WESTERN PHOTOGRAPHY GUILD
Box 2801
Denver 1, Colorado

SERIES 42: CARTER LOVISONE

Carter Lovisone is a body builder's body builder and a dancer's dancer because they are two of the great passions in his life, and he pursues them with untiring devotion. But he's other things as well, interesting and admirable for more than just a beautifully developed body.

Born on September 3rd in Denver 23 years ago, Carter has lived here ever since except during his Navy service. His name is pronounced Love' is-son, and his mother is of Irish and his father of Italian descent. Carter was their first child, and he has a younger sister.

Carter Lovisone by Don Whitman / Western Photography Guild

Schooled in Denver and suburban Westminster, Carter was virtually the proverbial 97-pound weakling, except that it looked as if he would never make 97 pounds. Considerably smaller than most of his classmates, he was tagged with such nicknames as “Carter's Little Liver Pill”. Although Carter has a quick sense of humor that can take a joke directed at himself, this was enough to drive him to better himself physically, and it did. After a rash of sandlot fights with neighborhood bullies, he tried boxing in grade school, and to his considerable surprise, found himself winner of second place in a citywide tournament.

His interest in dancing was cultivated by his parents early, and by the time he was six Carter and his sister were performing for friends and occasionally in a neighborhood tavern with their parents. About this time Carter acquired a marked disinterest in alcohol, and is a teetotaler to this day.

In school his favorite subject was art, and he possesses considerable artistic talent that is, among other things, an asset to his physique posing. Competitive by nature, he was quite exhilarated to win first place in a high school painting contest with a rendition of fighting roosters. His inspiration came from a flock of battling birds which he and his father raised. Carter got them from all over the country and for a time found them a fascinating hobby.

Carter's latent but dormant athletic ability was stimulated in high school as he found wrestling and hand balancing easy fields in which to excel. His cousin, an all-state wrestler in high school before him, taught Carter much, and in his sophomore year Carter would take on just about all comers at his weight of 95 pounds. His mother objected to his wrestling, however, on grounds of possible injury, and on more than one occasion came to the South High School gym and got Carter off the mat. But his interest was not to be denied, and when she found he would then go to the Central Y.M.C.A. and take on anyone handy, she relented.

Carter's physique got its first big boost toward his present amazing muscularity when he quit high school for a semester at the age of 15 to unload boxcars of cement. He found he could carry two sacks at once although he weighed only 100 pounds at the time. Fired by burgeoning muscles, Carter began working out with weights. After a long day spent unloading cement, his evening was invariably devoted to wrestling and training with weights. When Carter returned to school at Westminster, he did yeoman service on a team short of manpower by wrestling in every weight from 133 pounds to heavyweight, sometimes taking on three opponents in different weights at the same meet, Blazing speed and tremendous strength, combined with an intelligent approach, gave him a record that will last a long time.

After high school Carter went into the Navy and served as a corpsman in San Diego, Long Beach, Oakland, Treasure Island, and Japan. He specialized in physio-therapy and acquired a consummate knowledge of the body that makes his approach to bodybuilding truly scientific.

Following his Navy service Carter returned to Denver and settled down to a job, serious bodybuilding, and marriage to a pretty blond girl of French descent named Patricia. Their marriage occurred in characteristically enthusiastic fashion when, on picking up Pat from her job one afternoon, Carter said, "Let's go to Raton." A short while later they had crossed the New Mexico border and were seeking a j.p. In Pat, Carter got not only a beauty contest winner and a wonderful cook, but also an enthusiastic supporter of his body building, something other wives occasionally view as a rival for their husband's time. They have a sturdy young son, Carter Jr., who should be a candidate for physique honors in years to come.

Carter's bodybuilding combines science and intense activity. He takes nothing for granted, but tries out a great variety of exercises and observes their effect. His endurance, fortified by miles of early morning running, is tremendous. His workouts are something to see. He has invented and built a dozen or more complicated machines that carry out his practice of isolating muscle groups and working on them directly. Gregarious and friendly by nature, he has inspired many neophyte body builders, given them long hours of instruction, permitted them to workout with his weights, and even in some cases allowed them to stay at his home while doing so. His knowledge of the body and how weights can transform it is universally admired and respected by serious bodybuilders in this area.

Carter Lovisone with Larry Scott by Don Whitman / Western Photography Guild

Easy, joyous, uninhibited, and characterized by exquisite body control, his posing together with his amazing muscularity has brought him some 21 trophies, including such titles as Mr. Great Plains, Mr. Midwest, Mr. Arizona, Mr. Utah, and Mr. Wyoming. He has limited his activities in physique contests, but would like to enter the Mr. Universe contest.

At 5'8" Carter possesses the Grimek ability to vary his weight within a 25-pound range almost at will -- from 147 pounds, at which he usually enters a contest, to 172 pounds. Ordinarily his weight stays around 165 pounds. He has light brown hair and hazel eyes, and his measurements include: neck 16 ¾, biceps 17 ½, forearm 13, wrist 6 ½, chest normal 43, expanded 46, waist 28, thigh 20, calf 16, and ankle 11.

Two jobs, laying cement and dance instructing, make him a good but busy provider. Early morning finds him working on basement floors and patios, and by afternoon he's guiding students across the floor at a downtown dance studio. His muscular, well-coordinated body stands him in good stead in both jobs, either one of which would be rough on the ordinary citizen. Carter's specialty is the cha-cha and other south-of-the border dances, and when his stint at the studio is over, he's ready to go out for more dancing if he has no workout scheduled. If Carter could find some way to dance and body build at the same time, he would be delighted; but actually he thinks little of ballroom dancing as an aid to building muscles.

Carter is fervent in friendship, ready to give the shirt off his back to someone he really likes. Despite his competitive nature, he is modest and soft-spoken. He is rarely seen in a so-called muscle shirt. His opinions are considered and firm, but he will not assert them strongly in an argument. His friends swear he's the greatest, and he has very few enemies.

Model Profile: Carter Lovisone

SERIES 42: CARTER LOVISONE