Further Reading
Madison, Christopher. “Shultz Shows How to Sur-
vive and Even Prosper in His High-Risk Post at
State.”National Journal18, no. 7 (February 15,
1986).
Shultz, George.Turmoil and Triumph: My Years as Sec-
retar y of State. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons,
1993.
Richard L. Wilson
See also Cold War; Foreign policy of the United
States; Grenada invasion; Haig, Alexander; Iran-
Contra affair; Israel and the United States; Middle
East and North America; North, Oliver; Poindexter,
John; Reagan, Ronald; Reagan Doctrine; Soviet
Union and North America; Weinberger, Caspar.
Simmons, Richard
Identification American fitness expert,
motivational speaker, talk show host, and author
Born July 12, 1948; New Orleans, Louisiana
Simmons’s personal approach toward helping overweight
people changed the way people viewed diet and exercise in
the 1980’s. He promoted not just a weight-loss program but
also a positive journey to a healthier lifestyle.
After personally experiencing several failed attempts
to lose weight and keep it off, Richard Simmons
opened Slimmons, an exercise club for people who
were battling weight problems but who felt too em-
barrassed to join a gym. Simmons was concerned
about the many dangerous ways in which people
were trying to lose weight. After considerable re-
search and consultations with doctors and nutrition-
ists, he developed a diet plan called Deal-A-Meal.
On his Emmy Award-winning talk show,The Richard
Simmons Show, Simmons inspired others by sharing
his own story with his audience and by presenting
viewers who had lost weight using his healthy living,
diet, and aerobics programs. Interaction with his
viewers extended to making personal phone calls or
visiting people who wrote to him about weight prob-
lems. He also worked to oversee the progress of
those struggling with morbid obesity. As an addi-
tional aid in preparing nutritional meals, Simmons
wroteThe Deal-A-Meal Cookbook(1987) andRichard
Simmons’ Never-Say-Diet Book(1980).
Since Simmons felt that exercise is a major part of
losing weight, he developed theSweatin’ to the Oldies
series of aerobic exercise videos featuring people in
various stages of weight loss exercising with him to
upbeat music. His trademark outfit of shorts and a
tank top was first worn in these exercise videos.
While serving as the chair for the Spina Bifida Asso-
ciation, Simmons saw the need for an exercise pro-
gram for the physically challenged and developed
theReach for Fitnessprogram. The exercises in this
program were adapted so people with various types
of physical and medical challenges could partici-
pate. Simmons further expanded his exercise videos
to include seniors and featured his mother, Shir-
ley, along with other celebrities’ parents, inRichard
Simmons and the Silver Foxes.
Impact Simmons’s devotion to helping others by
providing inspiration, education, and motivation
encouraged people in all walks of life to change their
eating habits, to follow nutritional guidelines, and to
maintain a realistic exercise schedule. In addition,
his followers developed a deeper awareness of health
issues and the dangers of being overweight.
Further Reading
Simmons, Richard.Still Hungr y After All These Years.
New York: G. T., 1999.
Stearns, Peter N.Fat Histor y: Bodies and Beauty in
the Modern West. New York: New York University
Press, 1997.
Elizabeth B. GrahamSee also Aerobics; Diets; Food trends; Home video
rentals.Sioux City plane crash
The Event A DC-10 jet endures a severe crash,
but 185 people on board miraculously survive
Date July 19, 1989
Place Sioux City, Iowa
The Sioux City plane crash was one of the most famous air
disasters of the 1980’s, because it was a miracle that anyone
survived, because it was captured on film, and because it
caught the popular imagination. It was later the subject of
fictional motion pictures and television documentaries.
One of the most amazing cases of survival in a
commercial plane crash began with United Airlines874 Simmons, Richard The Eighties in America