The “Adventures of Superman” television program was a favorite of mine when it was released in syndication in the early 1960s. Who could forget that stirring opening narration: “Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings at a single bound! …Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Superman!” Well, it left an indelible impression on me, anyway.

For the show’s first season or two, the landmark Art Deco E.M. Wilson Building (1930) in Los Angeles was used to represent the Daily Planet Building.

The E.M. Wilson Building in Los Angeles — aka The Daily Planet

Young as I was, the image of The Daily Planet on our black and white TV reminded me of the Durham Life Insurance Building in downtown Raleigh. As a kid, I nicknamed a number of downtown landmarks which I imagined a certain kinship with. Thus, the (now gone) Meredith/Mansion Park building on Blount St. became “The Castle,” the former BB&T Bank on the corner of Fayetteville and Davie Streets became “The Little Seagram Building,” and across the street the Art Deco Durham Life Building became the “Superman Building.”

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Near the corner of Wilmington and Hargett Streets lie one of the few retail businesses downtown – Taz’s. The business pictured above is one of three convenience stores owned and operated by Taiseer Taz Zarka. Although Taz’s stores (three of them now) may seem new, he’s been a part of the downtown retail scene for seventeen years. Prior to opening the first convenience store a few blocks down, he had a stake in the convenience store previously in that location.

Taz with a photo of his two children

Taz has a very a contagious optimism in everything he speaks of. Whether it is his wife (who was one of the first 50 employees of SAS), his children, his business, or downtown – he has a lot to share, and a lot of grand ideas. You can’t help but smile as you hear him talk.
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Dan (from Raleigh) and Jon (visiting from Seattle) on the way to Landmark Tavern