On June 21, 2013 after 22 years of waiting and missed opportunities I finally met in person
the man that is responsible for where I am in grip today and this is none other than Richard Sorin!
Without a doubt this was the highlight of my Grip career!!!
Richard Sorin is considered the grandfather of Modern Day Grip! He's the first man to ever certify on a COC #3 hand gripper and the man that came up with the Blob. A half of a 100 lb. York DB of the first generation of York DB's! Richard is a living icon for the sport of Grip and his many feats and accomplishments are too numerous to list without writing a short book.
I first learned of Richard from Warren Tetting in late 1989/early 1990's. I wrote Richard a letter and the rest is history! We continued to write each other and talked over the phone many, many hours! Richard sent me my first taste of real grip history by sharing copies of articles from vintage muscle magazines such as Iron Man, Strength & Health, and many others! I have every letter Richard ever wrote me and even kept some of the envelopes that contain the post mark as historical records for myself and my collection. I have many signed pics from Richard and several grippers Richard has sent me as gifts to mark our friendship and our mutual love and obsession with all things Strength and Grip related!
Below is some pics minutes after we met at the hotel in South Caroline where me and my traveled to attend the Sorinex Summer Strong VI annual strength festival in celebration of Richard's birthday! Richard and his son Bert treated us like royalty while visiting and we can't THANK them enough for such kindness and generosity!
Lastly, I also attached a few pics of the most significant gripper I own to date and will ever own that Richard gave me as a gift a week prior to our visit and our actual meeting each other for the first time! This gripper is 1 of 3 grippers Richard had custom made by Robert Baraban himself labeled as the World's Toughest Gripper! There was a limited number of these amazing grippers ever made. Richard had 3 made with the date of his birthday on each handle along with Sorin on the other handle. One gripper had 006 for the month he was born, another had 026 marking the day he was born and the third gripper he had made had 050 stamped on the handle marking the year he was born. Richard said he never thought he would separate these grippers and this is just how truly special this gripper is to me and will always be the center piece of my museum/collection!
One day I will make a blog post of Richard's feats and achievements in grip and strength he's achieved over the years! Richard has been involved in the iron Game since he was 13 years old and has never looked back!
Hope you enjoyed this story as much as I've enjoyed sharing it!
