Duke Stableford’s embroidered comic book covers will help tell the story of Marvel Comics creator.
by Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
Duke Stableford, who passed away last month, was a 1981 graduate of the University of Mary Washington and a longtime history and government teacher and chess team coach at Spotsylvania’s Chancellor High School.
He was also a self-taught artist whose unique tribute to the art of Marvel Comics creator Stan Lee will be on display before tonight’s Great Lives lecture on Lee, which will be presented by Bob Batchelor, author of Stan Lee: A Life.
After retiring from his teaching career, Stableford began working on a series of needlepoint interpretations of iconic comic book covers, combining his childhood love of the Marvel superheroes and his interest in embroidery.
Thirty of Stableford’s one-of-a-kind embroidered creations will be on display in George Washington Hall on the University of Mary Washington campus before Batchelor’s lecture.
UMW’s William B. Crawley Great Lives lecture series explores history through biographies of both universally well-known and less familiar figures who impacted the eras in they lived.
Stan Lee, who died in 2018 and would have been 101 years old today, created iconic comic book characters like Spider-Man, Iron Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and Black Panther—superheroes who can perform amazing feats while also struggling with the same flaws, like jealousy, depression, anger, arrogance, and self-doubt that plague all humans.
Batchelor will discuss Lee’s life and the cultural milestones that shaped it.
Stableford majored in American studies and philosophy, and played disc golf, basketball, and chess while at UMW.
At Chancellor, he guided the chess team to multiple national tournaments and a state championship.
He started working on his Marvel comics needlepoint series after retiring from teaching, until his health began to fail. Stableford died on January 11, peacefully and surrounded by family and friends, according to his obituary.
Scott Harris, executive director of UMW Museums and co-director of Great Lives and a 1983 graduate of UMW, said Stableford was “an easygoing person with diverse interests whom it was a pleasure to know, even casually.”
“It’s no surprise that he became an inspiring and beloved educator. I’m glad that we could associate his very personal tribute to Stan Lee’s legacy with this Great Lives lecture.”
Tonight’s free lecture begins at 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. For a schedule of all lectures in the 2024 Great Lives series, visit umw.edu/greatlives.
