Good evening Stuntmovie,
I reside in East San Diego county and have had the pleasure to meet most the "Stern's Boys" {esp. Gene Fisher who bought George Redpath's gym in Spring Valley} who opened gyms in the San Diego area. In the last conversation I had with him before he died, Mr. Fisher said that Bill Pearl was interested in the Spring Valley gym also. I have alway heard that Mr. Pearl did not want to compete with Leo and that was one of the reasons he bought another Geo. Redpath gym in LA .
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I met Leo Stern in about 1978 when I was looking to upgrade my home gym. Just kinda clicked and he always remember what we had talked about in previous visits. He always treated me well and I always showed him the respect that he deserved.
I fellowship subscriber to the Iron Game History publication which Mr/Mrs. Todd run at the University of Texas at Austin. Both are very fine people in my opinion and they are the premier keepers of the History of Weight Training. Please take the time to check it out when you get the chance.
Iron Game History | Stark Center
https://www.starkcenter.org/iron-game-history/Iron Game History is totally non-profit, peer-reviewed, and published under the auspices of the Roy J. McLean Sports History Fellowship at The University of Texas. No one is paid for articles or artwork and no one is paid for editorial work. The magazine layouts are done by Jan Todd.
I do have Mr. Star's book on training and have always enjoyed all of his writings. I would like to do more research on his days at York someday.
I have seen images of Rev. Zuver's gym, what a tremendous place to train and the list of "famous" lifters who trained there seems endless. I do have one of his catalogs from the time when he was producing his new equipment for his last gym {somehow connected to Joe Weider I believe}. His son Mark(?) posted on Mr. Draper's website a few years back and was still selling the Zuver Oly. plates at that time. I know he did post here too for awhile in the Historical section.
Be safe and strong,
Pat