One of the things I enjoy most about the Stark Center are the requests we often get for information about some aspect of the history of physical culture. Most of those requests are handled by our incredible Stark Center staff but every now and then a request will make its way to my inbox and...
It’s a Good Life
Jim Lorimer, 1926-2022
On Thanksgiving Day, I received the very sad news that Jim Lorimer had passed away. He was 96 years old, and a dear friend. It was because of Jim that Terry Todd and I got involved with the running of The Arnold Strongman Classic back in 2002 and we kept running the contest in large...
Lost for More than a Century: Donald Dinnie’s Belt is Now at The Stark Center
Things find their way to the Stark Center in many different ways. Some items are donated by organizations that reach out to us, as Sports Illustrated did when they were looking for a home for their Olympic archives. Others are donated by individuals such as Irish legend Jack Shanks, who recently sent us the lifting...
Remembering Chris Dickerson and his Gift to Bodybuilding History
In 2011, the Stark Center celebrated the opening of the Joe and Betty Weider Museum of Physical Culture; it was a gathering of the true royalty of bodybuilding. Arnold Schwarzenegger attended along with many of the then still-living Mr. Olympias—Larry Scott, Lee Haney, Ronnie Coleman, Frank Zane, and Chris Dickerson. Other bodybuilding luminaries joined the...
A Surprise Gift from Artist David Deming
For 15 years renowned artist David Deming and I shared The Forty Acres—as we call UT’s main campus—but our paths never crossed. Deming was in the Art Department teaching sculpture, then serving as chair of the department, and finally as Dean of The College of Fine Arts until he moved back to his hometown in...
The Terry Todd “Special Issue” of Iron Game History
Since we began Iron Game History in 1990, we’ve dedicated a full issue of Iron Game History to one person as a memorial tribute on several rare occasions. The last person to be so honored, in fact, was Olympic weightlifting gold medalist Tommy Kono whose life is detailed in a special double issue of IGH...
STARK CENTER CLOSED DUE TO WINTER STORM DAMAGE
Please Watch for Updates on Reopening. Some of the most beautiful photos ever taken show a totally still body of water in which the scenery on land is replicated in crystalline perfection in its mirrored surface. The photo might show a pond in New England reflecting the fall leaves, a lake out west reflecting the...
Introducing THE STRONGMAN PROJECT A New Stark Center Resource Made Possible by Rogue Fitness
I am proud to announce the launch of The Strongman Project a new web outreach of the H.J. Lutcher Stark Center which can now be seen at: www.strongmanproject.com. Our plan is for The Strongman Project to grow and evolve over time as we will be adding new materials regularly to the site. The Strongman Project...
The Ph.D. Program in Physical Culture and Sport Studies
Last October we celebrated our tenth anniversary with a special day-long event at the Stark Center for the subscribers of our journal, Iron Game History: The Journal of Physical Culture (now in its 30th year). Many of our subscribers had never been to see the Center and so as we planned the day, we allowed...
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