Iron History

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04/16/2009 Entry: "4/17/2009: Conclusion of June 29, 1988 letter from Charles A. Smith to Joe Roark"

Conclusion of June 29, 1988 letter from Charles A. Smith to Joe Roark

Rumors re MD keep circulating. The latest is that the September issue will be the last. Dellinger wrote me- without any OTR provision- that they were NOT ceasing publication but simply trying to sell the magazine. In its present form it is horrible.

Nice to know Meg is doing well. The teens are such a hard time for kids and most parents make the mistake of forcing adulthood on them when they are just not emotionally able to handle it. I say the safest bet is to let the kid have his or her childhood and adolescent period, with you and the wife there as buffers to cushion the blows of disillusionment in the world, and to let them see that blokes over thirty can be trusted.

Re those Power Digest Aussie mags. I have promised you that when I find them, they shall be on their way to you. I always keep a promise. SO watch out. If I ever tell you I am after your ass, bet your pay check I am. No need to send postage. It's a quid pro quo arrangement twixt us. You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. Presently I have to depend on a Chinese back scratcher I have. Or the not too frequent visit of an old girl friend.

Re the death of Dietz, Grimek hints at certain happenings, saying that a woman was involved. If he means Dietz died while giving some dame a flesh injection I don't know. I understand Michael was some sort of a philanderer.

H&S contains much to be interested in. Health and Efficiency was a nudist mag, although where the efficiency came in is past me, apart from time saving in taking one's clothes off to get at it. LINK HOUSE published many mags in addition to H&S, H&S, Superman- taking the latter over from its original publisher. But their biggest money maker was the EXCHANGE AND BAZAAR MART. This was a publication containing naught but ads selling peoples' cast offs and what one had and what one wanted to exchange for it. It was also full of senseless ads such as 'Meet me at Hyde Park Corner at midnight. You will recognize me because I will be carrying a barber's pole in one hand and a strangled giraffe in the other'. Sort of stuff.

So far as I can recall, H&E had a fairly long life, kept so by guys who purchased it to see naked bodies, only to find the vital parts either hidden or the public hair brushed out. There was another nudist mag called NATURE. But I have forgotten when and where, or even if it is still published. They also ran a couple of nudist camps way out in the boondocks, away from peeping toms and peering Patricians.

There used to be a story told about some cat who tried to join the nearest NATURE CLUB, being met at the door by a naked female who told him that before he could gain entrance he'd have to remove his blue serge suit. The cat, vastly indignant, said, 'I'm undressed already and I'm blue with the bloody cold'.

Your mention of the Inch Challenge BARBELL is the first I have heard of its existence. I of course know about the Inch challenge dumbell, with so thick a handle that it is SAID no one but Inch was able to lift it. Doubt this. Place it in the same category as those 22 inch arms and 28 inch waists.

A guy you might turn your attention to is Charles Vansittart, known on the Vaudeville stages as Vansart, the MAn with the Iron Grip. Now here was a cat who could do extraordinary things- such as tearing a tennis ball in half, PINCHING a corner out of a deck of cards, and crushing a champagne bottle in the bend of the elbow- this latter incredible since a champagne bottle is so much thicker than an ordinary wine bottle. ANd he did those things right in front of an audience. Another trick he had was to place a five pound note under a block of steel weighing 112 pounds. Anyone who could lift the block with thumb and finger could have the money. Vansittart demonstrated first how easy it was, then watched the dozens of suckers come up and fail miserably, not even getting the block off the deck. Research him. Will be worth it. He stood around 5.10, had an arm just 16 inches but what power in that arm and hand.
best to you and yours, Chas.