Instead of heading directly back home after the end of Irene’s romance convention, we ventured even further afield, out onto Long Island for a visit with old friend Marie Severin. Irene and I have known Marie professionally since 1974, dating back to when we started on staff at Marvel Comics, where Irene was lucky enough to have had a few more months of Marie than I did due to her earlier start date.

Actually, since the two of us were fans long before we turned pro, we both ran into her even before that. I know that I did, in my guise as annoying kid fanboy. Anyway you look at it, Marie has been in our lives for more than a third of a century.

For those who’ve never experienced Marie up close and personal, she’s always brought to mind the following equivalency: Marie was to Marvel Comics as Rose Marie was to the Dick Van Dyke Show. She’s a dame with a zany sense of humor.

She’s also the nicest person either Irene or I ever met in comics. Too much time has passed since our last visit with her, since we don’t get out to Long Island very often, so we were happy that Irene’s con got us within striking distance.

After touring Marie’s new apartment and catching up, we spirited her away for lunch at a nearby diner (which is where you see us above), followed by ice cream sundaes at Carvel, after which we returned to her place for yet more gossiping and a leisurely walk in the sunshine along the paths around her building. Marie was her usual crazy self, her spirit undiminished by last year’s stroke and her sense of humor still intact, leaving our stomachs aching from laughter.

For the five or six hours we were in her company, time stood still, and it might as well have been the mid-’70s again. We hated having to leave her, and if not for the hundreds of miles which were still before us, we would have yucked it up late into the night. We departed promising to return as soon as we could, for spending the day with her had made us very happy, almost giddy.

Marie has that effect on people. If only we could bottle her, the world would be a better place.