Bodybuilding Revelation – Ken Sprague
Randy Roach has written a bodybuilding revelation; a well-documented odyssey through the good, bad, ugly, sex, cheating, conniving, contest rigging, back-stabbing, vote-rigging and characters at the core of modern bodybuilding. A remarkable work and bodybuilding masterpiece fit for the general marketplace. We’re lucky he chose bodybuilding for his literary efforts. I’m certain the book will play out on Ironage for years—there’s sensational stuff in the book that’s never been written before. Consider this the textbook for the ironage—in that light, it’s under-priced. I have never met a professor who has put more effort into a venture; every comment is sourced and researched to pick the wheat from the chaff. It represents a truly remarkable effort, a finely written work. And to beat all, it’s a super-interesting “page turner.”
- Ken Sprague,
Gold’s Gym owner, on ironage.us.
Randy Roach Part II: A Sparkling and Splendid Masterpiece of Iron History
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| Randy Roach sports his “Arnold” A-shirt in this January, 2012 photo. |
We begin with the eloquent words of Joe Roark to whom I express my profound gratitude for allowing me to include them here: “There are authors who can write contest reports, others who handle facts well, others who write good fiction (even though they think they are writing facts). But there is not another Randy Roach. Fielding statements from literally dozens of major and minor sources, he appraises them by what must have been a tremendous task of study and comparison, places them in logical order and importance, weaves all that into an interesting, well-written, readable storyline.
Randy Roach: The World’s Best Fitness Author
Today, we begin a conversation with Randy Roach, about Randy Roach. The Bodybuilding historian tells us about his life, his health and how a blind man came to write the most detailed single history of any sport.
There surely is no shortage of books within the genre of sports history. This is great news for football and baseball fans, among others. But for the enthusiasts of professional bodybuilding, the question persists as to whether it even IS a sport, making it perhaps the Rodney Dangerfield of athletic pursuits in that it gets “no respect.” Though it traces its roots back for over a century, few outside the small world of iron pumping know much more about it other than that its biggest success story became a movie star and then the Governor of California. Beyond that most people draw a blank. That is all changing with the publication of “Muscle Smoke and Mirrors” by Waterloo (Ontario, Canada) historian and author Randy Roach who has published two volumes of what is to be a three volume complete history of “the game” as it is affectionately known by its devotees. It is probably no stretch to say that Randy has written the most complete history of any sport and, thanks to both his writing ability and story-telling gifts, one which is universally proclaimed a “page-turner.”
Read MoreBob Gajda’s reaction to Volume II
Terry Strand sent me theseshots of Bob Gajda reading the latest Volume:
“Bob Gajda is a huge fan of a huge book: Muscle, Smoke, and Mirrors Volume 2, coming in at 701 pages of fine print by author Randy Roach….here he is reading it today at his physiotherapy clinic, Gajda Health Plus, in Palatine, Illinois. A ‘masterpiece of bodybuilding history’ is his comment.
Merry Christmas,
Terry”
Muscle, Smoke & Mirrors Volume II – Review By Jim Bryan
Nine and one half years of research, literally hundreds of interviews, one of the most thoroughly researched books on the Iron Game History. This is Vol. II of “Muscle, Smoke, & Mirrors.” Vol. I set the standard and Randy has hit this one out of the park! History, back stories, conflicts, supplements, Arthur Jones, Ben and Joe Weider, Bob Hoffman, Vince Gironda and a host of very important people of the 60′s and 70′s. Who won what Contest and why? The Birth of P.E.D’s and the controversy they continue today. What it was like in Lake Helen at early Nautilus. Who was there vs. who says they were there. How the early Body Building Organizations got their start and who started them. The Politics, the head games, the ego, and the shakers and makers. Randy has done a monumental job! If you care anything about the “Iron Game” you should get this book, it’s value will continue to grow.
-Jim Bryan,
https://sites.google.com/site/strengthdepartment/
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