Au Revoir Jack LaLanne

When crankyjewishguy (CJG) was a small lad of six or seven, he used to see this guy on the little black and white family television doing all these strange exercises with a broomstick and a chair, and CJG surmised there were housewives all over America doing those exercises along with Jack LaLanne because he seemed to be talking to someone. Jack LaLanne did his TV show for more than three decades and for six decades he preached the virtues of fitness and a healthy diet. A lot of good it did him: he died yesterday...at 96! For those of you who haven't gotten up off the couch yet, or who are still eating a pound of bacon at breakfast everyday, you might want to take note.

Considered the "father" of the modern fitness movement, to celebrate his 60th birthday, LaLanne, the son of French immigrants, swam from Alcatraz to Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. Not so impressive until you consider he was handcuffed, shackled and towing a 1,000 pound boat at the time. CJG isn't exactly sure of the utility of such an exercise unless you are training to be a tug boat, but it is quite a feat nonetheless. At age 70, again in handcuffs and shackles, he towed 70 boats carrying 70 people a mile and half through Long Beach Harbor. CJG assumes they were chained together since repeating the task one boat at a time would have been a complete waste of time. At 80, this time completely encased in nine inches of reinforced concrete, he towed the QE2, carrying two thousand passengers and crew, on a six-month round the world cruise. OK, he didn't really tow the QE2 around the world, but Jack LaLanne was a true pioneer and countless people are living healthier lives because of him. So...kick those legs up, that's right, one and two and one and two and...CJG can still hear him today just as he sounded in the late 1950s. Au revoir, Jack LaLanne.