The 'Victim' Replies

by Ray Van Cleef

The November, 1947 issue of Strength & Health contained an article titled "Introducing 'Mr. Canada' - René Leger" . My purpose in writing this biographical article was twofold. One of the objectives was, of course, to provide this comparative newcomer in the ranks of physique champions with recognition and praise that he is deserving of. The other reason was to stop the exploitation of René Leger by Joseph E. Weider of Canada. In striving to bring this unethical commercialization to an end some disclosures were released. The exposé portions of this article were, considering the circumstances, expressed in a somewhat lenient manner. It was hoped that these abuses would cease without its proving necessary to make this indictment devoid of restraint.

Circumstances have proved that this clemency has been mocked rather than appreciated by Joe Weider. This was made evident in the January, 1948 issue of Your Physique in the article listing one E. M. Orlick as the author. Not only did this article reek from commercialism, in the manner in which it was presented, but it conveyed distorted impressions. Perhaps if Joe Weider had known that the facts imparted in my article were in a legal manner verified by René Leger, he would have been more discreet in this matter.

The original copy of my article contains the following statement. "I, René Leger of Montreal, P.Q., Canada, attest that all of the facts imparted in this article, Introducing René Leger - 'Mr. Canada', are entirely truthful and not distorted." This substantiating sentence, appearing at the end of my article, was signed by René Leger and attested by a registered notary public. Needless to say, this document is secure and can be produced for examination. Incidentally, René Leger's endorsement of my article was prior to its publication in the November, 1947 issue of Strength & Health.

It is not necessary for me to expose and denounce the distorted impressions that were conveyed in the manner in which the Orlick article was presented in Your Physique magazine. The victim has in his reaction to this article clearly expressed himself. In his own handwriting René Leger recently issued the following statements. "First of all I am not a Weider pupil and when I get back to Montreal I will see Paul Levesques, the lawyer, and I will stop them from using my pictures for advertising. I was a victim of Joe Weider's promises. He told me that if I did listen to him I was going to be famous. That is why he has used me for advertising as his pupil. He told me that he was going to open a big gym and put me in charge and he promised me that he would put me on the cover of Your Physique. He made me all kinds of promises that never did materialize. In other words I have been living on promises from the first day I met Joe till the last day I left him. I should have stayed in the woods, at least I was earning a living but with him I was starving. I, René Leger, declare that I am not a Weider pupil. I was a training partner for three months, which was too long. I have trained with Joe in the worst place I have ever seen for a gym. It was a little bicycle repair shop 8 x 12 feet and we had to put all the bicycles out of the shop every time we wanted to train. It was so small that he should have painted the barbell on the wall. One time I remember sleeping at the Peen Station in New York on a bench. (Unquote: The reason why René was obliged to sleep on a wooden bench in a railroad station was because Joe Weider, his host and sponsor, did not provide him with hotel accommodations.) Next morning he was supposed to pick me up to take me for breakfast but never showed up so I had to go to Sig Klein's gym and beg for a dollar to eat. All day before that happened I was posing for some arms advertisement for him. And all the little out of town shows I have been with him I had a rotten deal. His course proved a loss of strength for me because his workouts were not balanced right. Frank Galiardi (unquote: For a number of years Frank Galiardi has been an outstanding physical culture teacher. He has been Prof. Emile Maupas' assistant for more than then years at the famed Camp Maupas in Canada.) Came in one night while I was training and he passed remarks that I was training like a mad-man and I approved him. But I told him that it was Joe's idea to bring out definition which was already there. I wanted to state the facts that training with Joe Weider 3 months does not make me a pupil, but it makes me a training partner who dislikes his course intensely." Surely these remarks from René Leger should serve to convince even a case hardened skeptic of the distorted impressions conveyed by E. M. Orlick' article. The document containing René Leger's refuting statements is on file with other important papers and can be readily produced for inspection.

There should be no need to provide information concerning René Leger's background and his association with Joe Weider. His statements in this article and the data I presented in the November, 1947 issue of Strength & Health should be adequate to expose the misleading exploitation in his connection with this particular advertisement.

