Heart of Steel: The Dan Lurie Story
On the back cover of Heart of Steel, there's a photo of bodybuilding legend and pioneer Dan Lurie losing an arm-wrestling match to the President of the United States, Ronald Reagan, in the Oval Office of the White House. That shot in a way says it all about Lurie: He's a true American icon, an ambassador of the strength culture, and a guy with a good sense of humor. In Heart of Steel, the reader finds a detailed memoir of one of bodybuilding's most important and enigmatic figures. The main part of the book begins with tales of his Great Depression-era childhood, is followed by stories of his hard-fought ascent through the world of physique competition and promotion, and ends with his White House visit.Though his name may not be well-known to the current generation of bodybuilders - due largely to Joe Weider's Orwellian campaign to portray himself as the one and only truly important figure in bodybuilding's evolution - Lurie's account provides a useful education. In this regard, not only for fans of bodybuilding, but for those who are interested in how it got to where it is today, this book is a good read. For fans of bodybuilding's Golden Age, this book is a must-have.Lurie's dealings with Weider in fact form one of the book's themes, and importantly demonstrate that the latter, in some important respects, is not all that he had built himself up to be. Whereas it could be argued that Weider was little more than a shrewd and ruthless businessman who masqueraded as a bodybuilder, in Lurie the reader finds the real deal - a man with the vision and drive to help bodybuilding grow, and with the muscle to back it up. Readers should delight at Lurie's account of challenging Weider to a one-on-one muscle contest - a challenge that famously headlined the cover of Muscle Training Illustrated magazine - and Weider's wise decision to not show up for it. Although many years later Lurie was overshadowed by Weider as a major force in bodybuilding, he was able to emerge with his integrity and scruples intact; something that cannot necessarily be said of Weider.Yet there's much more to the book than the tale of that rivalry. Joe Weider is but one of the cast of characters in this insider's account of bodybuilding's development from an early stage of innocence into its Golden Age, and then into today's modern period. On top of that, Heart of Steel is also just about Dan: the bodybuilder, entrepreneur, and family man. The late Hunter S. Thompson, had he known him, might have called Lurie's path through life "pure Horatio Alger" - a novel-worthy tale of rags-to-riches success. The difference is that here the reader isn't given a piece of fanciful fiction; he's getting a real-life blow-by-blow, direct from the mouth - and the heart - one of bodybuilding's all-time greats. -- Gordon LaVelle Author, Training for Mass Gordon LaVelle, Author of Training for Mass