Jay Emmett, an important "behind-the-scenes" person in comic book history, died last Monday in West Palm Beach. He was 86 and the cause was given as heart failure.
Emmett was the nephew of Jack Liebowitz, one of the owners of DC Comics and the guy who called the shots there for years until he moved upstairs to assume a seat on the corporate Board of Directors. And he had another uncle on the other side of his family who was involved with DC. That was Ira Schnapp, the amazing letterer who was responsible for the iconic logos for most of DC's covers from around 1938 until 1968. Emmett started in the firm's mailroom as a young man and eventually moved upward. He was one of the founders of DC's merchandising division, Licensing Corporation of America. There were years there when the licensing folks brought in a lot more revenue than the publishing department.
As our friend Paul Levitz noted in an online tribute, Emmett "…was the last member of the founding families of DC to be actively involved with the company, serving as the Warner Communications 'Office of the President' exec responsible for both the publishing division and the Warner Bros. movie studio at the time of the first Superman movie." He also negotiated the famous settlement with Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster that gave them pensions and restored their credit to the property they created.
Emmett left the company in 1981 after pleading guilty to charges of fraud in connection with a bribery scandal. He became a powerful figure in the world of professional sports, including time working in the excecutive branches of the Baltimore Orioles, the San Diego Padres and the Boston Red Sox. He was also instrumental in the founding of the Special Olympics. It has been announced that a public celebration of his life will take place this summer at Fenway Park, and that in lieu of flowers, his family requests memorial donations be made in his name to the Special Olympics.