NEWSWORTHIES

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

ALAN JONES

"On July 4 I'll do about 100,000 sit-ups as a promotion for a barbell company in Pennsylvania. Then I'll drive to New York for a swim across the Hudson River. It'll be a short swim, just a mile or so . . . but my hands and feet will be tied. Next I plan to join a 400-mile bicycle race across the state of Iowa. The other folks will use two-wheelers, but I'll be on a unicycle. And after that—around January 1, 1979—I'll ski across Canada from the Pacific to the Atlantic with my white arctic wolf, Pierre, running along at my side."

We were listening, dumbfounded, as Alan M. Jones ( alias "Captain A. Merica" ) was telling MOTHER some of his plans for the next few months. Mr. Jones is the amazing person who keeps popping up all over the country to swim rivers (lengthwise!) . . . lift enormous weights (for hours at a time) . . . jump rope (for days and days without sleep) . . . and accomplish other fantastic feats that would astound statisticians even at the Guinness Book of World Records!

"It's just a lot of fun," Alan says about his hobby. "I want to show America that anyone can keep his body in shape with just a little good nutrition and regular exercise. The human body can accomplish much more than most people realize, and I enjoy proving it."

Mr. Jones first became aware of what physical fitness is all about when he joined the Marine Corps in 1969. But after eight years in the Corps, he had progressed far beyond its idea of "being in shape". And so he began turning his finely honed abilities into a full-time vocation of telethon, benefit, and even county fair appearances.

During the next year or so, Alan Jones plans to hike, bicycle, swim, kayak, and cross-country ski completely around the world. And after that? Well, we wouldn't be surprised to see him start to leap tall buildings with a single bound sometime in the early 1980's! -JR.

CHRISTOPHER BIRD

Christopher Bird was born into an oldline Bostonian family and educated at Harvard, yet so far he's managed to lead quite an unconventional life. He's fluent in several languages, and has—at various times in his career—translated a Russian novel, been an art and drama critic in Hawaii and a Time correspondent in Yugoslavia, and worked for the CIA.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print