MUSCLE MAN: POST #37

When I graduated from Bay High School I was 6' 3 1/2" and weighed 153 pounds. When I was in the 7th grade I was 6' 3 1/2 and weighed about 77 pounds. I mean I was skinny. I wore one of Mom's garter belts for a belt and still had plenty of room to spare. I ate all that I could hold but it seemed like I could not gain an ounce and no girl was going to look at me because if she looked in my direction she would look right by me as if I was not there. I was gawky and gangly and I was tired of it but didn't know what to do.

One day I was reading a comic book of some kind and in the back there was an advertisement from Charles Atlas. It talked about this guy that so skinny and weak that the other guys would kick sand in his face and the girls all laughed at him. Then, it showed this guy after he had been trained by Charles Atlas and he was a HUNK! So, I wrote to Charles Atlas and told him that I would like his program but I didn't have any money so was there any way that he could send it to me anyway? He didn't.

I stayed that way all through high school. We would go to ball practice and I was tall but that was all. I couldn't jump very high either. I was the one who guarded Walton Weaver in practice and we were about the same height. He would shoot a jump shot but he would fall backwards and I would jump and miss blocking the ball by a mile. Coach Bob Pierce put me in the game one time to stop Leotis Shedd from Manila. I was in the game about three minutes and fouled out because all I could do was hit him and not block his shot. Finally, in my senior year I played a lot and had a good year but because I couldn't jump, Winston Holmes started every game to jump center and then I would go in.

When we ordered our basketball jackets that last year the Coach told the man to order me a size 46! It would wrap around me twice nearly, but he told the man that if I didn't put on a bunch of weight as soon as I got out of school he would be surprised because all my older brothers had done that. So, I had a coat big enough for me and Barbara to both wear at the same time.

But, you know what? By July 24, 1958 I weighed 210 pounds. By 1965 I weighed 290 pounds. And, Charles Atlas had absolutely nothing to do with it. Yep, I had followed the same course as my older brothers and put on the weight. Then came December 21, 1971 and I had a little heart attack and my Doctor said, "You can do what I tell you and you will probably live to be an old man, but if you don't YOU WILL DIE!" He was a good friend and a great Doctor and he explained it right. I lost almost 100 pounds and have battled every day since then to keep it off. It is a constant struggle. I have been hungry since December 21, 1971!

I will say this though, no one has ever kicked sand in my face! So, in spite of a lack of training from Charles Atlas I have managed to make it just fine. Barbara shot a glance my way one day and didn't see past me. She saw old Charles Atlas standing there! And, all has been well at Herman Junction since that day.