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The Bob Hoffman I Knew and More from Historian John Fair Visitor Comments Below Like Arthur Jones, Bob Hoffman had a tremendously positive influence on me. His is a fascinating story which historian John Fair tells in the summer 2021 issue of IRON GAME HISTORY: The Journal of Physical Culture. Like Arthur Jones, Hoffman was a big picture person who often couldn’t be bothered with details. I can appreciate this because Carol is a far more detail person than I am. She wants to turn over every rock, while I want to get moving. The combination has made us successful beyond our wildest dreams. I don’t mean to put myself in the same category as Arthur Jones or Bob Hoffman. I simply want to state that I can appreciate how this trait could've contributed to their hugely successful lives. It also exposed them to adversity! Arthur’s son told his story in The Lost Empire: https://www.cbass.com/nautilus.html
That said, let’s start at the beginning. I first learned of Bob Hoffman when my father introduced me to his Strength & Health magazine when I showed an interest in lifting weights at 13. Hoffman preached that exercise is medicine, an important part of healthy living. My mother complained that I thought exercise was a cure all, but I’ve never stopped pursuing that concept—and time has proven that exercise may be the best of all medicines. Hoffman also introduced me to the idea that a stronger athlete is a better athlete. I proved it by winning the state high school Pentathlon championship (chin ups, pushups, bar vault, jump reach, and 300 yard shuttle run) against competitors who, like me, had probably been cautioned not to lift weights. For a ground breaking event in Hoffman’s crusade, see my FAQ: Flexibility: Stretching vs. Strength Training? https://www.cbass.com/faq13.html (scroll down) My victory in Pentathlon taught me that setting reasonable goals and working hard to achieve those goals is the key to success in life. It allowed me to excel in law school and has taken me to where I am today. Thank you Dad and Uncle Bob! * * * Hoffman brought America’s best weightlifters to work and train at his York Barbell Company, making the USA the world leader in Olympic Weightlifting. He made York, PA the weightlifting capital of the world--making him a multi-millionaire in the process. A high school buddy and I traveled to York to train with the champions. Hoffman came in to see us lift on our last day. Exhausted from lifting every day for two weeks, we missed most of our lifts. He told me that I would win many contests in my region. He was right, of course, but it was not what I had in mind. A highlight of that trip was meeting the famous John Grimek. I’ll never forget John Terpak introducing us. Busy at his typewriter, Grimek offered his hand over his shoulder without looking up. He made up for it by being very cordial in York’s famous second floor gym—and in the years to come. * * * I was aware that Hoffman was no saint. Steve Klisanin, who lived and trained in Albuquerque prior to winning the Mr. America title, told us that the main job of some of the women employed by York Barbell was to visit Hoffman regularly. See Remembering Steve Klisanin: https://www.cbass.com/steveklisanin.html * * * Our longtime friend Judge Dan Sawyer corresponded with Grimek over many years, and sent me copies of typewritten letters from Grimek. (Actually he trusted me with the originals and we made copies.) The letters that stick out revealed how disappointed—hurt—he was to learn that he was left out of Hoffman’s last will and testament. He wrote Dan that Hoffman had repeated his long-time promise to remember him handsomely--on his death bed. The outrage and despair was all the more warranted by the fact that Grimek was the most famous and beloved bodybuilder at York Barbell, perhaps the world. More than any other person he was responsible for York’s fame around the world. For more details see our John Grimek, An Inspiration for the Ages: https://www.cbass.com/GRIMEK.HTM Grimek looked to the courts to right the wrong. * * * That brings us to John Fair’s newly published history of the bitter controversy over Hoffman’s last will and testament. It appears that Hoffman’s failure to pay attention to detail allowed him be embezzled during his life—and very likely hoodwinked into leaving Grimek and others out of his will. I had heard that Hoffman realized that he was being embezzled, but put up with it so long as no one was making more than he was. I believe I first heard that from Bill Starr, who worked for York, had a falling out, and spent the rest of his life writing about his time at York and other strength related topics. While I first met Starr at the AAU Convention in Lake Placid shortly after he left York, I’d long admired his strength, muscularity, and intellect. He was a school teacher before coming to York. Read more about Starr online: https://usastrengthcoacheshf.com/member/bill-starr * * * The hullabaloo over Hoffman’s last will and testament would be at home in a John Grisham novel. What a story it is! Professor Fair begins with Hoffman’s 1968 editorial in Strength & Health, 17 years before his passing in 1985. “When I leave this world,” Hoffman began, “51 percent of the company, according to present plans, will belong to the men who have worked so hard with me to make it what it is. John Grimek, Steve Stanko, Dick Bachtell, John Terpak, Mike Dietz, and others of the old-timers and the newer men who form such an important part of our organization, will have a share in the York Barbell Co.” The indication of chicanery began with a codicil dated April 6, 1978, which set up a $500,000 trust for allocation to five other beneficiaries, all former girl friends of Hoffman except for Harry Utterback, the company’s traffic manager. The inclusion of Utterback, one of the few employees who got along well with Dietz, “fueled suspicions that Mike had exercised a heavy hand over the codicil.” Advertising Manager Phil Redman jokingly called him “York’s only male prostitute.” * * * In protest (when the changes in the entire document became known), Vic Boff, founder of The Association of Oldetime Barbell & Strongmen (AOBS) wrote that “Grimek was Hoffman’s trade mark.”
