This thread on Ironage brought back memories for me personally. When I was 14 Bill Pearls gym was the first gym I ever joined. I saved $40 for my first 3 month membership there. My dad drove me down and dropped me off so I could join, as I was sitting in the office Bills brother Harry was signing me up and Bill walked in to ask Harry a question (can't remember the question) but Harry introduced me to Bill and like an idiot I just sat there with my mouth open, as he shook my hand all I could think was he was huge, his hands were thick like a catchers glove, he was waring a sweat shirt with the sleeves cut off at the elbow and he was bare foot with his sweat pants rolled up just past his calves, when I shook his hand his forearms and calves were absolutlely huge, his calves especially looked like bowling balls, now for a 14 year old kid to meet the first bodybuilder in his life and for him to be an already legen, to me was unbelievable to say the least.
About a year after I joined I got my driving permit and my dad allowed me to just drive to the gym and back in the evenings, I would see Bill in there once in a while and talk to him then one day we were talking and he invited me to start working out with him and a couple of other guys in the morinings, so being as excited as I was I obviously took him up on his offer. About a week later I started......at 4:30am.....talk about something to get used to, it took me about a month just to get into the groove. Bill had one condition for me to train with him that early, he said that if this got in the way of my school....I was out. I went on to train with Bill for about the next year and a half until he sold the gym to some asshole named Brian Henery to wound up ripping Bill off for quite a bit. Anyway, thats when Bill baught his farm and moved to Oregon. I continued to train with his son Phil and Doug Brignole before I finally left in 1980.
