Rest in Peace - Ben Weider - 02/01/23 - 10/17/08

[webcake]

Damn. R.I.P 

[arce377]

 RIP.

[Mr Gethin]

Ben was an absolute gentleman, a pioneer and we have much to be appreciative of.

Thanks for the amazing era Ben.

RIP

[CharlieB]

I can only say as I met him when I was kid living around the corner from the N.J. headquarters, that he was always a nice man....and had to clean up up alot of Joe's shit and was basically gulity by association...blood. He probably did piss a good majority of people off, as I am sure other successful people have. I see where another person here says how Hoffman and Lurie are or were true brothers to the sport. believe me they are in the same boat as you have said about the Weiders. Anyway he made pile of cash......BUT still was the Ambassador for the sport! A true icon and historian is gone and I am sure we are a little better for it. Rip in Mr. Ben Weider.

[Tomanater]

sad to hear this...A true pioneer ,always a gentleman and very positive everytime that I spoke with him..RIP

[LurkyLurker]

I have no problem with Ben Weider, seems like a good guy, RIP.  But it is funny how when someone dies you aren't supposed to say anything bad about them.  If I thought person A was a piece of shit asshole his whole life why would I change my opinion because he is dead?

You don't have to change your opinion. No matter how stupid and ill-informed it is, it's yours and you're entitled to it. But when someone dies, you can show a tiny bit of restraint and withhold your personal critique, not for the dead, but for those in mourning. That's called respect. That's called "You're not the only person who matters."

And how could anyone on this board truly feel Ben was so horrible as to not deserve a moment's respect, rather than accusations and dissection? Even if you thought he damaged bodybuilding, how could that possibly warrant disrespect? And even if your feelings are irrationally strong (like Ben's very worst actions have had an ounce of effect on you), you couldn't wait until he was buried before bashing away?

Decorum, respect, dignity, class – all things you can try adopting once you hit puberty. They can take you far.

[johnny1]

You don't have to change your opinion. No matter how stupid and ill-informed it is, it's yours and you're entitled to it. But when someone dies, you can show a tiny bit of restraint and withhold your personal critique, not for the dead, but for those in mourning. That's called respect. That's called "You're not the only person who matters."

And how could anyone on this board truly feel Ben was so horrible as to not deserve a moment's respect, rather than accusations and dissection? Even if you thought he damaged bodybuilding, how could that possibly warrant disrespect? And even if your feelings are irrationally strong (like Ben's very worst actions have had an ounce of effect on you), you couldn't wait until he was buried before bashing away?

Decorum, respect, dignity, class – all things you can try adopting once you hit puberty. They can take you far.

fair enough.

[mass 04]

P.I.P.

[swilkins1984]

Wow.....Just got the news. He and his brother probably did more for bodybuilding than anyone. Sad stuff but making it to 85 is a long life. RIP Ben

[AVBG]

sad loss to bb. whatever is said about BW, is that he had bb's best interest in mind.

[pumpster]

Excellent perspectives by one of the few here who was part of it, lived it and keeps it real in discussing it.

http://www.getbig.com/boards/index.php?topic=241756.0

[musclecenter]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/21/sports/othersports/21weider.html?em
New York Times - Oct 21

[bigdumbbell]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/21/sports/othersports/21weider.html?em
New York Times - Oct 21

great

[Overload]

You don't have to change your opinion. No matter how stupid and ill-informed it is, it's yours and you're entitled to it. But when someone dies, you can show a tiny bit of restraint and withhold your personal critique, not for the dead, but for those in mourning. That's called respect. That's called "You're not the only person who matters."

And how could anyone on this board truly feel Ben was so horrible as to not deserve a moment's respect, rather than accusations and dissection? Even if you thought he damaged bodybuilding, how could that possibly warrant disrespect? And even if your feelings are irrationally strong (like Ben's very worst actions have had an ounce of effect on you), you couldn't wait until he was buried before bashing away?

Decorum, respect, dignity, class – all things you can try adopting once you hit puberty. They can take you far.

Excellent post.

Ben was an intellectual who loved life and lived it to the fullest.

R.I.P.

