[pct-l] a jungle out there?

[bjensen4@juno.com (Birgitte Jensen)]

   Did any of you catch this Sunday's NY Times profile (in
the"Obsessions" section) of one Phil Petras, "who has devoted much of his
life becoming the master archivist about, and living replica of, Tarzan,
Lord of the Jungle"?
    The posts from the Manly Men in the group made me think of the
article -- it's no more off-topic than the dog/cat food thread (shame on
you guys - some of us are Senior Citizens and have no choice! <g>) Lemme
toss out a few quotes/paraphrases to keep it short; if I'm in violation
of copyright law here, I'm sure somebody'll let me know....
    At age 6 Mr Petras, "a frail timid boy in a town devoted to Big Steel
and Penn State football" "caught the last 20 minutes of a Johnny
Weissmuller film" and began collecting memorabillia. At 17 "something
snapped" while watching Steve Reeves in Duel Of The Titans, and "it
dawned on [him] that he could BECOME Tarzan". He set up a gym in his
folks' basement  and started lifting weights [and bleached his hair/hit
the tanning machines too, if the accompanying photo in any indicator; at
48, he looks uncannily like one of those late-career Elvis
impersonators..]. "His mom drew the line when a cousin proposed slitting
Phil's brow with a hunting knife to give him Tarzan's trademark scar."
    "Infected by this unique mal d'Afrique" [I LOVE that bit!], Phil's
Tarzan fever burns hot in "a remote, hilly coal town where a deeply
tanned, muscle-bound and hopeful bachelor still lives in his father's
basement, surrounded by 4,000 momentos and awaiting the call from
Hollywood". 
    "'I'm not some weird fan, like a Trekkie" Petras protests. Rather,
he's a disciple of the man he considers the _ideal_ man - or as he puts
it, 'the liberated second self of concentrated power, grandeur and
magnificence. This' he says 'is a great year to be Tarzan.'"
         

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