A big nose, large protruding ears, black horn rimmed glasses, a Polish surname, and all the stature of a 99 pound weakling caused Ralph to be a focal point for the cruelty of his classmates. Being Polish, only added to his misery. He heard so many Pollock jokes, his self confidence was next to zero. His only escape was the land of fantasy.

Comic book super heroes like Superman and Batman provided a vehicle to escape a hostile world. At times the physical and emotional pain were so severe, Ralph created a hero in his mind to help him survive. This hero was strong, handsome, and intelligent. He had a perfectly muscled body and could overcome any obstacle.

A poor diet was a major contributing factor to Ralph's health problems. Candy, soft drinks, donuts, pastries, and ice cream were eaten in large quantities. When he arrived home, the perpetual diet of canned Spam and fish sticks was not appealing. The incredible amounts of sugar and caffeine caused hyperactivity, poor scholastic performance, and disciplinary problems.

In 1964, at the age of 13, Ralph was fed up with his life and constantly considered suicide. He desperately wanted plastic surgery to shrink the size of his nose and ears. Unfortunately, it was a hopeless cause. The ugly black horn rimmed glasses remained. The thought of being a nerd forever perpetuated the feelings of depression and despair. The money was not there. His struggling middle class parents worked their fingers to the bone to provide clothing, food, and shelter.

A choice had to be made--death or life. The unnamed hero Ralph had created so many years ago would not let him give up. Finally, after days of reflection the decision was made. Life! In one of the comic books, an ad for Joe Weider protein and a course on how to build the body of a super hero provided the inspiration. A set of free weights combined with a book on nutrition by Adele Davis were the tools for transformation.

As Ralph changed his diet and worked out, the changes were nothing short of incredible. His mind started to work and performance in school soared, resulting in a scholarship to high school. His muscles started to grow in a matter of months. The wimp, who always had sand kicked in his proverbial face, started to grow. Skinny arms and legs began to fill out. A flat chest blossomed. Confidence increased with the measurements. Ralph thought, "If I have muscles, I'll beat up anyone who is mean to me, calls me Pollock and tells stupid Pollock jokes."

This created a problem. Ralph did not fit in. He gradually became a nerd with muscles. Group activities and sports held no attraction. Ralph became a loner. His social skills were retarded. Attending an all boy school minimized any interaction with the opposite sex. After a few rejections at dances, Ralph devoted his time to reading books on health, body-building, surfing and tennis.

Ralph experienced success in these areas, becoming a muscle-bound honor student, tennis champion and skilled surfer. But happiness eluded him. He wanted to fit in and have relationships with girls, but did not fit any stereotype. Body-building, surfing and tennis were little known sports and treated accordingly. Baseball, football and basketball were the measure of the man. The most popular boys participated in all three.

After high school, Ralph attended Revelle College, at the University of California of San Diego. He was excited about attending classes with the opposite sex, but was he in for a rude awakening.  The La Jolla campus was populated by a high percentage of boys who were tops in their schools. The scholastic competition was intense. Few girls were interested in this type of atmosphere. There were only a few hundred students in the Freshman class and no graduating class in 1967. At least Ralph had found a home with all the other academic nerds of all shapes and sizes. No one seemed to care about a muscle bound nerd.

The pressure of school, working full time at the Mission Valley May Company and no social life was intense. The liberal education mandated by the University of California system caused extreme alienation. The ethics and morals of his parents were considered unacceptable and outdated. This created severe family problems. The flower power of the late sixties with drugs, promiscuous sex and rebellion against all authority was tempting and found another willing disciple.

The breakdown of Ralph's Catholic upbringing and respect for authority created alienation and depression. In December of 1971, after his first great love affair ended in disaster, the desire to end it all returned with a vengeance. Life had lost it's meaning. He did not know where he was at or where he was going. Again the unnamed hero inside made the difference between life and suicide.

After college Ralph continued working for May Co but was moved to the Whittier store because he refused to sell TV and stereos he considered inferior. He hated Los .Angeles because of the smog but did fall in love again. Ralph decided to go into real estate, took the course and passed. He was transferred to Carlsbad May Co and worked 3 months before entering real estate full time. His girlfriend moved to San Diego State to work on her masters.

In December of 1973, the relationship faltered. The interests rates went up to 12% and Ralph's deals in escrow fell through. The financial pressures and distance contributed to an unhappy ending to the relationship.

In January of 1974, Ralph decided to go back into tennis and give tennis lessons. He studied organic farming on the side and became a vegetarian, one of the early crusaders for protecting the environment.