[vic86]

RIP , my condolences to Weider family
 Amen

[bigdumbbell]

http://www.artdaily.com/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=26814

[DK II]

http://www.artdaily.com/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=26814

Cool thing, that is actually as great as building a bodybuilding empire.

[bigdumbbell]

Cool thing, that is actually as great as building a bodybuilding empire.

no admission charge or suggested donation to view this collection.  free.

[DK II]

no admission charge or suggested donation to view this collection.  free.

That's really cool.

I'm ot a Napoleon fan, but when i think about how many pieces of art are hidden away in some bank closet or inside of some mansions, it's a shame.

I don't have anything against paying to view something like this, normally financing a museum is very expensive, but that deal of Ben Weider was great.

[jumpstart]

I'm so sorry to hear the sad news! He will be sorely missed by everyone in the fitness industry! My best goes out to his family and friends!

[johnnynoname]

he did alot for the industry

I would have replied "so what, another dead schmoe" but I respect all he did so I'm not gonna say that

[elite_lifter]

he did alot for the industry

I would have replied "so what, another dead schmoe" but I respect all he did so I'm not gonna say that

[Tom Cruise]

You will be missed Ben. It's a lose of a true icon.

[TK]

1,000 mourners honour Weider
Napoleon exhibit featuring his collection will go on: 'It was very important to him'
 
The Gazette


Tuesday, October 21, 2008


Ben Weider was remembered yesterday as a private, humble and unassuming man, an optimist who loved Glen Miller and big band music, who was looking forward to the opening Thursday of the gallery housing his Napoleon collection at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

Known internationally for promoting bodybuilding as an Olympic sport and highly regarded as a Napoleonic scholar, Weider died Friday at the age of 85.

He was to have inaugurated a gallery housing 60 pieces of Napoleonic memorabilia including Bonaparte's funeral mask, two locks of the emperor's hair, the hat he wore during the Russian campaign, several original period portraits, marble and bronze busts, and prints.

The museum announced it will go ahead with the opening as planned, at the request of Weider's family.

"His wishes will be respected," said the museum's director, Nathalie Bondil. "He was so happy about the opening. He had arranged it down to the last detail. It was very important to him."

Weider's funeral was like the man himself: dignified, modest and low key. Scarlet-clad soldiers of le Royal 22e Régiment and le 62e Régiment d'artillerie du Canada formed a guard of honour outside the funeral home during the 50-minute service. Weider was honorary Colonel of the Field Artillery regiment, and worked closely with the Van Doos.

"He will be remembered as a great Quebecer who had a love and a feeling for French Canada, and the respect was returned, even by those who have a nationalist tinge," said retired general Terry Liston. "He was a role model for those of us who aren't de souche, as you might say."

Weider's mahogany casket was unadorned except for a Star of David. There was no evidence of the 66 awards and honours he accumulated during his lifetime, including the Order of Canada, l'ordre du Québec, and the French Légion d'honneur, which was established by Bonaparte.

"Ben Weider has fallen, his earthly pilgrimage has ended, his work is done," said Rabbi Alan Bright, who eulogized Weider as "one of those rare individuals who succeed in creating an atmosphere, an aura about them that sets them apart. Ben's life was full and his years crowded with achievements that touched all kinds of people."

Jean-Claude Turcotte, the Roman Catholic cardinal of Montreal, former Quebec premier Lucien Bouchard, and former speaker of the Quebec National Assembly Michel Bissonnet were among the crowd of about 1,000 mourners at the funeral.

"He was one of the greatest Montrealers I ever knew," Turcotte said before the service. "He was open to everyone, he helped Catholics, Arabs, Palestinians, Jews. He had his convictions, but he understood that we all have the same God."

Bouchard joked about how Weider saved the taxpayers of Quebec "a lot of money" by personally financing repairs to Mary the Queen of the World Roman Catholic Cathedral.

Senator Serge Joyal, who shared Weider's interest in Napoleon and who persuaded Weider to donate the collection to museum, was one of the honorary pall bearers.

"He was a humanist," he said. "Money was not his foremost pre-occupation. What he valued above all was mutual respect for human beings - all human beings."

Rabbi Abraham Cohen read the 23rd Psalm, The Lord is my Shepherd, in three languages as the service ended.

© The Gazette (Montreal) 2008

[Hedgehog]

RIP Ben