March 23, 2013. The Master Blaster Joe Weider—founder of modern day bodybuilding—has died. Weider started the bodybuilding magazine revolution in this country with Your Physique magazine in the Summer of 1940; and later down the road, titles such as Muscle and Fitness and FLEX 
would become his trademark best-selling periodicals. Add in a successful line of weight-lifting equipment, supplement line, and the creation of the Mr Olympia contest and you have the makings of what became known as the Joe Weider Empire.
Weider wasn’t only a good business man; he also had an amazing eye for bodybuilding talent. According to the history books, it was on Sept. 28, 1968 (the year I was born) that a 21-year-old Arnold Schwarzenegger met Joe Weider for the first time backstage at the IFBB Mr Universe contest in Miami, FL. Weider saw the amazing potential and hungry-for-success gleam in the young Schwarzenegger’s eyes and he nurtured and mentored the young bodybuilder to seven Mr Olympia titles. Schwarzenegger would then parlay his bodybuilding success into a blockbuster Hollywood movie career and, ultimately, the governorship of California all the while crediting Joe Weider for being his inspiration.
While the nearly half a billion dollar business enterprise and discovery of Arnold seem to be Joe Weider’s greatest accomplishments, in my eyes it was Joe’s a poor immigrant background that led to his greatest contribution to the bodybuilding world. Weider never saw “color” when promoting or choosing bodybuilding champions and it was that “fair shake” that evolved into the non-racist, non-discriminatory, bodybuilding environment we all take for granted and enjoy today. Of all the various sectors of society, I’ve never seen a greater comradery among athletes of all race and color than in the bodybuilding community. We all have Joe Weider to thank for that enlightened view and equal opportunity for all.
In Arnold Schwarzenegger’s memorium to his lifelong friend Joe Weider, he ended by reminding us of Joe’s favorite inspirational advice. “Exceed yourself!” It’s not very hard to see that Joe Weider took his own advice to heart and, in doing so; he molded and created the bodybuilding world that we all love so dearly, today. Joe Weider was 93. May he rest in peace.
