"He came with a great purpose, which was to reach out to everybody of all sizes. And somebody said, 'love them back to health.' And that was his mission, and it fueled him night and day."
"I get a phone call, and he sends me an incredible number of flowers. Each had the same card on it, 'I trust you.' And we talked on the phone, and he said he was ready to come tell his story. It was the old Richard. And then, as we know, not long after, he died."
"You couldn't go anywhere without seeing Richard Simmons. Yes, and he was hilarious and surprising. And he kind of lit up the room every time he arrived - surprised everybody."
"Shortly after his death, Simmons' brother reached out to Sawyer to finish telling his story, along with those closest to the star. Sawyer compared the experience to 'a mosaic. (It) gave me tiles and pieces of the mosaic to put together who'"
Richard Simmons became famous in the late 1970s and early 1980s through motivational fitness classes and widely popular exercise videos. He opened his own studio, later appeared on General Hospital as himself, and hosted The Richard Simmons Show. His mission focused on reaching people of all sizes and encouraging them to return to health. In 2014 he began a sudden seclusion, and about ten years later he contacted Diane Sawyer by sending an “incredible number of flowers” with the same card message, “I trust you.” Sawyer spoke with him by phone and said he was ready to tell his story. After his death, his brother contacted Sawyer to help complete the story with input from those closest to him.
#richard-simmons #fitness-and-wellness #television-and-media #disappearance-mystery #motivation-and-inclusivity
Read at ABC7 Los Angeles
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