Jack LaLanne. The Good Lord Above has taken his wonderful body back, after 96 years of trying to talk us into get in shape.
“People thought I was a charlatan and a nut,” he remembered. “The doctors were against me — they said that working out with weights would give people heart attacks and they would lose their sex drive.”Lots more Jack LaLanne video here. Here's one you probably don't need. And here he is with his dog Happy ("Right in the mouth with the foot he's putting"):
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To add a dash of irony, he died on National Pie Day.
R.I.P Jack. He and Jack Palance were on the same wavelength when it came to fitness.
P.S. Jack LaLanne needs to cameo on Mad Men. I hope the screen writers read Althouse.
My problem with physical culturalists is that all their emphasis is on being in perfect superduper shape...and then what?
I just saw him on an infomercial at the Hotel last night, hawking a Juicer.
RIP.
My problem with physical culturalists is that all their emphasis is on being in perfect superduper shape...and then what?
You get a longer than average lifespan with a much better than average quality of life. What more could you ask for?
My wife the RN took care of him when he was at Univ Hosp (USC) recently. Said he was a VERY nice, friendly, man, but a REAL character w. GREAT sense of humor. Meticulous about his appearance--even in his weakened state. Even signed an autographed pic for my wife. She was really sad to hear the news..
I've been meaning to say something, aren't you two eating too much sweet potato(e) stuff?
RIP Mr LaLanne--too bad you never became the secretary of HHS--a genuine mensch--we are poorer for his passing.
When he turned 90, he made a spate of appearances. He looked healthy and strong. It was kind of reassuring. Whatever state he was in, it could not be described as old age. Now he's dead, and we are, for the moment, alive to hear the bell tolling for him. More than other old people from another era, his death is haunting and scary....Well, he had a long, healthy life, a happy marriage, and financial success. Morever, he spent his life advocating a cause that benefited both him and humanity. You may talk of equitable wealth distribution or prayer and good works, but, in the end, carrot juice and regular exercise is the path to happiness and a long life.
The quest shouldn't be how old you live, but what kind of life you have in your later years. Being able to get up and get around while in good physical condition is very important. I'm only 64 years old, but I have a 5 mile minimum that I put on the treadmill.
Takes me back early childhood.
Jack Lalane was one several daytime Black & White TV personalities that spoke directly to me as a preschooler through the camera. Mr. Rogers and Julia Child were two others.
While captivated, took me a while to understand what Lalane was doing.
Did somebody say something about a dog... diet?
wv - "puperthy" = therapy for young dogs
doctors were against me — they said that working out with weights would give people heart attacks and they would lose their sex drive.”
Ha!
He is right of course. The medical field is just starting to see the benefits of lifting weights.
He always seemed like a very happy guy and really wanted to help people get where he was. And he had a good life in the process.
Good for him. Sad to hear he's gone.
Among my earliest childhood "TV memories" are Romper Room, Magic Toy Shop and Jack LaLanne. I still think of him in that jumpsuit on our black and white TV whenever I hear the phrase:
One and two and ...
I was fascinated as a child by those triceps and the cute jumpsuit he wore.
Awww.
(he reminds me of someone)
I wrote a post about LaLanne a few years ago (http://archaeoblog.blogspot.com/2007/08/non-archaeological-post-in-praise-of.html) about how he got me working out lo these many years ago when I was a scrawny, out-of-shape, bored teenager. I'm sure I would have gotten a clue eventually, but his philosophy really rubbed off on me.
"My problem with physical culturalists is that all their emphasis is on being in perfect superduper shape...and then what?"
And then you might live to 96 and die in your own bed without having spent a night in the hospital in your entire life. And then you might have the energy to follow your intellectual or economic passions to the fullest. I should think the reasons are obvious but that is just me.
LaLanne may have oriented his show to the "girls" as he called them, but it sure influenced this adolescent boy.
My family tended to eat well as it was -- we abandoned McDonald's in 1959 -- but LaLanne was the guy who got me off my youthful sugar kick, never to return. By the late '60s I was learning to cook brown rice and all that good hippie stuff.
These days, at 62, I'm the same build and weight I was as a athlete 45 years ago. Objectively, I'm stronger, at least in terms of the weights I'm lifting.
The years have taken a toll in two areas: I've lost some speed, and my recovery times from injuries are longer.
Nevertheless, I'd leave most guys half my age sucking wind. That's not so much to boast as it is to point out that fitness really matters.
I may not live one day longer than would otherwise have been the case, but when you can push forward the inflection point to physical decline you gain decades of much higher quality life.
I'm not gonna drag 70 boats across a harbor to celebrate my 70th birthday (as LaLanne did), but I'm in a physically very demanding career (farming) my earliest horizon for "retirement" is about 20 years from now.
Jack LaLanne planted those seeds in my life. He set the standard. When he turned 50 in 1964 I decided I wanted to look like that at 50. By and large, I did.
Having seen pictures of the man at 90, he's given me my next goal.
Re: Fitness, goals and "heroes"
Another inspiration (except for maybe the hallucinations part.)
I knew that eventually all that exercise and health food would catch up with him. RIP.
Now there is a dog who loves his human. So damn sweet. RIP Mr. LaLanne, my father-in-law was a big fan of yours and my family is as well. I'm sure, you've already got jesus and the holy host already on a juice diet and lapping around heaven.
Gee Bert, I'm glad you're so healthy and strong - for such an old guy.
And so modest.
When I was a kid my mom would watch and work out.
Inhale [organ riff]
Exhale [organ riff]
He was right up there with Soupy Sales, Baby Daphne and Shrimpenstein.
Later when I was at Cal Poly dood would chain himself to a string of boats and pull them around the harbor on his birthday.
RIP Jack - you never got me off of sugar but you gave it all you had.
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