Hard to believe, Jack LaLanne, America’s first personal trainer and founding father of the fitness movement, who at 96 was still so full of life and vitality that one would think he’d live forever, recently passed, and will now become a treasured memory in the hearts and minds of his many fans, for which I am proud to say I am one.

Without question, Jack was my very first mentor. Long before I ever knew I’d become a gerontologist advocating the very same message he instilled half a century ago -- to help people feel better, look better and live longer -- he was the one who introduced me to exercise via his TV show and that darling white German Shepherd named Happy, which I later found out from Jack was a ploy he used to get kids like me to watch his show and exercise too!  Never would I have dreamed that all these many years later, I’d be honored to say I’m definitely one of the lucky ones who could actually call Jack a friend. Rarely does a day go by that I don’t think about him or talk about him, and I sincerely doubt that will ever change. Jack made a positive difference in this world and in the lives of millions of people -- and I truly believe that will continue on as his legacy.

Jack’s accomplishments and contributions to the health and wellness industry are unprecedented. But it was never about attaining fame and fortune; it was always about helping people be the best they could be -- and even inspiring them to be perhaps even more than they thought they could ever be.

He had an extraordinary gift – and that was passion. Jack dedicated his life to good health and did whatever was necessary to encourage others to do the same. Whether it was opening the first prototype for the fitness spas to come – a gym, juice bar and health food store concept in 1936, which evolved to opening dozens of fitness studios under his name that later were licensed to Bally, or inventing the forerunners of modern exercise machines like leg extension and pulley devices, to recognizing the powerful medium of television and creating the Jack LaLanne Show which first aired in 1951 for eight years before going into national syndication in 1959, where it stayed until 1985 – culminating a total of thirty-four years of exercising five days a week on TV. There were also his numerous best-selling books, a variety of exercise videos, and of course his Juicers, to blend raw fruits and vegetables into liquid elixirs.

But beyond all the various tools he used to promote health, it was undoubtedly Jack’s fitness fanaticism and his amazing feats of physical athleticism performed later in life that most will remember best – and ones that will likely never be repeated:

At 60, he swam from Alcatraz Island to Fisherman’s Wharf handcuffed and shackled, towing a 1,000-pound boat;

At 65, in Tokyo he towed 65 boats filled with 6,500 pounds of pulp, handcuffed and shackled;

At 70, handcuffed and shackled again, facing strong currents, he towed 70 boats, carrying a total of 70 people a mile and a half through the Long Beach Harbor to the Queen Mary.

While Jack’s 80-year routine of exercise, no sweets, no caffeine, good nutrition and never eating between meals certainly contributed greatly to his vital, healthy lifestyle, what was most important to Jack, was proving what was possible.

“I wanted to prove that anything in life is possible,” Jack said. “What can’t we do? It starts with us, it starts in our brain and all these 70 trillion cells in our body that take command from our brain -- so we’ve got to keep setting our sights higher and higher. Look at these 80 and 90-year old athletes – doing triathlons now. See, there’s really no limit – the only limit is between our ears. We’ve got to believe anything’s possible and go out and do it!”

There will never, ever be another Jack LaLanne. So in his honor we should all strive to be our best, always do our best, and help others do the same.

Married for 61 years, Jack and Elaine LaLanne, loved life, each other and sharing their passion for good health and vitality.

Kelly Ferrin, gerontologist, longevity expert and author of “What’s Age Got To Do With It? Secrets to Aging in Extraordinary Ways” has been studying aging and retirement issues for over 25 years. She was one of the first to ever receive a degree in this field from the prestigious Andrus School of Gerontology at the University of Southern California, the top school in the nation for the study of age-related issues.

website: kellyferrin.com ••• email: ageangel@earthlink.net