Unfortunately, he could not shake the feeling of failure and emptiness. He had more tennis students than he could handle. He had the unique ability to improve his students tennis proficiency by 50% with every lesson . Women and children loved his method of teaching and made the greatest progress. He was recognized as one of the top tennis instructors and players in North County.

Ralph became a health counselor and tennis instructor for a successful local band. He traveled to concerts with them, helped them with nutrition and acted as a bodyguard. He had money, recognition, beautiful women, an apartment on the beach, but no happiness.

At this time, a friend turned him on to the science of biorhythms. Ralph read every book and analyzed his life. The biggest mistakes had been made on unstable days predicted by biorhythms. Ralph realized if he had known about biorhythms, he could have saved himself a lot of grief, agony, mistakes, and injuries. He became a biorhythm advocate and decided to clean his mind and body. He tried to teach people about biorhythms and how to cut down on accidents and injuries. His research led to the realization of the percentages of biorhythm compatibilities that created the strongest male/female relationships. Unfortunately, no one was interested. The science of biorhythms was too new, and ridiculed.

Ralph wanted to find ways of balancing the body and strengthening the mind and emotions. He was tired of life being like a roller coaster. He assumed that if he became healthier, expanded the powers of his mind, and developed his emotional stability, he could minimize the fluctuations in his life energies and have a balanced existence.

For a couple of years, Ralph drifted around San Diego County, sometimes sleeping in his car, crashing at his parents and staying at  friend's houses. He knew something was severely wrong with his health so he concentrated on this subject. During the day he would surf, swim, and run 5 miles at Swami's in Encinitas. He perched on a rock protruding from the side of the cliff, getting a full body tan and enjoying the pristine environment. Occasionally, he would drive to Black's Beach to surf and enjoy the beauty of the La Jolla cliffs.

After he started to feel healthier he got a job at Skateboard Warehouse just when the new, soft urethane wheel were revolutionizing the sport of skateboarding.  Next, he was general manager of Sidewalk Surfparks in Fountain Valley. He evaluated accidents using biorhythms and saw a strong correlation. He tried to get other skateboard park owners to us biorhythms to cut down on injuries in the parks, but they were only interested in profits.

An opportunity presented itself to put together the Pepsi Skateboard Safety Program. Ralph became director of Imperial Century and developed the program that went to 2000 elementary and high schools in L.A. He helped put skating demonstrations on at professional football games and parades. He organized the first National Skateboard Convention. He worked on a Hang 10 Skateboard contest at Magic Mountain and the movie Skateboard.

He created the character Captain Biorhythm on Halloween October 31, 1976 at the Masters Slalom race at La Costa, to promote safety in skateboarding and biorhythm awareness

Unfortunately, the skateboard park owners would not listen. Liability insurance was unattainable in most cases. Many of the parks went under. New wider multiple ply wood boards and wide trucks made the smaller boards and trucks obsolete overnight. The skateboard industry collapsed overnight. Many who would not listen lost large sums.

Ralph then got involved with solar energy. He worked as a salesman for a solar panel manufacturer for a couple of months. This did not work out very well.

An new job materialized at a racquet ball club in San Marcos, called Racquet Time. He produced one of the first organic salad bars in San Diego. Unfortunately, most people were not interested in health.

He then moved into Point Loma Tennis club with a childhood friend and started giving tennis lessons again. Family fitness Centers was just beginning. He became a marketing and health research consultant to Family Fitness Centers. He received the best Technical Directors award in 1980. He researched the Holistic Health Industry by becoming a Holistic Health Guinea Pig. He created a sales presentation manual that was used for 2 years, trained the fitness staff on the use of the high tech exercise equipment, and developed the Professional Personal Fitness Trainer Program.

Ralph has worked for many different companies involved in advanced health research for the last 24 years. For the last 13 years he has worked to make the "in Search Of Heroes™" Program a success.

He created the initial program back in 1992 when he was a special features writer and photographer for the Coronado Eagle Newspaper. He personally coordinated the Coronado newspaper, TV station, Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club and high school journalism and multi-media teachers and students search for  local and national heroes.

Ralph is currently working with the leading internet marketers and alternative medicine doctors to create a successful model for the "In Search Of Heroes™" program. This model will help young people look and feel their best.

They will learn how to market the businesses of local heroes so they can help generate much needed money for themselves, families and valuable community programs. With the financial problems schools and cities are now experiencing, there is a critical need to create new sources of funding for these invaluable programs. The "In Search Of Heroes™" Program is one potential answer to this looming problem. 

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Ralph Zuranski * E-Mail: biomans@gmail.com