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Gualala Arts

Promoting public interest and participation in the arts since 1961.

Archive of past events: 2004 through 2014


Gualala Arts Lecture Series presents:
Anything in Life is Possible
and YOU Can Make it Happen!

with Elaine LaLanne
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
6:00 p.m. Meet & Greet
7:00 p.m. Lecture          

Suggested donation $5 - $25,
no one turned away for lack of funds

Community Resources Connection (CRC) is offering rides to and from the event for those who
would prefer not to drive themselves. Contact them at (800) 395-8984 no later than Sunday, October 20.

Elaine & Jack LaLanne Denny Gold, Fitness Consultant for Redwood Coast Medical Services (RCMS), has arranged for fitness advocate Elaine LaLanne to visit the Gualala Arts Center for a lecture about her life with her husband Jack LaLanne, her television and writing career, and her lifelong devotion to fitness and health.

Now in her late 80s, Elaine looks decades younger and credits her appearance and vitality to nutrition, exercise and a healthy lifestyle. Join Denny and Elaine for an entertaining and informative evening that will include an hour long meet and greet followed by Elaine's lecture and concluding with a question and answer session with the audience.

Elaine LaLanne was born in "Middle America" Minneapolis, Minnesota, where it was not uncommon to lunch on hot dogs, ice cream, chocolate doughnuts, candy and soft drinks. A smoker at age 27 and still continuing her Midwest eating habits, Elaine worked at KGO, an ABC-TV affiliate in San Francisco. There she co-hosted and booked talent for the Les Malloy Show, a very popular local talk and variety program with a 12 piece orchestra, which aired each weekday from 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

It was there she first met Jack LaLanne, who said to her "You should be eating apples and oranges and bananas and if I didn't like you, I wouldn't tell you this." Elaine remembers looking up at him while puffing on her cigarette saying, "Oh yeah?" Jack's comment made her take a good hard look at herself and her life.

Elaine LaLanne She remembered all the physical and mental obstacles she had in her life. Her days as a synchronized swimmer years prior in the early '40s posed challenges in itself: keeping her head above water while performing and with a smile. Another challenge that presented itself to her was to quit smoking and give up the chocolate donuts and bear claws, which she did. She then decided to take a hard look at herself: her chest line was sinking to her waistline and her legs were getting that washboard look.

She decided to start exercising daily at a class that Jack conducted during lunchtime at the studio. Elaine overhauled her eating habits and her results were remarkable. Her skin became smoother and tighter. She had actually transformed her body through proper exercise and diet by reaching small goals while looking towards the finish line. Through the years she has overcome many injuries, and has never given up.

So how did they get together? As Elaine puts it, "we danced at a company party and we danced ever since." From that time on she has made it her mission to stand beside Jack and preach the fitness message to all who would listen.

Today Elaine, a television pioneer who appeared in the first live television commercials in San Francisco in 1948, says she feels 29. Now in her late-eighties, she looks nothing like her age. She has written five books: Fitness After Fifty, Dynastride, Fitness After Fifty Workout, Total Juicing and Eating Right For A New You.

Jack LaLanne at 92 with his wife Elaine She was also a national spokesperson for Post Bran Flakes, and besides appearing on the Jack LaLanne Shows she has also appeared on numerous television and radio shows worldwide, including The Today Show, The Early Show, Good Morning America, Howard Stern, Tony Danza, Bonnie Hunt and many more.

As President of Befit Enterprises, the parent company for the Jack LaLanne Brand, Elaine still travels all over the world preaching and lecturing on Jack's message of better living through exercise and nutrition. She also continues Jack's message, along with their son Jon, through Jack Lalanne Power Juicer infomercials.

"If you are around her for any length of time," Jack used to say, "you will find that her enthusiasm for life is contagious. She can still do pushups and chin-ups; she's a terrific golfer, expert water skier and swimmer. She is a lecturer, author, civic leader and businesswoman; a super wife and my best friend. To me she is living proof of all that a woman can be."


The Gualala Arts Center, located at 46501 Old State Highway in Gualala, CA,
is open weekdays 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and weekends from noon to 4:00 p.m.
Please call (707) 884-1138 for more information, or email info@gualalaarts.org.

Serving the coastal communities of northern Sonoma & southern Mendocino Counties.