This photo of John Grimek, which appeared on the cover of the September 1945 cover of Strength & Health magazine, is believed by many to be the most inspiring physique photo of all time. Grimek was on the S&H cover 27 times between 1935 and 1965.
Things went downhill from there. Only Grimek had the resources and courage to protest the will. Grimek’s case brought widespread support. Robert Kennedy’s Muscle Mag International published “A Plea to Help the Monarch of Muscledom,” hoping that more witnesses would confirm the testimony of Bob’s 1968 editorial. Kennedy maintained that “Bob and John remained good friends to the very end and Bob would never disown him regardless of circumstances.” There were a few who felt that it was Hoffman who left Grimek out of his Will. Grimek, however, insisted that others, behind the scenes, made the changes. Unfortunately, only former Art Director Ray Degenhardt and former Strength and Health Editor Jim Murray testified at the May 1989 trial. They verified Hoffman’s assurance that “Grimek and the boys were going to be rich men when he died,” but were unable to specify how much the other claimants were to receive. Nor were they able to document Hoffman’s original intentions from any previous Wills. Grimek resolved that his supposed “friends” had screwed him out what had been promised to him for 50 years, repeating again that Hoffman had told him days before his passing that he would be well taken care of…and that he was never the less left out in the cold.” He appealed, but the state Supreme Court denied his case a hearing. After five years of litigation, Grimek’s case ended in October 1990. * * * John Fair goes on for another five pages examining what went on at York to bring about this troubling result. I'll cherry pick a few of his findings, and then point the way to his paper: BOB HOFFMAN'S LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT. Fair cites many around Hoffman, confirming what I had heard about his vulnerability to deceit. The evidence goes back many decades. When CPA Stanley Merves audited the company’s books in the 1950s, he told Hoffman that Mike Dietz was making more money than anyone else in the organization. As Starr said, Hoffman didn’t seem to care. He allowed Dietz to run things. Hoffman's brother Jack confirmed that Bob was “not a good manager.” Jan Dellinger, Associate Editor of Muscular Development (a York publication aimed a bodybuilders and power lifters) recalled that “Mike would place papers in front of him, and Bob would ask, “What am I signing?”” (He apparently allowed the Dietz explanation to substitute for reading the documents.) Fair quotes Starr as saying “it was easy to pull things off” at York. “It was like stealing from a blind man.” Winston Day, who manufactured York’s food products, observed that Mike Dietz “controlled his wealth completely. Bob never cared about money. He cared about ego.” It was apparently the power to make money rather than the money itself that mattered. That sets the stage for Fair's bottom line: The changing environment that contributed to the shocking alterations in Hoffman’s final will and testament. What was going on in the business world which made Hoffman's will a moving target. If Bob Hoffman was preoccupied this made pulling the wool over his eyes even easier. What, why--and WHO. * * * York Barbell grew larger and more complex. Going public was predicted to bring $10 million for only 20%--and more oversight. Hoffman’s vision of his legacy was going farther and farther into the future - a moving target - making providing for Grimek and the rest of the original York gang more complex. Putting it all together, it became clear that Treasurer Mike Dietz was the fox in the henhouse with the most to lose, with General Manager John Terpak and common law wife Alda Ketterman sideline players with much to gain.
This photo of John Terpak, Bob Hoffman and Mike Dietz is scanned from John Fair's paper
You’ll find many more details in Volume 15, Number 2, Summer 2021 of IRON GAME HISTORY: The Journal of Physical Culture: WWW.STARKCENTERORG
Visitor Comments
I read your column on Mr. Hoffman. How sad for Grimek. A huge admirer of John Grimek, my father was inspired by him to lift weights and become a fairly decent bodybuilder. Money creates such havoc in the world. You can be a billionaire and if you do not have good health, you have nothing. You sharing with us the true value of exercise and good nutrition is worth far more than Mr. Hoffman’s fortune. By the way the scoundrels denied Mr. Grimek a fair share, you would never know it. I devour the information you share with us. You are more of a gem than you know. Oliver I loved your in-depth piece on the controversy surrounding the last will and testament of Bob Hoffman, as well as the influence Hoffman had on you. What made this story special was all of the inside connections and information that you were able to bring to this story that nobody else could have. Your level of detail and background made this in-depth tale come alive for the reader. Dan May 1, 2022 Comment on this article: FEEDBACK Ripped Enterprises, P.O. Box 51236, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87181-1236 Home | Products Index | Ripped Bks | Lean Adv. Bks | Lean For Life | Recommended Bks | |Consultations | Posing Suits | Tapes | To Order | Feedback] Copyright © 2022 Clarence and Carol Bass. All rights reserved.
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