Tribune Excerpts
The following article appeared in the June 2008 Edition of the Macedonian Tribune
Peter T. George, Aloha ... Samson had nothing on you
By Bill Tosheff
Honolulu -- Many, many years ago I saw a movie entitled Samson. Don’t remember if this man was pure Greek or Roman; but believe me he was really, really strong. The movie was about this super strong man who was blinded by the bad guys and as a result became so mad he placed himself between two marble columns, stretched out his arms placing a hand onto each of the columns and pushed them apart.
He got red in the face, grunted and put all of his effort into his strength that the two columns separated causing the whole building to collapse. Now, this is something really super.
I’m talking about strength of mind and body, which is the necessary ingredient to be a successful man which leads to the name ... Peter T. George, D.D.S., who now lives in Honolulu, Hawaii, and is a regular TRIBUNE subscriber.
My segment this day is about a fabulous Bulgarian weightlifter. Look, Bulgarian or Macedonian ... vodah is vodah (water is water), kerf is kerf (blood is blood), both are bonded by tradition. To me this day, he’s Macedonian. Why? Because we too are powerful people ... just ask the Turks 105 years ago.
On March 10, 1988, the MACEDONIAN TRIBUNE had a story entitled Chris’ Corner. The late Chris [Alusheff], related some interesting facts about Peter T. George. At the 1988 Winter Olympic Games, the Bulgarians were the undisputed champions of weightlifting. Many were not aware that the most successful brothers in the history of weightlifting are the brothers George, Jim and Peter T. George.
They were born in Akron to the late Paraskeva and Tryan Taleff. Jim and Peter scored more points in worldwide competition than any other brother combination. Together they won 16 medals in the World Championships and Olympic Games. During the years they competed, only four nations accumulated more medals than the two brothers.
George, the other brother, was a national collegiate champion, but unfortunately he and Peter were about the same body weight and had to compete against each other. George would have made the Olympic Team in 1948 if Peter hadn’t lifted. To avoid lifting against his brother, George reduced to the lightweight bodyweight class.
This loss of bodyweight combined with the exertion necessary to compete caused dizziness resulting in a loss, which eliminated him from making the team. The following year at the national championships, George stayed in the middleweight class. Peter won first, the man who won the Olympic championship was second and George was third.
What did they do after the competition? Peter is an orthodontist in Honolulu. He’s also an assistant professor at the Medical School of the University of Hawaii. George became a successful building contractor and Jim is a prominent dentist in Akron.
All of this action encompassed the years 1948 to 1988 ... 40 years. Here’s the story on my “Aloha” guy Peter T. George. While in elementary school his classmates considered him weak and awkward, and his teachers considered him a slow learner. His weightlifting coach Larry Barnholth told him training and studying automatically develops the muscles and the brain. Peter believed him, applied himself with confidence and the results were golden. After Akron East High School, he went to Kent State University, and got his B.S. degree. Then on to Ohio State University, where he obtained his Doctor of Dentistry Degree. From Ohio State he went to Columbia University for a post Doctoral Certificate in Orthodontics. Now follows four areas of Peter T. George.
