Birthday: Sept. 13, 1940.
Birthplace: Chicago.
Occupation: Kinesiotherapist. I work on rehabilitation and performance enhancement.
Resume: Former Triple Crown winner (Mr. America, Mr. USA and Mr. Universe); trained professional athletes including Jim McMahon, Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe.
Current home: East Dundee.
Marital status: Married to Mary Lou for 14 years.
Children: Kashia, 33; Shannon, 30; and Stephannie, 13.
Working on: I run the Gajda Health Plus Network and I have patents pending on numerous inventions for sports training.
The last good movie I saw: “Sleepless in Seattle.” It’s an old-fashioned love story.
I stay home to watch: I’m a Bears addict, but during commercials I shift to the White Sox or the Cubs or to tennis.
The books I’ve been reading: I’m rereading books I’ve loved over the years: Sir James George Frazer’s “The Golden Bough” and the bible of mathematics, “Principia Mathematica” by Alfred North Whitehead and Bertrand Russell.
Favorite meal: Flank steak. I’m an epicurean, and I have a concept of nutrition that I follow where I individualize my pleasure by eating each food by itself.
Favorite performers: Liza Minnelli, Itzhak Perlman and Sammy Davis Jr.
Personal hero: Teddy Roosevelt. I love the idea of an adventurer who personifies integrity.
I’d give anything to meet: Alfred North Whitehead, the greatest philosopher of our time. I feel I have met him through his work.
My most irrational act: Taking over the directorship of the Duncan YMCA in the mid-’60s. It was in a slum neighborhood, but we built the best sports program in the U.S.
Most humbling experience: Spending several weeks teaching kindergarten while I was waiting for a permanent assignment. When I got home, I had to lie on the bed and stare at the ceiling for an hour before I could get on with my life.
The words that best describe me: Humorous, humble, inquisitive and fit.
