You meet many nice people in the world of bodybuilding, and one of the nicest is Brooklyn Thompson, Sr., the six-foot, 197-pound winner of the 1998 San Francisco ABA Bodybuilding Championships.

He's also one of the best bodybulder models we've ever had the pleasure of photographing. Effortlessly shifting from one pose to another, he's a spendid example of graceful physical elegance.

Brooklyn was born in Jamaica on February 27, 1958, which at the time of this writing makes him just about 41—but don't think that because he is 41 and competing in the "masters" division that he isn't still improving. You have only to look at his older photos on this Web site, taken four or five years ago, and compare them with more recent shots to see that in the intervening years he has become noticeably thicker, denser, and more muscular.

He describes himself as "a country boy" because he didn't live in an urban center, but rather out in the countryside. Back when he was 18, he used to study martial arts, but several of the young men he knew lifted weights and were always talking about who was the strongest and who had the biggest muscles. Somehow, through this kind of friendly banter, they convinced Brooklyn to start pumping iron.

Back there in the countryside, youngsters his age didn't work out in fancy gyms filled with the latest machines and chrome-plated weights. They trained in back yards and garages, with weights made out of flywheels, concrete, metal pipes, and benches made from scrap lumber. It's not necessarily the machine, but rather the man, that produces the results, as Brooklyn's trophy-winning physique testifies to. But because he started with very rudimentary equipment, it's easy to understand why, when you ask him what his biggest bodybuilding thrill has been, he doesn't mention winning such-and-such a contest, but rather the experience of coming straight from Jamaica to Oakland, California, and seeing the excellent equipment that filled the local gyms.

Brooklyn? How does a person in Jamaica get named Brooklyn? This came about because, after his birth, his parents couldn't agree on a name for their new son. An article about the Brooklyn Bridge had just appeared in the local newspaper, and, when they went to register his birth and still didn't have a name, the clerk dubbed him "Brooklyn," and that's how he was registered.

His path to Oakland was a very logical one. He met his wife in Jamaica. She was from Oakland. They married. And here he is.

After his arrival in Oakland in 1987, he joined Norman Marks' Health Club on 14th and Harrison Streets and trained there for about eight months, then decided to compete in that year's AAU Western USA contest. At that point, he didn't have anyone seriously helping or advising him. He had learned a lot back in Jamaica from Lloyd Young, who ran the Lloyd Young Health Studio in Montego Bay and who had spotted Brooklyn's potential.

In the 1987 AAU Western USA, Brooklyn won the tall class.

What Brooklyn likes about bodybuilding isn't confined simply to the fact that it represents a healthy lifestyle. He likes the self-discipline it requires (a habit useful in other areas of life), the self-esteem it engenders, and the creativity it involves. Bodybuilding is like sculpture, only the sculptor sculpts himself, and that's one of the aspects of the sport Brooklyn enjoys most.

Brooklyn would be the first to admit that one of the most important lessons in bodybuilding took him quite a while to learn: "More isn't necessarily better." For many years, he had a weight barrier in his mind that he was reluctant to drop below. He felt he didn't want to get any smaller than 200 pounds or, better yet, 205. This year, however, following the advice of many people around him, he finally dropped below that 200-pound barrier. At 197, he seemed to have more muscle than ever, and the washboard abdominals he's always had but never shown off to maximum effect finally stood out—a final touch to his prizewinning physique.

Besides being a natural bodybuilder who trains in the gym four times a week, who is this Brooklyn? He's married, he has two children, 14 and 15, and he works for the City of Oakland in street maintenance. You talk about Brooklyn to other people, and they say something like, "Oh, I know who he is. He's that big guy you see in city trucks. I see him all the time."

As a natural bodybuilder, Brooklyn has to be careful about his diet. During the off-season, he describes his dietary habits as being "a half and half diet." Just like almost everyone else, he pigs out now and then, but he's generally careful. However, 2½ months before a contest, his eating habits become extremely strict as he exercises the self-discipline any successful trophy winner has to have. His idea of a great meal after a contest, however, is oxtails and rice.

His family keeps him busy. As you can tell when you see him interacting with his children, he's an attentive father. As far as hobbies are concerned, other than bodybuilding, he enjoys working on cars, fishing, and listening to music. His musical tastes include George Benson, Anita Baker, and The Whispers.

For 1999, he has several goals. He intends to compete in the 1999 NPC Contra Costa, to be held in April at Chabot College in Hayward, California. And, although he already trains a few people, he wants to expand his personal training activities.