Comments from the son of the creator of 5BX
5BX Insights - contributed by Jerry Orban
Can you give us some insights to your father?
My father was an inspiration to all he met and was first and foremost a devoted family man. He left us with a huge legacy of love, beautiful memories and many, many valuable lessons on how to live well and die well which he imparted largely through his example....As for his struggle for recognition detailed in his biography, he eventually won that battle and lived to reap the benefits of the recognition. He did this not for personal gain, but out of principal. He never sought financial gain in the form of royalties, and never received any, except for a one dollar bill which a sympathetic 5BX user sent to him. He framed it and it still hangs in his study at home as a reminder to us all to fight the good fight when you know you're right!
Dad died without any regrets or misgivings and in complete peace after a long and full life. We miss him dearly but somehow the usual grief one would expect hasn't gripped us the way it does most who have lost someone so central to their lives. Instead, his spirit continues to inspire and it lives on in the legacy of his work and in the gifts of life and love which he gave to his family and everyone he knew. He led the most complete and balanced life of anyone I have known personally. Keeping fit gave him 81 years to achieve his potential. I have always thought that there are only two universal goals we humans share - to live long and be happy. The former is made more possible if we stay active; the latter is always a challenge. My father managed both and therein lays the inspiration.
Did Bill Orban ever consider changing the 5BX in later years?
As far as any revisions my father may have had in mind, I am not aware of anything specific he spoke about that would apply to a program for the general population. My own view is that he gave it his best shot based on the RCAF requirements in the 50's, reviewed the feedback, made revisions for the first few years, took the learning from the 5BX and moved on to other work.
This is very much the mark of a typical pioneer, which he was: blaze the trail for others to follow, add to your knowledge and experience base and apply it to the next adventure. Having said this, he believed to his last days that the 5BX was still relevant and could be used (with the usual caveats) by virtually anyone.
Also, we have to remember the promise was 5 BASIC exercises, not the ONLY exercises you'll ever need to do. A fair amount of the preface to the book dealt with the importance of leading a balanced, healthy, active daily life which included a mix of diet and activity i.e. take the stars, walk, etc.
Why did the publication cease in the 80's?
I am not really sure why publication ceased in the 80's. I would imagine it had more to do with lack of demand given that the generation that grew up with it had their copies or forgot about it. I am not aware of any significant ground swell of objections to the program from the professional community that would have caused the publisher to stop the presses.
My own opinion is that it simply fell off the radar over time, as many of your "downloaders" have commented
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