Steve neece dies

[Roark]

Steve Neece, writer, but more importantly,

a thinker, died in a restaurant on October 21

this year. Heart attack.

Steve was the man who wrote the Muscle Beach

column for Muscle Mag International, and though

some on this board disparage the current muscle

magazines, the reason Steve should be mentioned

is that his keen eye for details kept his reporting of

feats of strength in his column, reliable. If he said

he saw someone lift a certain weight a certain

number of reps, of if he measured an arm, you could

trust him. That is rare in this field. He was not impressed

by persona, and could remain objective.

Occasionally a late night call would jingle my

phone and it would be Steve asking for clarification or

a reference, and sharing some news with me, and

usually the conversation would turn to the lighter side

of the sport, and his unique laughter would come

bellowing over the phone system.

He had recently moved back to California from Vegas

to resume writing his column. His attention to detail

will sorely be missed in the pages of MMI.

He would have become 57 today.

[mobsterone]

Its a #### shame. I loved his stuff. He had a big dollar challenge for some of the so-called lifts that were being made by one or two individuals and Steve managed to put up the dosh to see if the claimed lifts were actually taking place.

[Roark]

mobsterone,

Yes, Steve challenged some claims; and isn't it

interesting how certain extroverts became very

introverted when their wallets were on the line!

Steve also published his own newsletter for a

few years, and though it's content sometimes strayed

off the subject (yes, even more than an Anna Nicole

Smith posting on this board) the issues should be

included in any serious iron researcher's library.

He also wrote a piece for Iron Game History on some

of the great strength men such as Chuck Ahrens.

Steve will truly be missed because he was not

fearful of simply indicating to someone that, "Well,

that certainly is a lot of claimed weight. Why don't

we meet in the gym and you can demonstrate it for

me, then I'll give you credit in my column." He would

also describe if the behind the neck presses were in

fact behind the neck or behind the crown of the head,

or if leg presses had only a five inch range of motion.

Hopefully MMI will recruit someone with this mind-set

to continue 'his' column.

I was hoping to meet him in person at the upcoming

Arnold Classic, but now, in addition to losing a colorful

character, we have lost one of our historians, and there

are precious few of them remaining.