I guess I must have been about eight years old, watching this muscle man doing exercises on TV. 
Push ups, sit ups, running in place, and jumping jacks – all exercises that I would be doing a few years later during physical education classes in junior and senior high school. He seemed to be able to do them forever, never running out of breath, never getting tired. Then he’d take a break, give a short lecture and present a couple commercial messages.
I was exhausted and out of breath whenever I did those kinds of calisthenics – barely able to even whisper – and that was only after five minutes of exercise.
By the time I was in elementary school Jack LaLanne was already a big celebrity. My mother watched his show practically every day even though she never exercised. Every afternoon my mom would sit down and watch Jack LaLanne, Liberace, and Queen for a Day, all local shows from Hollywood that followed her daily block of network soap operas. I guess that must have impressed me at the time. Jack LaLanne and Hopalong Cassidy were my favorite heroes in those days. They still are. The difference was that Hopalong Cassidy was a fictional character that carried two ivory handled guns; Jack LaLanne was a real person who didn’t need any guns.
In 1969 I was privileged to meet Mr. LaLanne while working as an installer/repairman for Pacific Telephone in the Hollywood (CA) exchange area. One morning I was given a service request at in a home located in the Hollywood Hills overlooking Hollywood and Los Angeles. The order indicated that the customer’s name was “J. F. LaLanne.” Until I arrived at the home and was invited in, it never occurred to me that this particular “LaLanne” was “that LaLanne.”
The house was very neat and tidy, but somewhat small when compared to most of the other homes around it. A very attractive lady wearing a fitted jumpsuit answered the door and invited me in. She took me into a room near the back of the house with large sliding doors or huge windows that looked out over a shining blue pool toward an unrestricted view of the smoggy Los Angeles basin below and to the south.
“Jack! The telephone man is here!”
A little man came into the room and briskly shook my hand. “Hi! I’m Jack,” he said. “Welcome to our home. I guess you’ve come to fix my phone?”
I was only 5 feet 10 inches tall, but I seemed to tower over this little man. But that’s where my advantage ended. Even though I was only half his age, it was immediately clear to me that I would be foolish to ever try to pick a fight with this fellow. He was all muscle and bone covered in a tightly fitted blue jump suit. Impressed? You bet! It was obvious to me that this pleasant fellow was for real and clearly practiced what he preached on TV.
Even though I was just a “Joe Average” working man that came to their home to do a dirty job, I was treated with the utmost courtesy by both of the LaLanne’s and I still have fond memories of my very brief visit to their home.
When my brother graduated from the University of Nebraska in the early 1970s, he returned to Southern California and stayed at my home for a few months until he found a full-time job. As luck would have it, instead of getting a job at the telephone company where I worked, he was hired as a manager-trainee for Jack LaLanne’s Health Spas. Although I never had the privilege to see Mr. LaLanne in person again, I know that my brother would see him from time to time as he made visits to the various gyms and spas in the Los Angeles area. Thanks to his employment at several upscale LaLanne health spas, my brother was able to make many new friends and excellent business contacts that served him well in later years.
My last contact with Mr. LaLanne was in 1984 near Long Beach, California. I was in the area to install a telephone system in a small business near the beach.
After I parked the service van, I noticed crowds gathered down by the beach looking way out into the bay. I wandered over and asked one of the bystanders what was going on. He pointed out toward a distant column of small boats and said, “Jack LaLanne is swimming across the bay. He’s towing a hundred people in fifty boats. That little son of a bitch is like eighty or something. Can you imagine? How’s he do that?”
Needless to say, just being in proximity to such an event was a privilege. I was impressed that this little old fellow that I’d met fifteen years before could even think of doing anything like that.
Actually, when he swam that day in the ocean near Long Beach, LaLanne was “only” 70. Oh yeah, and he was “only” pulling 70 people in 70 boats. No big deal, you say? On top of that, he accomplished this particular feat of strength and endurance while handcuffed and in shackles.
He managed to swim to the Queen Mary without losing a single boat or passenger in spite of rather rough waves – and lived to see at least another twenty-five years.
What more can I say? What an amazing person Mr. LaLanne was then – and still is!
His latest accomplishment? Jack LaLanne turned 95 on September 26th. Happy birthday, Mr. LaLanne!
We can only guess what amazing feat he will do for his fans on his 100th birthday. I certainly hope that I live long enough to find out…
Check out Jack LaLanne’s website for more information about this truly unique human being.
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