Less than four years ago Ed Theriault in a letter to Bob Hoffman issued the following statement. "I'm a York man, Bob, so don't be afraid to mention it if you publish any of the pictures." At the time, as photos and measurements will prove, Ed Theriault was a physical marvel. For example, his right upper arm measurement at the time was 16 1/4 in. according to the data Theriault furnished. His fame as a body builder and lifter was already well established at the time he so openly admitted his association with York. This was by no means his first communication with the York Barbell organization. Besides being a York man, Theriault gained much from Harvey Hill's expert coaching. This is the same Harvey Hill of Verdun, P.Q., Canada who has trained so many of the leading Canadian lifters. For years he has been a leader in weightlifting activities in Canada. Last year he served as the coach of the Canadian weightlifting team at the World's Championships in Philadelphia.

In 1943 Strength & Health published a letter by Dan Lurie in the May issue. One of the paragraphs contained the following sentences. "I always recommend your system of weight training to everyone I see and am convinced that your system is best for everyone. When I first started to train I weighted only 120 pounds and built up my body to 165, and I owe it all to you. If it wasn't for your magazine I would not have seen such beautiful bodies and become ambitious enough to seek to build my own body as so many others had done." Of course, this letter was addressed to Bob Hoffman. He had already won the title "Most Muscular Man in America" in the 1942 "Mr. America" contest at Cincinnati. This same issue of Strength & Health released an article by Hy Schaffer, the champion lifter and leader of the Adonis Health Club in Brooklyn, dealing with Lurie's career. Lurie's physical gains while a member of the Adonis Athletic Club are related in this biographical article. One wonders where and when Joe Weider came into the picture so far as Lurie's status as an athlete was concerned, since he was a physique champion at the time he declared Bob Hoffman was responsible for his progress.

Abe Goldberg came into the foreground in the physical culture world when an impressive physique display pose of him appeared on the front cover of the August, 1943 issue of Strength & Health. At the time it was published Abe was serving in the U.S. Army. A letter written by this body builder was published in this same issue. It describes his training and the factors involved in his becoming actively interested in body building. Needless to say, Goldberg makes no references to Weider. Her again we wonder just when and how Joe Weider came upon the scene.

In October of last year Joffre L'Heureux was the winner of a physique contest conducted by Be Weider in Montreal. Lately we are informed that this outstanding Canadian body builder is a Weider pupil. If we examine the records we will find that the first issue of Your Physique was released as the August, 1940 number when Joe Weider was twenty-one years of age. It is not rather strange that four years before Weider made his debut in the physique culture field professionally Joffre L'Heureux, who is not being publicized as a Weider pupil, was a professional physical culture instructor. In the year 1936 L'Heureux was operating a gym studio in Sherbrooke, Canada. The following year he commenced serving as the physical instructor for the police students of that city. The June-July, 1946 issue of Adrien Gagnon's Canadian physical culture magazine, Satne et Developpment Physique, in French contains a lengthy autobiographical article by Joffre L'Heureux. This article is devoted to his career as an athlete. L'Heureux gives credit to the individuals and factors that have contributed to his success. Here again we find no mention of Joe Weider. It is somewhat of a mystery as to just how and why this veteran professional physical culture teacher and strongman athlete became a Weider pupil recently. Perhaps in the future we shall hear of George Hackenschmidt or Bernarr Macfadden as Weider pupils.

In June of last year, Bob Hoffman received a letter from James E. Baker, the director of the foremost physical culture studio in Cincinnati, Ohio, containing the following paragraph. "I am amused at the attempts of editors of the other magazines in the field to belittle your publication. I would wager that if the truth were known, long ago you showed them the way and now like unweaned infants they are flaying at the father." It was obvious that he was referring to Joe Weider when he issued these statements. Recent correspondence with Jim Baker confirms this assumption. We do know that Joe Weider as a York pupil increased his bodyweight from 105 to 163 pounds. A photo of him in this connection was published in the March, 1946 issue of Strength & Health. This enterprising York pupil could profit from the wisdom imparted in Aesop's fables. There is a particular one that comes to mind in this recommendation. The moral of it is that too much cunning betrays itself.