Issue #366 – Wednesday, April 20, 2022
TheWall Of Fame Fridays
by Cathy Strack
Joe Pilates taught his method to many famous men and women during his lifetime. The walls of his studio at 939 Eighth Avenue in New York City were covered with photographs signed by many of his students who expressed their devotion and appreciation for his work. Picking up on this idea, I decided to create a virtual wall to acknowledge people in the Pilates community, past and present, who have contributed to the work and spirit of Pilates. Along the lines of Teaser Tuesdays and Wunda Wednesdays, there is now Wall Of Fame Fridays. Each Friday, on Facebook (and sometimes on Instagram) you can find my posts that feature the work of someone who has contributed to the Pilates community.
The Wall Of Fame Friday posts began on October 23, 2020, with Tony Carlino, who was Joe Pilates friend and barber. Tony epitomizes the spirit of positivity and the lasting benefits of the Pilates method. The two men met in the late 1940s when Joe stopped in for a shave and a hair cut at Tony’s barber shop in the small town of Lee, Massachusetts. (Joe had a small cabin down the road in Beckett.) Tony was one of several local businessmen who enjoyed the benefits of the Pilates method.
Since that first Wall Of Fame Friday post, many other accomplished people have been featured. As of this writing, there are over 60 posts highlighting the work and history of Pilates as it manifests in those that knew him and carry on his work. Many of the original Pilates teachers such as Mary Bowen, Kathy Grant, Ron Fletcher, Eve Gentry, and Jay Grimes have been recognized. In turn, some of their students, along with Romana Kryzanowska’s students, have been featured. Well known among that group are Mari Winsor, Sari Mejia Santo, Brooke Siler, Moses Urbano, and Phoebe Higgins. Clients of the original studio, the studio building, and those that lived there have also been acknowledged in Wall Of Fame Friday posts.
It has been especially gratifying to share the stories of people like Hanna Sakmirda from December 18, 2020. Little was known about her until I located her relatives and researched her personal life. Hanna Sakmirda emigrated from Germany to New York in 1924 when she was 21 years old with plans to work as a household maid. She eventually found her way to Joe and Clara Pilates, working as their assistant for many years. While at the Pilates studio, Hanna helped with cooking and cleaning duties and drove Joe and Clara to their cottage near Jacob’s Pillow. Hanna also learned the Pilates exercises and helped train and supervise the clients. After Joe died, Hanna continued to teach with Clara. Hanna wrote to her family members in Germany that she considered taking over the studio after Joe’s death but felt that she was already too old to carry on the work the way it should be done. Hanna lived a long and active life, always proud of the work that she did in the Pilates studio.
Sometimes the Wall Of Fame Friday post is not about a person, but about a book, or a place, or a business. On August 6, 2021, the firm of Merks and Clark was featured. If the names Marks & Clerk sound familiar to you it is only because you may have done a deep dive into the history of Pilates apparatus. This legal firm represented Joseph Pilates on a few of his early patents for the Gymnastic Apparatus (early Reformer) and the Catapult (just what it sounds like). Marks & Clerk was founded in 1887 by George Croydon Marks who was joined in partnership by Dugald Clerk. Marks was a renowned engineer, former colleague of Thomas Edison, and later an elected Member of Parliament. Clerk was an inventor, a Fellow of the Royal Society, and a Knight of the Realm. By 1911 the British press recognized Marks & Clerk as being the greatest firm of its kind. Joseph Pilates met with lawyers at the Marks & Clerk office located at 22 Broadway, New York City, in November/December 1925. (They opened offices around the world, though they no longer have an office in New York.) Their records have since been destroyed as a matter of general housekeeping but would have been protected by client confidentiality laws. So, we may never know what was discussed and planned between Pilates and his lawyers. But we do have the patents to study and the equipment to work on, so their dealings can be considered a success.
Stay tuned for more Wall Of Fame Friday posts as I work through the list of Pilates clients published in the Pilates Pamphlet, old census records of those that lived and worked in the same building as the Pilates studio, and in acknowledging the hard work of many Pilates teachers past and present.
Cathy Barker Strack became a personal trainer and Pilates Instructor as a second career. She began practicing Pilates in 2001 and completed her first certification in 2003 at White Cloud Studio in Cleveland, Ohio. She owned a studio, Precision Pilates, for over 10 years. Most recently, Cathy completed the Power Pilates Bridge program. Along the way, she realized there was very little accurate and personal information about Joseph Pilates and less information about those entrusted to carry on his teachings. The desire to know more about these people led Cathy on a journey of research and interviews resulting in her first book, Love All Around, The Romana Kryzanowska Biography. Cathy has also republished The Pilates Pamphlet: Return To Life Through Contrology, originally published by Joseph Pilates in 1957. A second edition is also now available featuring stories related to Jacob’s Pillow at www.cathystrack.com.
Cathy is currently working on a comprehensive biography about Joseph Pilates featuring some of the stories about Joe as told by the people that knew him. Expected to be published in 2022, this biography is titled Get To Know Joe Pilates. A third book featuring the lives of other first generation Pilates teachers is being planned with a working title They All Go To Joe. Cathy lives in Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband and four cats. Cathy works as a Pilates teacher at BodyMind Balance (http://bmbpilates.com) when she is not busy writing. You can find her on Facebook as Cathy Barker Strack or on Instagram @cathycincinnati.