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01/22/2004 Entry: "Ironhistory Jan 23, 2004 by Joe Roark"

Note: I lost about six days this past week because my computer got Mad Cow or somesuch. I am working on the John Grimek file for February�s columns, and we will begin by serializing the Strength & Health connection, then later the Muscular Development, then later the other various magazines. It will take months to offer it all in Friday installments, but it will be a part of the oppressive, cruel, how can we sleep at night charge of $12 per year.

Bill and I are discussing how to make an ebook out of it and for a corresponding how can we sleep at night charge, you may be able to access the whole file, or the parts mentioned above separately immediately if you need the info quickly, or are not expecting to live much longer, or want to find the errors to embarrass me- whatever your reason may be�

More on that later.

Letter from Charles A. Smith to Joe Roark June 18, 1986

Dear Joe, At this moment you must be winging your way in the wild blue yonder to [Arthur] Jones� place. Hope you enjoy the trip and I certainly would be interested in learning what went on and your impressions.

I am not at all surprised that the new Brooklyn Flash mag doesn�t contain your article. He and XXX are tarred with the same brush. Why any man has to act this way, why he cannot keep a promise made is beyond me. It seems to me that they get their kicks out of shafting people- thinking I guess that it proves their superiority. Whereas it only shows what a monumental inferiority complex they have,

There is one guy who might know about the late Sandwina and that is Sig Klein. Latest word on him is that he is now eating, had gained back some weight and is even taking workouts. But there is some mystery here and someone should try to solve it. The first words of the Todds when I found the cutting and pointed it out to them was that it was an error made by the newspaper. I pointed out that in the case of an obit, the info was delivered by friends and close family members and they were pretty certain to make sure the right info was given. Then the Todds heard from you [unclear] tracing the same info from VARIETY, almost always an impeccable source. There are several possibilities re the name NOCK and we do know now that the name SANDWINA was taken from the circus both her �parents� ran. So, power to your arm.

Re the Glossbrenner deal I will say again and again that it was a POOR piece of reporting in that it was misleading. All the newcomers will believe that all the presses were the same and performed under the same conditions. It�s just like that 400 one arm press five reps by Venus. In the future you are gonna find some people who will NOT MENTION it as done on a machine but will think it was an actual one arm press of some kind performed with a barbell The judges and refs may have been poor in their decisions, but that has NOTHING TO DO WITH THE FACT THAT Glossbrenner failed to footnote the fact that there had been style changes and by not doing so he has created the impression that the lifts are ALL IDENTICAL. To my way of thinking a tremendous article could have been written on the DECLINE AND FALL OF THE PRESS and THEN USING THE TABLES OF RECORDS. So far as I am concerned, the article- if one can call it that- was a misleading one.

I agree hat the last issue of IRON MAN was pitiful. He had two authors who each had three articles apiece in the mag. This is bad. It seemed to me that it was---just thrown together. He appears to have lost all interest in the mag. That�s what old age does for you Joe, it takes away your youth, your joys, your �All you have� and pays you back with death and dust.

As for the judges not noting the changes in the press officially- that is WRONG. The changes in the press were AGREED TO AT COMMITTEE MEETINGS. The trouble lies in the fact that certain committee members allowed the sport to become a political instrument.

There are people who were not present during Julius Caesar�s campaign in Gaul or at the Punic Wars, but they are still accepted as experts TODAY on those events. How many people know that Abraham Lincoln contracted syphilis, gave it to his wife and son? Hardly. Tell anyone and they look at you as if you are nuts. How many people have the idea that Henry the 8th died of complications of the same disease? He didn�t. He died from complications of diabetes. So what we learn from history is that we don�t learn from history.

Most of the poor decisions rendered by the judges were so rendered when a member of their club or team or country were lifting before them. It wasn�t because they didn�t know the rules. They HAD TO since they all had to pass tests. It was partiality entering into the deal.

Why did I give XXX the silent treatment? This is a long story and the telling of it would do no good now. Suffice to say that I ALWAYS treated him as a gentleman and in completely friendly fashion. He LIED about me to Weider, a total and unnecessary lie, blaming me for something HE was doing against Joe- among other things like finding out he was paying other people more than twice what he was paying me and for less work than I was doing. I don�t forget, nor do I forgive a dirty turn. Maybe wrong on my part, but I am as I am and make no excuses for it.

I am in a bit of a quandary about my old timers� dinner articles. Since I sent it more than a month ago, I have heard nothing from Rader whereas he ALWAYS replies to say he has received the stuff with a check. I also understand that Ken Rosa has also sent in an article about the dinner, so maybe he is trying to make up his mind as to whose article to use. But he did write me asking me to cover the bash for him.

Louise Davis. A very nice girl and quite attractive. She and John Davis last lived at an address on St. Marks Place in Brooklyn. Then I was told many years later that Louise was a real estate salesman. There is also the added difficulty that she may have married again, although I don�t think so. So one avenue to pursue would be the Brooklyn REAL ESTATE LICENSED BROKERS AND REALTORS. You might be able to get this via your University�s school of economics or info from this school. At least they should be able to shove you in the right direction.

I can tell you why Johnnie left all his classical music recording to Pete George. Both he and Pete, as I was, were into classical music. Pete�s interest was orchestral, Davis was in vocal. He had quite a good basso baritone voice. There was an occasion when the [WL] team was in one of the Scandinavian countries when he and Pete George went to some record company and had their voices recorded singing a duet and another recording with them singing separately. I know, Davis played them to me at his home when my wife and I were visiting him as we often did.

This last two weeks I have been going through some of the most fascinating stuff I have ever waded through at the [Todd-McLean] Collection. It consists of a stack of letters between [George] Jowett and [Ottley] Coulter fifteen inches high. The letters start in early 1922 and now, one third through the batch we have reached 1927.

All sorts of goodie gossip emerged- or should I say have emerged. For one thing it is very doubtful if Jowett was in the country legally. And there is no doubt that he was quite a flim flam artist. He was always onto Ottley asking him to get this or that or send this or that or write this or that FOR HIM. He also wasn�t living with his wife, leaving her up in Canada while he was working for Redmond and STRENGTH MAG in Philly.

On one occasion he had bought a new car but hadn�t insured it. He had gone to Atlantic City to see Liederman and six miles out of town on the way back to Philly had been totaled. He happened to have a young lady in the car with him.

On another occasion he wrote to Ottley from NYC where he was working for the Breitbart Institute- run by a guy named Engels- and wrote Ottley to dash off two books about �How I Built My Neck� by Hackenschmidt and �How I Built My Chest� by George Lurich�When Ottley complained that both these men were active at the time and might object Jowett wrote back �You write the books and leave the legalities to me�.

He was fired from STRENGTH without a moments notice. Redmond walking into his office and saying �Jowett, you are finished.� When Ottley asked for details, these did not come forth.

I have been told�that XXX was complaining long, loud and bitterly about how much one of his mags was costing to put out. Someone did a spot audit and found out he was CHARGING HIS HAIR TRANSPLANTS TO THE COMPANY.

Best of everything to you and yours,
Chas

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See you Jan 30!