ROCKWALL —
If you have ever cracked open a muscle magazine, whether it is Oxygen Magazine, Muscle Mag, Clean Eating, Reps, American Curves- you have been touched by the words of Bob Kennedy. Robert Kennedy (April 18, 1938 – April 12, 2012) was the founder of Robert Kennedy Publishing and was an icon in the fitness industry and impacted some of the world’s greatest physique athletes, including Arnold Schwarzenegger. Kennedy is also credited with discovering and helping launch the careers of numerous fitness models and bodybuilders, including Victoria Pratt, Cory Everson, and Ronnie Coleman. He also loved painting and painted many works of art under his father’s name Wolfgang Kals. In February this year, he was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer and passed away on April 12.
As I was on the treadmill this week, reading the last article written by him in my Oxygen magazine, I kept welling up. I could barely get through the article as he wrote about knowing that he was dying and was amazed at how inspirational he still is to me. He really was a great man and inspired me in so many ways in fitness. I still have articles that he wrote that I tore out of magazines and keep years later.
One of the things that touched me most was a personal email that Bob wrote to me- before he really discussed publicly his son who was bed-ridden due to a brain injury that left him incapacitated. I had written to him about my fitness journey and how my son’s accident in 2004, that left him with a brain injury, impacted my life and how grateful I am for his health and for mine every day. He shared with me what he had gone through with his son Braden. When Braden passed away this past year, my heart broke for Bob, Tosca and their family. My heart breaks again after losing this great icon in the fitness industry and an amazing human being. I feel like a member of my family has passed. If you have never read anything by Robert Kennedy, pick up an old magazine or his newest book that is still on the shelves, Bull’s Eye: Targeting Your Life for Real Financial Wealth and Personal Fulfillment. Robert Kennedy lived the kind of life that impacted and lifted others up, he was an inspiration to many and an example of the kind of life I want to live.
Liz Jones is the Membership & Wellness Director at Rockwall Family YMCA, located at 1210 N Goliad in Rockwall, TX.
She can be reached at: ejones@ymcadallas.org or 972-772-9622.
Opinion
Making an impact throughout the years
- Opinion
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Initiation for the new guy? We may have missed that opportunity
I’m so happy to report that the Herald-Banner has added a brand new reporter to our Royse City-Rockwall County staff.
I’m always pleased to see recent college graduates enter the wonderful world of newspaper journalism. And I believe this young man, Austin Wells, is going to do a fine job.
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Unscripted moment provides most cherished memory
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Anticipation has me feeling like a kid again
I still act like a kid sometimes.
Please, friends, before you start nodding in agreement, let me explain. -
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Walking into the headquarters of the Green Berets 10th Special Forces Group in Bad Tolz, Germany as a newly-assigned lieutenant in June of 1961, not knowing what to expect, was the start of the second best assignment I had in the U.S. Army (the best was commanding a battalion in the 8th Infantry Division in Europe during the Cold War).
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Adjusting to change and getting back on the wagon
Adjusting to change is hard, even when the change is a great thing in your life like a new job, a new relationship, or a new location.
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