The Italian Connection

It'A Small World

Over the years I have corresponded to many knowledgable and helpful people either by letters or phone calls. I have found people such as George Helmer,Jon Jon Park, Dave Dowling,Dan Lurie etc. to be friendly and easy to communicate with.
Now with the aid of the internet I have expanded my friends and contacts to all over the world. I have communicated with people from Italy,France Germany,just to name a few places. I have a friend in the Czech Republic that sends me many excellant videos. I have also sent him loads of rare pictures ,many which I have received from people in Italy and other places in Europe. I am grateful to everbody who has helped me add to my Steve Reeves' collectables and bodybuilding memorabilia.

Backround

As a child I was your typical 98lb weakling. Between illness and genes from the wrong side I was tall but you could almost play a tune on my ribs I was so skinny. For Christmas when I was around twelve my parents bought me my first piece of exercise equipment. It was the Weider Pocket Gym which was a long piece of rubber with thick rubber ends. It was used similar to cables but could fit in your pocket. I stayed up for hours that night doing every concievable exercise with it as well doing numerous pushups. It was the first time I achieved a pump which any bodybuilder will tell you is a great feeling. Recently I was able to obtain this same piece of equipment(box and instructions) to add to my collection of old time training equipment.

When I was around 16 I started working out in a gym my brother had set up in our basement. Between working out and taking some horrible tasting supplements I began making some good gains. After seeing the movie Hercules and buying my first muscle magazine I went all out on my training developed a great lifetime interest in fitness.

Unfortunatly at around 18 or 19 my interest shiffted to fast cars and motorcycles as well as constant partying. The weights were put on a back burner. I lost some of gains I had made but because of my high metabolism I didn't gain weight. When I got married I was 6'2 and 175 lbs. Being married and settled down I went back to training and in the enclosed picture I was around 215lbs. Not a 98lb weakling anymore. Anytime I have taken a layoff I simply drop bodyweight(which has always been easy for me). Once I start training again I slowly build up my bodyweight so as not to put weight around the midsection.

At 64 I still love training and am never ashamed to take my shirt off. I plan on training as long as I can lift any weight no matter how light for the rest of my life.

Correction

The picture I posted of Sig Klien was actually one of him pressing one of the original kettlebells

Sig Klien

I have been lucky over the years as a bodybuilder and collector of memorabilia to have met many of the top champs and visited a lot of gyms. One time when I was in New York I entered a gym that seemed to be filled with old equipment and met the owner whom I did not regonize. Years later I realized that the man I met was Sig Klien. Sig was a Strongman,Bodybuilder,Hand Balancer and Gymnast. He specialized in Kettlebell training years before modern day Kettlebells. His gym was filled was antique round ended barbells and other unique training equipment. Today as a collector I wish I could go back in time and spend the afternoon looking at the equipment and getting insights from Sig. One picture I posted showed Sig pressing a heavy dumbell at 57 years of age. Other pictures show him with Steve Reeves.

Sept.6th 1988? Larry Scott

On September 6th, I believe the year was 1988 I returned to the Universe Health Club in Toronto where I had dropped in for a workout a few weeks before. I came back to attend a seminar by the great Larry Scott (the first Mr. Olympia). Larry arrived by car as I was standing outside by the front door. He looked remarkably youthful considering he had just turned 50. Age is a funny thing when I turned 30 I thought everything was down hill from there but my enthusiasm for training has stayed strong through my 30's, 40's, 50's and now 60's. Larry was much lighter than in his competition days but well groomed and tanned. His striped polo shirt displayed his still impressive arms built with the help of the preacher bench which is usually called the Scott bench.

I had come with my trusty camera and tape recorder. Larry had brought a flip chart, diagrams, and projector and other aids. When I spent day-long seminar with Arnold where he guest such as John Balik, Robby Robinson and Danny Paddilla I thought nothing could match it but this seminar with Larry was on a par. He was articulate,humerous and knowledgeable.Whether our questions were on training,diet or any other subject he had clear easy to understand answers. He demonstrated several exercises but when he bent down and picked up a bar with six 35lb plates and two 10lb plates and cranked out a set of reverse preacher bench curls he blew everybody away. He ended the seminar by stating if anyone wished to leave they could but if anyone chose to stay he was going to touch on what he thought was good way to live your life. Being a devout Mormon he compared life to a triangle mental,physical and spiritual. Whether a person was religous or not his comments made sense. Before he left I shook his hand and told him what a pleasure it had been to meet him.