Iron History

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07/29/2004 Entry: "7/30/2004: Letter to Joe Roark from Charles A. Smith Sep 26, 1986"

Dear Joe,

Before I answer your letter, there is something you ought to do right away if not faster. Go to your University library and there take out a copy of the NEW REPUBLIC MAGAZINE, issue September 15th to 22nd � one issue- and in it you will find what I consider the most scathing indictment of Weider and what he has done for bodybuilding- COMMERCIALIZED IT to the extent that the participants no longer regard it in terms of the health benefits derived and the fun attached, but for what money they can make out of it. It is something I wish I had the talent to write. Enjoy.

I can�t remember who told me, but it seems that Balik got his backing money, not from Weider or the Arrogant Austrian but from his wife�s father. I think it was you who imparted the news that he, Balik, has said he has already sold advertising space and hopes to go monthly some time in 1987.

Saw some letters the other day exchanged between Leo Gaudreau and Ottley Coulter in which Gaudreau WAS COMPLAINING ABOUT the honest Christian Rader. He related to Ottley that he had done some work for Rader in that covey�s early years and Rader was so grateful he gave Gaudreau a life time sub to Iron Man. Later on � and prior articles for PR had been done WITHOUT any payment received for them- Gaudreau began to write for the Wunderkind. Whereat Rader wrote to ask Leo to submit articles to him. When Leo wrote back to say he was unable to do so, Rader stopped his �Life Time� sub.

Todd has a copy of Hoffman�s will, sent to him by Al XXX. I read it and said, �Let me have a copy. I�d like to send it to Roark.� Terry said OK and that�s the last I heard of it. The will is quite long. Hoffman acknowledges in it that HE ISN�T MARRIED and has not had, or does not now have any children, living or dead. Yet he lived common law with Alda Ketterman for thirty years, meanwhile Hoffing around with countless other broads.

It is obvious he had an idea the will might be contested since he has a provision in it for the executors to contest any such contestation. The man must have made MILLIONS out of the Game while protesting he was doing so much for it. Same old stuff as the Wunderkind. 5 hundred thousand is set aside as the Hoffman Foundation, money from which is to be disbursed in percentage amounts to various old girl friends and Rosetta and other individuals. If my arithmetic is right, it will mean some of them will draw all of a thousand bucks per annum. What bounty.

As I figure it, with liquid assets and real estate, he must have been worth close to twenty million when he died. May be wrong, but may be close to the mark.

I shall not forget the way he hounded Marvin Eder out of the sport simply because Marvin was tied up with the Wunderkind. At the very same time he was getting Eder cast out of the AAU as a professional and taking part in an unsanctioned meet, he was at the same time paying BOTH Davis and Schemansky a weekly salary for doing nothing but lift for the York Barbell Team. Now that�s real loving amateurism for you. Every man who worked for him, while at the same time competing in amateur AAU events, was so doing in direct contravention of AAU rules which, at the time distinctly stated that NO ONE could work for a barbell company or magazine and remain an amateur.

Terry is indeed a very bad correspondent. Ottley complains about it in many of his letters. I thought of suggesting to him that he takes all letters he gets, such as the one Hinbern wrote, jot down his reply on the envelope and I would type out a reply for him, just to keep people happy and public relations on a good level. But I thought, the hell with it. Alex Godo, who is always writing and asking for copies to be made of this or that old timer [article] for him, also complains about Terry�s lack of response. What can I do?

Hinbern wrote to me asking if I would jot down all of the Jowett book titles we have. Now of course you know the situation there. So I asked Terry about doing it. His reply surprised me greatly. It was an outright refusal, then I�ll think about it adding that he didn�t like some letter Hinbern had sent him complaining of discourtesy in not replying to his, Hinbern�s letter.

With my usual diplomatic, sledge hammer approach- I always did prefer the bludgeon to the rapier- I said that what Hinbern said was true- that he WAS a poor responder, but that I could understand this since he had his job to do at the University. Then added that there were quite a few people who put great stock in a reply to a letter they wrote, that it was common courtesy. My words went over with all the enthusiasm of Terry being slapped in the face with a sock full of slack shit. So I clammed.

I agree with your sentiments re TT and the collection, yet there are many strange things going on, things which I can�t put my finger on or explain to myself. So far as I know the Collection belongs to the University, and indeed, in some of his letters, Ottley openly states the University has approached HIM to sell his collection to them. What is done with the Foundation money I do not know. What I do know is, that like any good curator, TT is always trying to add to the foundation financial base. The income, so far as I know is to buy up collections of others and pay for subs to all kindred mags in Lifting and Booby building.

I have seen the latest MD and think it pitiful. Page after page of the same layout so it looks as if all pages are the same. Bad bad bad. Oh what couldn�t I do with that bloody mag given half a chance and DECENT PAY.

Bill Hinbern may be a true fan of Jowett, but if and when he comes to the Collection as he says he MIGHT, he is due for a monumental shock. Jowett was a robber baron and he didn�t rob the rich and give it to the poor. HE KEPT IT. The Byzantines had nothing on George Fuisdale when it came to plots, schemes and skullduggery- always loved that word.

My suggestion to you is to write to Lurie or Denie and DEMAND your article back under threat of recourse to an attorney�s intervention.

It seems to me that the cheap skates run the magazines. Bob Hasse who was Hoffie�s editor for a number of years, told Hoffie to jam it when Hoffie refused to give him a raise. Hasse said in a letter to Coulter that he had to do this since it wasn�t possible to keep a family on a single man�s pay. That it was galling to him to see certain other employees of Hoffie walking around in expensive clothes, driving luxury cars, their kids going to College and he could hardly afford to drive an old clunker. Same is said to be true of the Wunderkind. The top few get riches. The lower echelons get zip. The Peerless Christian, Honest to God Rader for years didn�t pay a cent for any article until peer pressure forced him to. The highest he ever paid- so far as I know- was 100 bucks an article. In 1938 I went to great trouble to cajole, coerce and otherwise flimflam the Russian consulate in London to let me go through their files for information about Russian lifters. I got loads of info PLUS some margellous shots of them- at least fifteen. I sent all to Rader and the article was published late 1939 or early 50 [sic].

One condition the consulate laid on me was that ALL the pics were to be returned. This I relayed to the Peerless etc etc Rader and he agreed. Did I get the pics back? Does an elephant have feathers? Shit I did. As to honesty, the Christian feeling here is more than I can stand. It�s enough to make me convert to the Church of Egypt.

And so it goes.

Best of everything to you and yours,
Chas.