Iron History

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03/17/2005 Entry: "3/18/05: Letter from Charles A. Smith to Joe Roark May 29, 1987"

Letter from Charles A. Smith to Joe Roark May 29, 1987

Sig Klein is dead. He passed away Saturday 23rd, the day the Old Timers meet was held. Details such as time, cause etc etc unknown. He was buried on Tuesday- so I was informed-from the Riverside Chapel in NYC. I imagine the cause of death was his colon cancer, but this is surmise.

Milo Steinborn had travelled up to NYC for the Bash, intending to carry on from there to Europe and Germany. He had arranged to go and see Sig on Sunday, the morning after the Bash, and was quite distraught when he learned of Sig's death. I am told the get together was a success, Bill Pearl, Bert Goodrich, Steinborn and other notables present. The Reverend Todd did NOT attend, being tied up in some Ohio town delivering a paper.

XXX, aka the Flushing Flash has himself in a load of trouble. It seems that someone had found a way of setting back his Pitney Bowes mailing machine, shoving postage on it without going through that irritating formality of having the US Post Office do it for him. This has been going on since 1979 to the tune - so I am told- of fifty thousand bucks. The postal people got a tad suspicious when someone noticed that he never came into the designated Post Office to have his meter adjusted. So the Postal Inspectors- stay away from these birds- they make the IRS Investigators appear like a bevy of cherubs from Heaven- began an investigation, found out what was going on and got extremely upset. They laid a heavy hand on the broad and now flabby shoulders of the Flash, made him spend a few hours in the slammer until he made bond. He blames it on one of his 'employees'. Says. Who me? Didn't know what was going on. He is charged with a Class A Federal Felony and could get a stretch plus an horrendous fine. Just shows you. People get so greedy they aren't satisfied with a sufficiency but want the whole bloody lot.

[regarding Lange and the claimed bench press of 403 for eleven reps]: My personal opinion on the article is that it was one of those offerings a la Ernest Coffin, when that late worthy got running off at the typewriter about Sandow. Just too much hero worship and not enough facts. Pity this, since this sort of stuff deceives so many.

Anyway Balik called me the other night, aid he had got my article [on Marvin Eder], that even the gal who does his copy editing for him and knows nothing about lifting was impressed and it would be published AS IS, that it was one of the best articles he had ever read- that even Artie Zeller, bosom buddy of Marvin thought it great. Nice and cheering up, so we shall see what we shall see.

[re an editor of a famous bodybuilding mag]: He did mention that it was XXX who got into the gals pants by making them promises of this and that.

[in regard to a book on exercise which Charles had read]: Anyway, I am gonna hold a threat over your head. Unless you write me regularly letter for letter, I am gonna SEND you the book and sit back and see you suffer. You may plead with me but my ears are deafened. So. There.

XXX made a serious error in that XXX article. He was told by the Cheery Chappie that he must not under any circumstances use the shot the Cheery one sent him of raising that 7 thousand odd overhead. So in its place XXX used, as you know, a drawing. I told him he had a lot to learn about editing. The caption under that drawing should have said that 'We had a shot of the lift, but XXX forbade us to use it, so here's a drawing in its place. Draw your own conclusions' or some such. The amazing thing to me- or is it not amazing but an attempt at BRAIN WASHING- is that the Cheery Wun's followers are intent on convincing people that XXX did indeed press 7 thousand with one arm. In fact it would seem they are also trying to convince themselves with the fervor displayed.

The man is obviously a fake or a fool- or possibly both.

Just look at the number of plates on that bar. At 36 cents per pound, the present going rate for discs, they have 2500 bucks tied up in 100 pound plates alone- and forget what that supporting apparatus cost. The question should be asked, would not this amount of money do more good in easing the suffering of the homeless in NYC, than in the attempt to obtain self glorification for some nut.

I rest my case.

Friend,
Chas.