Joe Rollino
"The Great" Joe Rollino bends a spike with his teeth. According to an article in Strength and Health, some of Rollino's best lifts include: a teeth lift of 475 pounds, a one-finger lift of 635 pounds, a deadlift of 585 pounds, a curl of 185 pounds, a back lift of 3200 pounds, and a hand and thigh lift of 1500 pounds -- all at a bodyweight of only 175 pounds.
Photo and caption from John Wood at http://www.oldtimestrongman.com/
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The bent circle of metal sitting on the corner of my desk was once worth 25 cents. It was given to me by a vigorous fellow at the 2007 AOBS dinner in Saddle Brook, New Jersey. He was not large in stature, but he was full spunk and he darted around the tables visiting the guests like he knew them all.
The annual gathering of lifting enthusiasts—authentic ironheads, muscleheads, strongmen and powerlifters— is a ton of fun with friendly acts, casual seminars and metal jousting and plenty of fellowship and brotherhood. It’s a celebration of strength and health, muscle and physical culture. I, along with weightlifters Mike Karchut and John Davis, received the highly respected honoree awards that year.
I stashed it in my shirt. Another thing of note: Saddle Brook is a stone’s throw as a muskrat travels from my hometown of Secaucus.
Anyway, this guy comes up to me amid the evening events and introduces himself as Joe Rollino, a long-time fan of strength and health and other related high-jinks. Laree’s with me and we hang for awhile exchanging stories and our appreciation of all things iron and heavy. Nice guy, down to earth, real eastcoast, no bunk... love it... miss it.
The crowds shift at these parties like clouds on a fall day, and before you know it, Laree’s talking with someone’s wife, Joe blends with another moving mass and I’m looking for a cushioned chair, a recliner perhaps. I was an achy 64-year-old at the time.
Not 10 seconds goes by and another old-timer steps to my side. A big guy, he looks down at me (I hate that), puts his beefy hand on my shoulder as he leans in close and says, “My name’s Slim. Joe’s 102.”
Nobody’s 102. I hear the mountainous man and think it must be an echo. I look up at him and I look stupid. Slim’s nodding, and says, “I’m 76, Joe’s 26 years older than me. He’s 102.”
“No way” automatically blurts out of my mouth, followed by, “Are you kidding?” “Can’t be” and “Who says?” After a few more clever responses, the fact sank into my nimble mind.
Well, sorta. 102 is really, really old. That’s a whole century, plus two. Gee, Joe was nine when Jack Lalanne was born. It’s possible, maybe in a nursing home with tubes and nurses; maybe on the 10 o’clock news or on page 67 in The Book of Marvels and Wonders. But in living color and sound and touch...
I’m craning my neck to find Joe among the bobbing heads, like he’s precious and I want to protect him. What? Am I nuts? He has 37 years more practice and he’s much better at it than I.
Gone. Probably in the men’s lounge doing pushups and one-handed chins.
The evening wound down before midnight and Laree and I bid farewell to new friends. Out of nowhere Joe pulled up alongside us and shoved a quarter in my hand. He said he bent it for me and, “Don’t lose it; it’s worth 25 cents.”
We moseyed out the door together and planned to see each other next year.
I couldn’t make it the following year; I had bypass surgery. Joe was there, and the year that followed.
Joe Rollino, who would have been 105 in March, was struck by a mini-van Monday as he crossed Bay Ridge Parkway in Brooklyn, and suffered a broken pelvis, head trauma and broken ribs.
We cannot help but wonder how long Joe might have lived, if... We’re so human.
I miss him more than ever. That bent quarter isn’t for sale. It’s priceless. God bless you, Joe, from now through eternity.
In the forum, we’re having a conversation about Joe, and in the discussion people are uploading photos and links to stories about him. Here’s where to join in if you have a link, story or photo to share: Joe Rollino.
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