Park Slope’s Paul LaRosa writes on his blog, Here is New York, about meeting Jack LaLanne. That’s Paul on the right with Jack. He calls it one of the thrills of his life and on his blog he shares his recollections of his day with the exercise pioneer who died at the age of 96 on Sunday.
I met Jack Lalanne when he was much younger — 82!
It was one of the thrills of my life to produce a television segment about him back in the ’90s. Along with then-correspondent Bill Lagattuta and a camera crew, I headed out to Lalanne’s home in Morro Bay, California, to watch his two-hour morning workout.
Lalanne began by jumping in his pool and swimming and doing special exercises. It was 5:30 a.m. and even in California, it was cold. While the cameraman videotaped Jack swimming his octogenarian head off, Lagattuta and I watched in amazement.
“This is one of the best things about this job,” Lags said. “I grew up watching this guy on TV.”
I agreed. It’s not so often in life you can visit a legend in his home. After the swimming, Jack hit the gym. It was his own gym of course and it was fully outfitted and as big as any sports club.
A friend of mine lives in Jack’s old house in the Hollywood Hills. He used to do his exercises in that pool, too, and that’s where he trained for his incredible feat of swimming the length of the Golden Gate Bridge towing a thousand-pound boat. As a kid, I found his show really entertaining. I still remember that big white dog.
I bet God is getting a great workout now. We will miss your advertisements on tv and although your show is off the air, you are still around on youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKEHWISVi9U