To me, the important thing about people like Stan Lee was....
by all he did, he encouraged people to READ. Not only that, his enthusiasm for reading and imagination were gateways to later things in life.
shareLook, the guy loved his fans and really was passionate about the medium.
I met him twice at comic conventions - once in the 80s and once in the early 90s - and he was seriously the nicest guy. This was back when he was just sitting behind a table next to other writers and artists and you could walk up and chat with him. The one I remember the most he was sitting with Peter David on one side and Arthur Adams on the other.
He #@@#ing LOVED to talk about comics. God, he loved Spider-Man. I asked him a question about Gwen Stacy and he talked for five minutes about it.
Ah, that would have been a great experience to experience.