Paul Levitz is one of the many beloved professors at Manhattanville College. All his students talk wonders about his Writing for the Media class, making it a difficult class to get into. It fills up quickly, but you won’t regret it if you’re lucky enough to get in.
He assigns weekly writing assignments that are practical in the workforce and challenges you to think in different ways. With each assignment he workshops with the class, making the whole class give you suggestions while he also gives a few tips to make your writing better.
Before becoming a professor here at Manhattanville he was the president of DC Comics. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Professor Levitz revived his high school’s comic industry fanzine. Throughout high school his name started popping up in the DC Comic Offices, and at sixteen he was offered his first freelance job at DC Comics by Joe Orlando. On his 20th birthday, Joe Orlando gave Levitz the position of editor for Adventure Comics. From there his career at DC Skyrocketed, being the editor of the Batman series, working on The Legion of Super-Heroes, The Great Darkness Saga, and The Sandman Series, just to name a few, before eventually becoming the President of DC comics from 2002-2009.
After retiring from DC, Professor Levitz decided he wanted to teach, reaching out to a few colleges to see if they had any openings for professors. Jeff Bens, an English Professor and Department chair for the Creative Writing program at Manhattanville, replied immediately, saying Manhattanville would love to have him. “(Teaching) is also great in that it gets me out from behind my keyboard and among people. Writing full-time is a pretty lonely structure.”
Professor Paul Levitz takes real life circumstances and turns them into teaching moments in his class, often times giving examples from his own life to demonstrate what exactly he’s talking about. We were able to see first hand the graphic novel creative process, and read stories from people who touched him and led him to teach, such as Frank McCourt, author of Angela’s Ashes which became a film in 1999, as well as a writing Teacher Man in 2005. “I had some great teachers in my time: Frank McCourt is the famous one, but there were several others who were very influential on my life and intellectual development. It always looked like fun, too (teaching), and I’ve long been told I’m a good ‘explainer’ in working with my business colleagues and budding writers and artists, so I thought I might try it when I was done with the desk job.” Not only did this lead to Professor Levitz teaching career at Manhattanville, but also at Pace, M.I.T., Princeton, and Columbia University. “He’s (Frank) certainly part of why I chose teaching as a ‘second career’ and he broadened my taste in literature (though I haven’t kept that up as well as perhaps I should). It’s harder to judge what effect he had on my writing, but I suspect I got better because of him.”
Professor Levitz always teaches his students to work hard to do what they want, and love, and reminds every class that sometimes doing so changes our path. “My plan was to get a BA/MBA at NYU, and go into marketing or management in the tech field (which wasn’t yet called that, but I was a science geek and was interested in everything that was happening in that world). DC was a way to pay for school at first, then developed into a career path.” Demonstrating through his own life that sometimes things happen for a reason.
And sometimes that reason is following your passion. Growing up, we were told to follow our passions and do what we love, but once we hit high school, and we had to apply to colleges, suddenly people were telling us to think ‘practical’ about our career paths, our majors, and every little detail of what we were going to there from here on out. When asked what made Professor Levitz, at such a young age, decide to dedicate so much time to Graphic Novels, he surprised me with a some history on comics and the Graphic Novel. “There were NO graphic novels in America in those days; comics were only periodical magazines. I grew up reading and loving comics, and by my teens I had seen some of the European graphic novels, but it was the medium I was interested in.” Despite what would seem like a major setback to most students, Professor Levitz looked at it in a different perspective, and choose to persevere. “ Comics are comics, regardless of their physical package.”
After working for many years at DC Comics he had made so many good memories, one them being at the beginning of his career. “So many [good memories]…starting with being invited into Joe Orlando’s office and asked if I wanted to do his letters pages at the tender age of 16.” Though, he cherishes all his memories he is happy to be able to enjoy watching them create new movies and show without having to be part of the process. “I’m just enjoying seeing DC on the screen without having been part of the process…feels good to my inner 12 year old.”
One thing Paul Levitz is never short on is advice. Any of his students know he is open to help whenever possible, whether it be a possible career path question, help with a resume, or simple life advice, Professor Levitz is always ready to listen and help the best he can. If you’re looking for advice, one way to get it is to take his class! Otherwise here’s some simple advice on trying to make it in the DC World, from the Ex-President himself: “Internships are great anywhere, and certainly had been a source of many staffers for DC. Or try to get your creative work published by the smaller comic companies, then send it around to the editors.”
If you run into Professor Levitz, and want to strike up a conversation, here are some of his favorite things!
Favorite Food – Veal Parmigiana
Favorite Animal- Schnauzer
Favorite Move – M*A*S*H
Favorite Superhero – Superman fan from childhood.
Favorite Villain – “On the villain side, I’d have to say Darkseid, Jack Kirby’s wonderful creation.”
Don’t be afraid to strike up the conversation! And Don’t be afraid to take his class, it’s something you won’t regret.