Brian Klepper 

Some things are timeless. I remember watching Jack La Lanne, the TV health fitness evangelist, when I was a boy, 45 years ago. My Mom would turn him on, and would occasionally bend and stretch with his show. You couldn't help but admire his strength and vitality. It was clear he was doing something that everyone ought to do.

It turns out, of course, that his advice - exercise and diet - was solid then and is solid now. Now 93, Mr. La Lanne's life and achievements are chronicled in, of all places, the Costco Connection. If nothing else, in checking out this article you'll learn, for example, that in 1956, at age 42, he set a new world record by doing 1,033 pushups in 23 minutes on the TV show You Asked For It. Or that in 1984, at age 70, handcuffed and shackled, he swam 1.5 miles in the Long Beach, CA harbor, towing 70 boats carrying 70 people.

Stunts aside, its worth getting a glimpse of this remarkable individual, equal parts health expert, showman and true believer, who by discipline and saavy introduced the American public to the idea that everyone could be fit and healthy. Be sure to look for the photo of him exercising on a common chair, conveying that no special equipment is needed, that anybody can get down to business.

Like an even earlier fitness guru I pointed to last August, Bernarr Mcfadden, "The Father of Physical Culture," Mr. LaLanne's life is an inspiration to us all.