during World War
II.

[itgu...@gmail.com]

I knew him personally when I was younger. He was a great guy and loved by all. In fact, all his family were really good people. He used to talk often of his posing ventures as Superman when he was really young. He always told us how it was so political back in the day, all for the love of money. His son Phillip Kaan used to teach Ju Jitsu. I was one of his students.
Anyway, they were all a wonderful family.