The Hammerman Now Walks Among The Elite In The Heavens Of The Old-Time Strongmen

There are strongmen and then there's Lawrence Farman. A man who admired the legendary strongman figure of Joe Greenstein, AKA The Mighty Atom and worked hard as hell in the rock quarry, breaking stones and rock day in and day out since the early 50's until he late 90's or so. In between, he learned the craft of strongmanism; bending steel, breaking chains and driving nails through boards. His most unique feat was the reason for his nickname, The Hammerman. The Lifting and Levering with the heaviest sledgehammers that would make John Henry's jaw drop.

When it comes down to records and what someone can achieve, Slim The Hammerman was above and beyond the very fathom of what it means to achieve a level of strength the way he did. His strength and prowess among the strongmen of his time and generations after almost sound like it should've been myth, but in fact was not only very real, made it legendary in ways that put him in a class that should be in the ranks of Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Ed Strangler Lewis and Paul Anderson. 

Slim passed away at the age of 87 and although he is gone from this world, his spirit will live on in the memories and hearts of strongmen the world over. I regrettably never got a chance to meet him but I did have a phone conversation with him once a few years back thanks to fellow strongman Chris Rider. We talked about Atom and Slim's life and how he achieved financial success in his work. How he lifted the hammers using a mental technique he perfected and gave me advice on what I can do in my own strongman endeavors. It was an honor to even talk with him and swapping stories, my favorite is how he gave his high school the bird as he walked out the door and made something of himself.

For all intents and purposes, his records in levering will never be broken. His world record of lifting 2-28 lb hammers that were attached to each other is not only unbelievable, but the mere fact that his wrists weren't even 100% when he made the feat. He achieved this in the mid 70's at Madison Square Garden as the Atom watched by his side. He was also a man among giants, at 6'6 and a max weight of 230 lbs of pure muscle that was sinewy and the toughest of tendons and ligaments anyone could ever thought of. His grip was so powerful that men in recent years who've shaken his hand can attest to the incredible strength he still had. 

Slim, you were a man among men, a strongman's strongman and one of the hardest working people the world had ever known. RIP big man and say hi to the Mighty Atom for us.