Dave Appeared On Nearly 30 Major Muscle and Health Magazine Covers 
During The 1960s and Early 1970s!
Dave Advertised Protein Drinks and Other Health Related Products In The Health and Muscle Building Magazines. During My Early Teens, This Ad Motivated Me In Obtaining High Protein Powder From Various Health Companies and Mixing Them Up In A Blender, Just Like Dave Did! Unfortunately, The Drinks Failed To Help Me Gain Weight. But They Did Taste Great! DAVE'S ENCOUNTER WITH EMOTIONAL DESPAIR AND UNHAPPINESS
Indeed, throughout the 1960s and early 1970s It Seemed That Dave, the Athletic and Moral Hero Of Young People, Had Everything. Unfortunately, though, bodybuilding during the mid 1970s became less personal, friendly, and health promoting. It became a dog-eat-dog enterprise, and as a morally sound and sensitive young man, and as a Christian, Dave became disheartened by the greed and ultra competive attitude of the industry. As a result, Dave began to become depressed and alienated from the new bodybuilding movement. Moreover, he lost some key bodybuilding contests and one or two to a young teenager and friend named Arnold Schwarzenegger.
By the mid 70s I noticed that Dave no longer appeared on the cover of muscle and health building magazines. Because of his disenchantment with the bodybuilding buisness, he became unsure of himself and left the bodybuilding industry and disapeared from public view.
During the 1970s and 1980s he almost became homeless and turned to drugs and alcholol to find relief from his inner conflicts. Sometimes he lived in old cars. He also experienced deep depression and an episode of congestive heart failure that nearly killed him. However, some people still believed in him, and after Dave finally hit rock bottom, he experienced a second chance, and found the strength and resolution to address his addictions and inner distress. Dave wrote in his first book, 'Brother Iron, Sister Steel: A Bodybuilder's Book', that his "eyes cleared and I looked at the black and white and smoldering landscape around me . . . I plugged into the gym and resuscitated the soul." He obtained employment at various health clubs during the late 1980s and in the 1990s, he became owner of a World Gym in California. Now Dave owns two World Gyms in Santa Cruz, California.
| About 1970, Just Before Dave's Personal Hardships |
|
|
| About 23 Years Later, Early 1990s |
|
| This Photo Indicates That Dave Surely Did Experience Victory Over His 1970s & 80s Hardships |
| Dave Working Out At One Of His World Gyms, 1990s |
|
Dave Draper encountered a second chance and wisely built a new life that became an inspiration to me and other people who are sitting on the Edge, waiting and hoping for a second chance, for an opportunity to count for something. In a world that is full of unhappiness, poverty, social injustice, and violence, Dave's new life shines like a beacon at the end of the tunnel. Please check out Dave's Web Site at: WWW.DaveDraper.com. Now as Dave would say, "Back To The Iron!" If Dave has been important to you, please send me an e-mail and I'll post it to this site. Also if his workout program has enhanced your physique, send a picture and I'll post it. Thanks, Larry. mail to: lrobse@hotmail.com
|
