Charles Gaines, a writer and adventurer widely recognized for his role in popularizing bodybuilding through the book and film “Pumping Iron,” died on July 21 at his home in Monastery, Nova Scotia. He was 84 years old. His daughter, Greta Gaines, attributed his death to cancer.

Gaines’s career spanned multiple disciplines, including novel writing, screenwriting, and adventure sports. He helped shape the emerging sport of paintball and garnered respect for his fly fishing expertise, earning an honor from the American Museum of Fly Fishing in 2024. His writing appeared in prominent magazines such as Esquire, Garden & Gun, and Field & Stream.

His most notable work originated from a 1972 Sports Illustrated assignment covering a bodybuilding contest to crown the Mr. East Coast champion. This led to the 1974 publication of “Pumping Iron,” co-created with photographer George Butler, which offered an insider’s view of bodybuilding—a subculture then viewed with skepticism by many Americans. The book focused largely on Gold’s Gym in Venice, Los Angeles, home to many competitive bodybuilders.

Unexpectedly, the story found a wider audience when it was adapted into the 1977 documentary-style film also titled “Pumping Iron.” Written and narrated by Gaines alongside Butler, the film followed Arnold Schwarzenegger and his rival Lou Ferrigno as they competed for the Mr. Olympia title. Released during a surge in fitness trends like jogging and aerobics, the movie became a box-office success and helped launch Schwarzenegger’s career as both a Hollywood star and, later, governor of California. Schwarzenegger paid tribute to Gaines on social media, crediting him for opening new frontiers and introducing bodybuilding to millions.

Gaines graduated from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and published his first novel, “Stay Hungry,” in 1972. This work drew on his teenage experiences with weightlifting in Birmingham, Alabama, and combined his interests in hunting and fishing. He also co-wrote the screenplay for the 1976 film adaptation of “Stay Hungry,” which featured Schwarzenegger in an early acting role. Gaines went on to publish two additional novels, a biography of famed bodybuilder Charles Atlas, and a collection of fishing essays.

A lifelong fisherman, Gaines competed internationally on the U.S. Fly Fishing Team and fished in locations ranging from his home waters in Alabama to New Zealand and Tasmania. His passion for the outdoors extended to the creation of paintball. In 1980, Gaines and two friends devised the sport as a test of survival skills blending urban and wilderness competencies. They founded National Survival Game, standardizing the rules and marketing paintball equipment. Gaines was recognized with a Paintball Lifetime Achievement Award and was inducted into the Paintball Hall of Fame in 2024.

Born Charles Latham Gaines III in Jacksonville, Florida, on January 6, 1942, he was raised in Birmingham, Alabama, where his family was part of a well-established industrial business. He attended Washington and Lee University but left to travel, ultimately earning a bachelor’s degree from Birmingham-Southern College in 1963. That same year, he married Patricia Ellisor, Miss Alabama 1961, with whom he divided his time between Nova Scotia and Alabama in later years.

Gaines is survived by his wife, two sons, a daughter, a sister, and five grandchildren. His lifelong pursuits in writing, sports, and adventure left a lasting impact, with “Pumping Iron” remaining a seminal work in bringing bodybuilding to mainstream American culture.