It is always sad to hear of someone being cut down in their prime; especially someone like Mighty Joe Rollino.
Joe Rollino was a weightlifter a strongman, a boxer, a bodyguard, and a WWII veteran; and he was fatally injured last week when a minivan ran him over as he crossed the street near his home in Brooklyn. Joe Rollino was 104 years old.
Okay, so Mighty Joe wasn’t in his prime at the time of his death, but he was probably still in the kind of shape I was in my prime, so it counts.
He was born in 1905, one of 14 children of immigrants, and said in a 2008 interview that he was “born strong.” At the height of his career, he had dubbed himself the world’s strongest man, and could lift over 3,000 pounds with his back.
In one feat of strength he lifted 635 pounds with one finger, and another he lifted 450 pounds with his teeth. He could bend nails with his chompers, and coins in his bare hands.
Standing a mere five-foot-five and weighing 150 pounds, he went on to become a bodyguard for screen legend Greta Garbo and friend to the great Harry Houdini.
The legend of his military service tells how he would run onto the field of battle, grab two injured men under one arm, then two more under the other, and carry them to safety.
During his later years, he was known for winter swimming, and was part of an Iceberg Athletic Club for 20 years.
In spite of his legendary exploits, Joe Rollino lived a life of relative obscurity, rarely granting interviews or appearing in public. It was enough for Mighty Joe to simply live well, live strong, and carry himself with a quiet strength and confidence.
The fact that he died at the hands of a minivan is tragic. There was a time when a car would have hit Joe, bounced, and sustained thousands of dollars in damage.
A man like Mighty Joe should never have been pinned under the wheels of some soccer mom’s trusty grocery getter.
Unless he was lifting it above his head.
Men like Joe Rollino die with barbells on their chests, or wrestling alligators, or catching bullets with their teeth. Even after suffering head, rib and chest injuries, plus a broken pelvis, it still took the man hours to die.
Mighty Joe was aptly named, and was still going strong until the very end. It would be nice to think I could be in that kind of shape at half his age, but that means I’ll have to make it to 52.
If there is a lesson to be learned here, it is that regular walking for physical fitness is hazardous to your health.
If you have to, try and walk where there aren’t any minivans. Just don’t get your hopes up. The odds of living to age 104 are better than that.