Caged Lion
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Product Details
Publisher: Last Leaf Press
Release Date: May 20, 2020
Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, Ebook, Audiobook
ISBN: HC: 978-1-7334307-2-2; PB: 978-1-7334307-0-8; EB: 978-1-7334307-1-5
Trim: 6.14 x 9.21
Page Count: 214
Joseph Pilates and His Legacy
John Howard Steel
Part biography, part history, and part memoir, Caged Lion untangles for the first time Joseph Pilates’s opaque life story and the perilous journey of his exercise program known the world over as Pilates.
This is the story of Joseph Pilates, a gifted man who immigrated to the United States at forty-three with no assets or credentials. He not only invented an exercise regimen—which today is practiced by more than ten million people—but in the process, reinvented himself.
John Howard Steel brings Joseph Pilates and his eponymous exercise regime to life from his unique perspective as a student, friend, and confidant. Joe’s influence profoundly changed Steel’s life; in turn, Steel was crucial for the survival of the Pilates Method and Joe’s legacy. Steel’s vivid account traces the expansion of Pilates from a small cadre of dedicated adherents, through two periods of near extinction, to the global sensation it is today. Steel describes Joseph Pilates’s years as a prisoner during World War I, Joe’s motivation to discover his system of exercises, his inspirational teaching technique, and the unique attraction of the Pilates Method. It’s quite a story.
About the Author
John Howard Steel practiced law for sixty years and Pilates for nearly as long. As one of the few people still alive who studied with and knew Joseph Pilates both in and out of his studio, Steel is in a unique position to tell this story. Steel has been interviewed in numerous publications and regularly lectures to teachers and studio owners on the history of Pilates. He lives in Santa Barbara, with his wife, Bunny. This is his first book.
Visit the author’s website at johnhowardsteel.com
Reviews
“This story is rich with suspense, intrigue, humor, and information about Joseph Pilates that you’ve never heard before.” —Kristi Cooper, founder of Pilates Anytime
“John Steel’s vivid firsthand account of his unlikely friendship—and his life-changing workout routines—with the legendary Joseph Pilates reads like a ballet fairy tale. But it’s all true.” —Todd S. Purdum, author of Something Wonderful: Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Broadway Revolution
“John Howard Steel is a great writer with a fascinating tale to tell!” —Anne Marie O’Connor, executive editor of Pilates Style magazine