Marty Gallagher
My friend Don Mills: powerlifting Buddha; unbeatable, unflappable.
Don always came through in the clutch.
Don Mills was the greatest master powerlifter (over age 40) in the world for nearly a decade. Don was my friend for life and training partner for many years. Don was older than I was by ten years. He had been a fixture in the Washington DC Olympic weightlifting scene long before I met him. Like many others, Don had been an Olympic weightlifter that switched to powerlifting when the sport was officially recognized by the AAU in 1964. Short, 5 foot 5, heavy boned, Don had proportional torso and leg length which, because he was a smart and balanced trainer, made Don a “balanced” lifter. Most lifters are good in one or two lifts because of proportion and preference. Don Mills at this awesome peak was equally proficient in all three lifts: he squatted 700 pounds, bench pressed 500 (raw) and deadlifted 700 weighing 215, this when he was 55 years old.
I first met Don at training sessions at world champion Mark Dimiduk’s townhouse gym in Oxen Hill, Maryland. Dimiduk, Duck, was a young Hugh Cassidy protegee that had won “the triple crown” of powerlifting. Mark won the Junior Nationals, defeating future hall-of-fame lifter Dan Wolheber. Danny was the first man to deadlift 900 pounds; Mark then won the National Championships, beating Ernie Frantz, Chip McCain and Jack Sideris, this after Larry Pacifico bombed out; after winning the meat grinder that was the American nationals, Mark won the IPF world championships in 1980 with relatively ease.
Mark Dimiduk was legendary. He wore a black hat. He was a DC undercover narc, a front line fighter in the Wild West drug wars of the 1970s and early 80s. He was feared with good cause. He was always jacked-up on testosterone and had a hair-trigger. On more than one occasion I saw him manhandle one of his young acolyte lifters for some minor infringement. Young lifters clustered around Dimiduk and he abused the hell out of them. They were vassals and he was the Master.
Don was a fixture at Mark Chaillet’s Monday/Thursday “every training session is a powerlifting competition” bi-weekly celebrations of the single repetition. Don was about the only local guy (other than Cassidy) that I trusted for technical feedback. Don Mills would have been a multi-time national and world champion during his younger years if he had been able to overcome a paralyzing fear of flying. He finally was able to overcome his phobia through hypnotism. He made up for lost time. At age 40 he began traveling, immediately winning USPF and IPF national and world master championships.
He immediately became the greatest over-40 lifter in the world. He was consistent and unflappable. Yet, as I noted, prior to a big lift he had a quiet psyche that was exemplary – real psyche, not faux psyche, not pretend psyche or WWE psyche, Mills conjured up controlled fury. Done right, a proper psyche adds 5% to a man’s capabilities. Too little psyche in ineffectual and too much psyche is potentially injurious. Like Cassidy, Mills was a quiet psyche master. They taught me what real psyche looks like.
On one occasion, Mark Chaillet and I were handling (coaching) Don at an important competition. Don broke his own world record in the squat with a perfect 688-pound effort. Three officials descended on Don to “check his equipment.” All lifting gear, lifting belts, singlets, socks, shoes, shirts, wrist wraps, knee wraps, everything a lifter wears must pass a pre-competition inspection and be stamped. There are legally defined specifications and limits. After a successful world record attempt, the officials will ‘recheck’ gear to make sure nothing illegal or unchecked was substituted.
As we stood on the platform, one official remeasured Don’s wrist wraps. I pointed out that the wraps had already been inspected, approved and stamped. The official went to the trouble to re-measure Don’s wrist wraps and with an audible, “AH HA!” he announced with great solemnity that Don’s left wrist wrap was an inch over the legal (18 inches) length limit for wrist wraps. When it became apparent that this dick official was going to take away a squat world record over a superfluous wrist wrap, Mark and I simultaneously and spontaneously exploded, we went after the blazer-wearing official. He wheeled backwards like Dion Saunders dropping back into pass coverage. We were going to drag him outside and change his mind.
Safe behind the officials table, he loudly threatened Mark and I with suspension or permanent banishment if we manhandled him, thereby ending our powerlifting careers. It was like a middle-ages priest threatening excommunication and eternal damnation to those that crossed the church. Of course, that only worked on those who believed in such things. Mark Chaillet didn’t believe in such things and walked right round that scorer’s table and grabbed the shell-shocked official by his labels. People scattered as Chaillet pulled him in tight.
Mark’s face was two inches from this imperious toad’s face. He had lifted him off the floor by his jacket lapels. Chaillet had a massive pumpkin head and his enraged face was tomato-red. Spittle flew as he hoarsely whispered something none of us could hear. The official turned white and turned his head. He was about the piss on himself when Don Mills ran in smiling. He wedged himself between Mark and the little man. “It’s okay” Don said, smiling like Jesus on his best day, “It’s only a world record. I’ll get another.” Don then started stroking Chaillet’s shoulders like he was calming down a spooked horse.
I demanded a 4th attempt, which were allowable under “special circumstance,” and now, with the crowd aware of this ridiculous travesty, booing erupted. Don got his 4th attempt. Naturally, he manhandled the squat in one of the most dramatic and exciting strength moments I have witnessed in my life. The crowd went wild. We went wild. Don remained calm and beatific, like the Buddha on his best day. Don always came through in the clutch. Later, on the car ride home, I asked Chaillet what he’d whispered to the official that scared him so bad. Mark laughed, “I said, ‘You ban us, and you’ll be officiating from a wheelchair.’ Plus, my breath smelled really bad.”
Don passed away a while back from natural causes. He was a Man amongst men and an unrivaled example on how a man can lead a full and responsible life and still find a way to become the best in the world.
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