In the early 70s I worked for Computer Image in Los Angeles where I created a kids TV series pilot with Jack LaLanne called Fit & Fun Time. It combined live action (I directed Jack in front of blue screen at an LA TV station) combined with some of the first computer animation (which I directed in Denver, using a room full of enormous Honeywell tape bank computers).
Jack would come to meetings and give me a thump in the chest with the back of his hand and ask, "How ya doin, Boy Genius?" I rarely had enough wind left in me to answer.
Jack was the real deal. The guy was fit. One day at his house he had his maid give me a tour of his basement gym. She told me he worked out down there from 4AM to 6AM every morning. On some mornings she told me his pal Clint Eastwood would come over and they'd work out together.
Jack died today. He almost seemed immortal. He was a role model who never fell off his pedestal. It just gave out underneath him. So long Jack. Happy trails.
