I went to York, Pa, in 1965 with a handfull of articles I had written for Strength & Health and Muscular Development. They had a very nice gym in the York office building and you could train there free while you were visiting. I got an interview with Dr. Terry Todd and I remember he corrected some of the grammar on a couple of pages. He wasn't interested in using any of them in his magazine Strength & Health. Anyway, later I got an interview with John Grimek, who was the editor of Muscular Development. He was a hero of mine because as far as I know he was never defeated in a bodybuilding contest. Plus, John was very strong. Well, I took out my camera to get a photo of John and got turned down. No explanation but as many know he had one bad eye that was damaged by an accident with a spring device many used to use in those days. John always wore sunglasses. He seemed to me to be a bit of a grump and told me my articles would suit the Weider magazines. Well, that was a slap in the face because there is no way I would work for Joe. I couldn't imagine writing one of his editorials for him about how great he was. So that was the end of my quest to be on the staff of a bodybuilding magazine. Later I discovered it wasn't such a great job, anyway.
I was in York when the first Mr Olympia was on. Some of us were discussing that contest with John Grimek and he wasn't too happy with the IFBB. He said that Larry Scott had his name on his trophy. I guess that proved to John that the contest was fixed! However, it is possible to know the results after the judging and have trophies engraved before the presentations.
John had a reputation that he walked like a big cat or something. So I was interested to see how he did walk. He sort of strutted through the gym with fairly long strides. I used to immitate that walk but it sure wasn't like any cat that I recalled.
I saw Bill March standing press 375 pounds. Very impressive. I talked to Bill one day and I doubted that John Grimek still had calves that measured 17 1/2 inches. He bet me that they did. Since he was willing to bet me that was good enough for me. If I had accepted that bet I would have seen how big John's calves were that day.
After I was there a few days I got to hear a few stories from Bob Hoffman, himself. Since I had read his editorials and so on for over a decade I knew that Bob liked to glorify himself. One day when he was walking through the company gym I told him, "Bob, you write all that stuff about yourself but you look fat to me! Well, he stopped right there and called everyone in the gym around him. He always wore a suit. He took the jacket off, then tie and shirt. He was standing there in a white singlet. Well, he took in a deep breath and then sssssslllllllllloooooooo ooowwwwlllllllllyyyyyy let it out. It took at least 30 seconds and maybe longer. We stood there amazed. At the end he inhaled and created a vacuum under his ribcage. While in that state he got a few of us to touch his tummy which seemed firm enough. He then left the room. We all shook our heads and sort of smiled and continued training. The next day a serious John Terpack came up to me and took me aside. He told me that it was a courtesy that they allowed me to use their gym. If I criticized Bob again I would not be welcome in that premises! In other words I was told to keep my mouth shut. Guess you have to kiss butt if you want to work on a magazine, huh?
Bob delighted in telling us young fellas about his sexual prowess when he was much younger. He would say how he competed in weightlifting one day and what he lifted. I think he C & J something like 275 pounds. Well, he said the night before he was with this woman and he came so many times. Goodness me it was a large number. Well, we never could figure out how that affected his lifting one way or other because he seemed to lift the same as he always did! I think the point was that he thought had he desisted maybe he would have lifted more?
Oh, yes, they used to call York, Muscletown USA, well, when I was there it was hardly that. I never saw so many fat people as there were in that little town.
