Hail to the Dinosaurs!
A massive, thickly muscled man sat alone
in his office, pounding the keys of an
old-fashioned manual typewriter.
His thick fingers hit the keyboard so
hard it jumped and bounced.
He paused, collected his thoughts, and
continued.
A minute or two later, he nodded, pulled
the paper out of the machine, and gave
it a quick once over.
He stopped, shook his head, and reached
for a stubby no. 2 pencil. The point was
broken. He sharpened it with a small
pocketknife, turned back to the sheet
of paper, and made some rapid
corrections.
He signed his name with old cartridge
pen and threw the letter into a large
stack of other letters.
And that's how John Grimek -- the best
built man of his generation (and perhaps
of all time) spent many of his days.
Sitting in his office in the Strength and
Health building at 51 North Broad Street
in York, Pa. -- answering letters.
I've seen some of Grimek's letters, and
I'm struck by two things. One, he typed
them himself. No secretary. No dictation.
Just Grimek at the keyboard, pounding
away. You can tell because there are
typos everywhere. (Remember, there was
no spell check or correcting function
on those old-fashioned manual
typewriters.)
Second, he took the time to correct
them with pen or pencil.
Now, think about that for a minute.
John Grimek may have received more
letters than any other bodybuilding
or weightlifting champion in history.
He answered tens of thousands of them.
Maybe hundreds of thousands.
And yet, he always took the time to
read and correct his letters -- and
often, to add an extra hand-written
note or two.
That tells you something about John
Grimek -- and about what it takes to
be a true champion.
You always remember your roots. You
always go out of your way to help
others -- especially the beginners,
because beginners always need help.
You always give 100 percent. And when
you do something, you do it right --
even if that means taking a couple of
minutes to read and correct a type-
written letter.
As always, thanks for reading and have
a great day. If you train today, make
it a good one.
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. You can learn more about John Grimek
and his training in this great course:
http://brookskubik.com/johngrimek_course.html
P.S. 2. John Grimek and the other York
champions are featured in my Legacy of
Iron books. They're the closest thing
to a Time Machine that will take you
back to the Golden Age of Muscle and
Might:
1. Legacy of Iron
http://www.brookskubik.com/legacy_of_iron.html
2. Clouds of War
http://www.brookskubik.com/clouds_of_war.html
3. The 1000 Pound Total
http://www.brookskubik.com/1000pound_total.html
4. York Goes to War!
http://www.brookskubik.com/legacy_of_iron4.html
5. Barbells in the Pacific
http://www.brookskubik.com/barbells_pacific.html
P.S. 3. Thought for the Day: "Old-school iron
builds old-school character." -- Brooks Kubik
