As a child, Jewel Kats was involved in a vehicle accident which left her in chronic pain, suffering from arthritis, and with low bone density in her right leg.  This injury also required her to use a walker & a wheelchair for the rest of her life.

However, none of this stopped her from living life on her terms.  Like yours truly, Kats was a self-proclaimed disability rights advocate.  She also wrote several children’s books, as well as created Fairy Ability Tales (a reimagining of classic fairy tales starring protagonists with disabilities or chronic illnesses).
Ms. Kats was also a lifelong fan of Archie Comics, but one thing kept her from relating to the characters.  She got a chance to correct that when she attended the Toronto Fan Expo in 2013.  She was there promoting her graphic novel, DitzAbled Princess, when she happened to run into Dan Parent – a long time writer for Archie Comics.  Kats flat-out asked him why there were “no characters with disabilities in Riverdale”; a question to which Parent had no answer.  However, he gave her his contact information, and that started the ball rolling on what would eventually be the creation of the character ‘Harper Lodge’ (Veronica Lodge’s wheelchair-using sassy cousin) who made her debut in Archie #656 in 2014.  Harper even became Archie’s love interest.

 

As an author & advocate, Jewel Kats has been the recipient of several awards, including a Gelett Burgess Gold Medal for her book ‘What Do You Use To Help Your Body?: Maggie Explores the World of Disabilities’, a bronze medal Independent Publisher Book Award for ‘DitzAbled Princess’, and two Mom’s Choice Awards.

Jewel Kats passed away on January 7^th, 2016 with her family by her side.  The cause of death was not reported.  However, in Kats’ honor, the family has set up a fundraiser for Sick Kids Hospital, which is where she recovered from her childhood injury.