Step Up

Thank you [Bonnie Siegler] and everyone at American Fitness magazine for writing such a super article ("Young at Heart," March/April 2000). We have had a number of copies sent to our office. Everyone has enjoyed it and commented on how well it was written. Please, also send our congratulations to your art department for printing such a fabulous cover. You all should be very proud of a job well done.

It was a real pleasure working with you and thanks again from the bottom of my athletic heart.

Jack LaLanne

Supplement Site

In your January/February 2000 article on supplements, you provided the FDA Web site address to obtain a list of supplements with adverse health effects. I have been to that site and cannot locate this list. Can you fax or e-mail me a copy of the list?

Melinda Winger Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Editor's note: In reference to your e-mail to American Fitness, the Web site for the list you seek is at -- http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/fdsuppch.html.> Crocodile Controversy

As usual, your "Fitness 2000" editorial was dead on--most of it anyway. One conclusion, however, was dead wrong. "Dave the Croc Hunter" is off-limits for my kids. I don't want them to think wildlife has to be rescued from nature by some raving nutcase who bills himself a "hunter." Living at one with nature and respecting its life/death cycle is far more real than disrupting it. "Functional fitness?" I'll tell the greased bodybuilders I know, who are also firefighters, paramedics, cops, registered nurses, soldiers, moms, dads and trainers, that their contributions are not as important as some self-promoting, unsafe defiler of the wilderness. I don't want to seem too harsh, but you really hit a nerve.

David A. Shogren, R.N., EMT Kingsville, Texas

Editor's reply:

Good to hear from you! I'm always delighted when readers take the time to let us know how they feel on a subject--and your letter was passionate.

Being an avid environmentalist, I really am shocked at how you describe Crocodile Dave as a "defiler of the wilderness." Perhaps something doesn't come through the thick Aussie accent and humorous approach. He and his wife are strong conservation supporters and advocates for habitat preservation. The "hunter" in his title refers to finding the animal and learning about it, not finding and killing it. The mission of the cable channel "Animal Planet" is to enhance the lives and conditions of the planet's animals.

But your other point is well taken. No one group needs to be put down in favor of another's celebrity. Service and humane works are performed by people of every fitness capacity, every walk of life--from the "greased bodybuilders" to the second-shift night janitor. As an EMT, you get to rub elbows with everyday heroes and we're all better off for it.

Peg Jordan, R.N., M.A. Editor, American Fitness

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