Oliver Sacks was a 300-lb bodybuilder

[Millard]

Here is a fascinating bit of trivia from golden era pro bodybuilder Dave Draper:

Acclaimed author and neurologist Oliver Sacks was once a 300-lb bodybuilder...

Oliver Sacks from England trained at The Dungeon while attending graduate school at UCLA. He weighed over 300 pounds, was brilliant and told fascinating stories with a remarkable talent for describing people, places and things. He's the same Oliver Sacks who is an acclaimed neurologist and author of award-winning fiction and non-fiction, including Awakenings. His picture on his latest book jacket looks like The Dungeon Oliver, only he's thinner and older and no longer wearing a shredded spinnaker for a shirt.

Source: http://davedraper.com/pdfs/irononline727.pdf

Yes, it's that Oliver Sacks:

 

[cvictorg]

http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/IGH/IGH0501/IGH0501e.pdf

The more literate among you probably know of Oliver Sacks as a best selling author (Awakenings, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, etc.), as the head of Neurology at the world famous Bellevue Hospital in New York City, as a professor of clinical neurology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and as a man considered by many to be the foremost authority on neurology in the world today. But how many of you know that before he scaled those illustrious heights he was one of the strongest squatters of his day? Very few men on the face of the earth could squat 650 pounds in 1963 and Oliver Sacks was one of them. He stood 6’, possibly 6’1” and at his largest weighed three hundred pounds. In a squatting contest in late 1963 against Lee Phillips he did 620 weighing 290 and Phillips did seven hundred pounds at 315. They were the strongest squatters in California at that time. Unfortunately, shortly afterward Sacks was badly injured swimming in rough ocean water and it may have ended his strength career. Soon after his accident he went on a diet that brought his weight down to around 225. A couple of years after that he became the head of the Neurology Department at Bellevue and after that I would imagine he was too busy too consider resuming heavy training even if he had been able to do so and had the desire. Still, it is interesting to speculate how much stronger he could have become if he had not gone in the water that fateful day. In fact, I wonder how strong he would have been if he had led an abstemious lifestyle then.

 

[akroo]

I would really like to see a picture of him as a bodybuilder, couldn't find any.

 

[ricky87]

that's a useful thread but plz update the link has an error

 

[smiles]

here is two photos I have found of him, one when he was younger, and a older pic..

 

[Oregongearhead]

I"m still a member of Dave Drapers forum (Irononline) , Daves got a wealth of experience and I've applyed alot of his principles in my training .Look at pics of him at 55-60 years old, he's ripped to the bone !

 

[swole4ever]

here is two photos I have found of him, one when he was younger, and a older pic..

That is not Oliver Sacks, that's Dave Draper.

 

[mousetrapped]

THIS IS AMAZING. Dude is one of my heroes and I had NO idea about any of this. I've been meaning to read his bio (which is great apparently) I wonder if there is any talk of this in there. Would also love to see some real pics of him from back then.

 

[kastro]

Thats Dave Draper.He was not 300 pounds.Would love to see pics of Oliver Sacks though.

 

[smiles]

That is not Oliver Sacks, that's Dave Draper.

Dam when I found that pic after Google 'n his and seeing it on the pic when You put your mouse on it, my finger cause I was using my phone...

 

[dper726]

Dave draper was a beast himself, one of my all time favs!!!

 

[kastro]

He still looks great too for his age.Last pic i saw of him he was ripped.

 

[Millard]

Oliver Sacks announces he has terminal cancer:

Over the last few days, I have been able to see my life as from a great altitude, as a sort of landscape, and with a deepening sense of the connection of all its parts. This does not mean I am finished with life.

On the contrary, I feel intensely alive, and I want and hope in the time that remains to deepen my friendships, to say farewell to those I love, to write more, to travel if I have the strength, to achieve new levels of understanding and insight.

This will involve audacity, clarity and plain speaking; trying to straighten my accounts with the world. But there will be time, too, for some fun (and even some silliness, as well).
Continue reading the main story
Continue reading the main story

I feel a sudden clear focus and perspective. There is no time for anything inessential. I must focus on myself, my work and my friends. I shall no longer look at “NewsHour” every night. I shall no longer pay any attention to politics or arguments about global warming.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/19/opinion/oliver-sacks-on-learning-he-has-terminal-cancer.html

 

[Ultimatepip]

Oliver Sacks announces he has terminal cancer:



Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/19/opinion/oliver-sacks-on-learning-he-has-terminal-cancer.html

That's really is a bummer

 

[heady muscle]

I got to meet Dave Draper back in the mid eighties in Santa Cruz through a family friend. What a treat for a 16 year old inspiring young body builder. He was candid and friendly and pretty much open arms. What a great memory.

 

[hammerfist2]

@heady muscle thats crazy. I have the same story and same time period too. I was a teen powerlifter and my dad just moved to Santa Cruz. We went to his gym and my dad brought me over to meet him. I remember he had huge hands and wrapped his whole hand over mine. Lol Super awesome guy and always came over to talk to me when I was lifting. Talk about motivation. I trained there for a few months before heading back to TX with my mom. Dont remember the exact years but I do remember another teenage lifter there. Small world if that was you..

 

[heady muscle]

@heady muscle thats crazy. I have the same story and same time period too. I was a teen powerlifter and my dad just moved to Santa Cruz. We went to his gym and my dad brought me over to meet him. I remember he had huge hands and wrapped his whole hand over mine. Lol Super awesome guy and always came over to talk to me when I was lifting. Talk about motivation. I trained there for a few months before heading back to TX with my mom. Dont remember the exact years but I do remember another teenage lifter there. Small world if that was you..

It was 84' for me. That's cool. He was a very approachable person. I didn't live in Santa Cruz, up north in San Mateo at the time, but would go done with the family friend to Santa Cruz. He was a giant at that time still.

 

[skywalker33]

Really? That Oliver Sacks??? I've read all his books as part of my graduate studies and I would have never guessed that he was into lifting let alone boasting a 600+ pound squat! If you have any interest in neurobiology or abnormal psychology I would highly recommend his books as some of the case studies he talks about are really cool.

 

[Millard]

RIP Oliver Sacks.

NYT Obit: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/31/s...st-and-author-explored-the-brains-quirks.html

 

[heady muscle]

RIP. Heard about it on the Radio this morning over coffee.