Louie Simmons passing

[John McCarter]

If people have not seen the news, on March 24th, Westside Barbell founder, Louie Simmons passed. 

[Blacksmith513]

Thats sad to hear... He had a great approach to lifting... 

I've heard of far too many people passing recently.  

[Terry Conjugate Iron]

He meant a lot to me, he's the reason I'm still able to train with all the problems I have. Not to mention the money I've made as a Westside certified coach. 

 

[Kluv#0]

RIP Louie Simmons

[John Knowlton]

Louie Simmons was a great man

Ever one should watch Wastside vs the World 

[Hubgeezer]

When someone famous dies, about a month later, I check the internet to see if they were famous enough to have gotten a New York Times obituary. For example, Dave Draper, who was a bodybuilder of the "golden era" of bodybuilding, and a very nice man, eventually got his NY Times Obit. 

Slim Farman, the last of the old time strong men...nope, nothing. 

So, I went looking for Louie Simmons. Did not get the NY Times, but he did make it to The New Yorker magazine. The link to it:

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/postscript/how-louie-simmons-defined-the-extreme-sport-of-power-lifting

Quite an interesting piece. I looked up the author: Female, a Phd, an assistant professor at Northwestern, and African American. It turns out that when she was in her early 20s, she competed in Power Lifting contests. On the one hand, it is well-written, and probably explains the sport of power lifting to a group of readers who don't know the difference between a Deadlift and a Deadhead. On the other hand, it pretty much paints Louie as more extreme than he actually was, which is pretty hard to do, and it is not exactly kind to powerlifters. My son, incidentally, was an Elite Powerlifter for a half dozen years.

[MANTHOS]

Rest in piece.

[Blacksmith513]

On 4/19/2022 at 3:58 AM, Hubgeezer said:

When someone famous dies, about a month later, I check the internet to see if they were famous enough to have gotten a New York Times obituary. For example, Dave Draper, who was a bodybuilder of the "golden era" of bodybuilding, and a very nice man, eventually got his NY Times Obit. 

Slim Farman, the last of the old time strong men...nope, nothing. 

So, I went looking for Louie Simmons. Did not get the NY Times, but he did make it to The New Yorker magazine. The link to it:

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/postscript/how-louie-simmons-defined-the-extreme-sport-of-power-lifting

Quite an interesting piece. I looked up the author: Female, a Phd, an assistant professor at Northwestern, and African American. It turns out that when she was in her early 20s, she competed in Power Lifting contests. On the one hand, it is well-written, and probably explains the sport of power lifting to a group of readers who don't know the difference between a Deadlift and a Deadhead. On the other hand, it pretty much paints Louie as more extreme than he actually was, which is pretty hard to do, and it is not exactly kind to powerlifters. My son, incidentally, was an Elite Powerlifter for a half dozen years.

Still was interesting read. Its crazy Slim wasn't more well known. Its  all because there isn't as much money in people levering sledgehammers as there is with as there is people benching/deadlift/squatting.   Louie Simmons was a legend, i'm not into powerlifting but I liked his approach.  Draper too,  i'm not into bodybuilding either but I have tremendous respect for them...