Archival Resources

Gaines, Charles
Papers, 1965-1980

Charles Gaines was born January 6, 1942, in Florida, the son of Charles Latham and Margaret (Shook) Gaines. He attended Washington and Lee University in 1960, and graduated with a B.A. from Birmingham-Southern College in 1963, the same year he married Patricia Ellisor. Gaines earned an M.F.A. from the University of Iowa in 1967. He served as director of the federal Title III Operation Arts program in Green Bay, Wisconsin for two years before accepting a position as associate professor of creative writing at New England College in Henniker, New Hampshire in 1970. He resigned in 1976 to take up writing full time.

Gaines' writing explores the psychology and practice of sports, especially body building. His first novel, Stay Hungry (1972), is set in Birmingham and was a finalist for the National Book Award. Gaines later co-authored the screenplay for the 1976 film Stay Hungry, which starred Jeff Bridges, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Sally Field. The screenplay was nominated for the annual screen award from Writers Guild of America.

Gaines's other work includes Pumping Iron (1974), Staying Hard (1975), Dangler (1976), Yours in Perfect Manhood, Charles Atlas: The Most Effective Fitness Program Ever Devised (1982), Survival Games (1997), The Next Valley Over: An Angler's Progress (2000). He has contributed articles and short stories to periodicals, including Esquire, Playboy, Geo, Harper's, Outside, Architectural Digest, Fly-Fisherman, and Sports Illustrated.

Gaines has written for television, including Summer which aired on Public Television in 1980. He has won two Golden Eagle Certificates from the Council on International Nontheatrical Events for "American Sportsman" television writing and an Emmy Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 1976 for "American Sportsman."

Source:

Contemporary Authors Online. The Gale Group, 2001. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Michigan: The Gale Group. 2001. (http://www.galenet.com/servlet/BioRC)

Gaines's papers include correspondence, notes, photographs, and manuscripts of the novels Staying Hard, Stay Hungry, Pumping Iron, and Dangler.

File level guide available in the Archives Department.

Authors -- Alabama -- Birmingham.
Bodybuilders -- Alabama -- Birmingham -- Fiction.
Gaines, Charles Latham, 1942-

Collection Number: 593

Size: 7 linear feet (11 boxes)

Source: Charles Gaines.

Restrictions: Standard preservation and copyright restrictions. Unprocessed material closed.