Available September 2003 1-55380-009-5,  BISAC: BIO016000, SPO006000  6 x 9 250 pp $19.95 pb  includes b&w photos  Biography, Weightlifting, Doug Hepburn

Tom Thurston has written the first biography of one of Canada's athletic legends, Doug Hepburn. Born in Vancouver with a club foot and a severe alternating squint, Doug decided as a boy to surmount his disabilities by training with weights, setting his sights on becoming the world's strongest man. And this he achieved. Doug is now known as the grandfather of modern "power weightlifting." He was World Weightlifting Champion in Stockholm in 1953, and he won the gold medal in the British Empire Games in Vancouver in 1954. Joe Weider and others claimed that Doug may have been the strongest man in history. But there was much more to Doug than his weightlifting. He went on to become an eloquent advocate for drug-free sport, and he made a reputation as an inventor. As a singer, he became well-known for his own compositions. Radio stations still play the Hepburn Carol each Christmas. For those interested in building a super-strong body that will last well into old age, Doug's complete, drug-free training secrets are revealed in a way that are easy to understand and employ. For those looking for the inspiration to tackle some of their own goals, Doug Hepburn presents a fine role model. For all Doug's successes as a strongman, his life was filled with much sadness, many setbacks and even, at times, poverty. Thurston's biography does justice to all aspects of Doug's life, illuminating the fortitude with which he met his many challenges. A truly splendid biography with many black and white photographs.

"A poet, storyteller, inventor, singer, philosopher, and the world's strongest man, Doug Hepburn was a unique and genuine Canadian hero. Strongman sensitively chronicles the life of a man who was unheralded in his own country but revered around the world." — Paul Bjarnason, Canadian Weightlifting Champion, 1966, 1970

Tom Thurston was born in Creston, British Columbia and grew up on his parents' fruit farm a few miles from town. Moving to Vancouver for a time, he studied urban land economics. He has a 4th-degree black belt in Taekwon-do and was part of the team that won gold at the 1978 World Championships in Oklahoma City. For many years he was a close friend of Doug Hepburn and also his business manager. In addition to completing the biography of Doug Hepburn, Tom has written a number of screenplays, several of which are presently being considered by major film companies. Tom makes his home in Cranbrook, British Columbia, where he lives "a contented bachelor's life."