Randy Roach wrote:

                     

To:‘Rasa Von Werder’

Mon, Jul 11 at 9:20 AM

 

My chapters end basically through the late 1980s

The “they” I am referring to are those you were railing about yourself years  ago who do not take you seriously in terms of bodybuilding and have pretty much ignored your  presence in the sport. 

I write a little on Wayne’s and Karen’s marriage in other chapters I still wish to publish.  Those are the ones I was referring to as to which chapters I should finish first based on following Volume III, Book1

Betty was nothing more than cheesecake for Joe.  By the time the Weiders began acknowledging   female bodybuilding  she was already into her 40s.    From what I can recall, it did not appear as though she ever lifted a weight albeit she probably did to some degree.  Later with the acceptance of female bb Betty was portrayed as an older woman who lifted weights for health benefits. 

BTW, did you ever read the Weider’s book “Brother’s in Iron”? What a cartoon.

More from Randy Roach:

Also, if  Charles Gaines can not be reached for whatever reasons I will give you something you can print  such as for an example:

In his pending book on female bodybuilding, Randy Roach has written that Charles Gaines told him he attended the 1974 Mr. Olympia and witnessed me posing up against Arnold and being forced off the stage.  He told Randy he was amazed that I would pull such a stunt.

 Rasa answers:

OK the statement from Charles Gaines sounds slightly twisted, but I am grateful for it anyway.  Thank you. It sounds like I was competing with Arnold.  This is not true.  It was the end of the show where all the champions posed, it was all finished except the bravos for the winners.  I had won two trophies in Miss Americana – 2nd place & BEST BODY. { I usually won best body in the WBBG & IFBB contests.  Frequently the winners were politically chosen, so I got second place even though – these were body contests mostly – I had the best body & they admitted it.}

 

I was not posing ‘up against’ Arnold.  He was on the edge of the stage, I simply got up for two reasons.  One, I was one of the champions, albeit a woman.  I deserve to pose with the champions.  In this way I made a statement for the women:  We are champions also.  We are not second rate or insignificant.

 

I was not forced off the stage ambiguously by anyone except Arnold, who wanted no images with him & I together, for one thing.  I did not think it out ahead of time & should have posed on the other side of him, lol.  The statement sounds like someone from the authorities of the show forced me off the stage for pulling a ‘stunt’ – like what I did was inappropriate.

 

OK, I did something no other woman had done.  Yes, I am ballsy, but that’s what it took for women to achieve equality with men.  I did it for all women.  And Arnold, not a gentleman, treated me like a male competitor.  No decent man would have done what he did.  He is NOT decent.

 

I am the kind of woman who broke down the iron doors for women – I kicked it open for them, they kicked me in the ass.  The women followed power, which they wanted a piece of.  I helped them get it.  But they did not acknowledge the one who broke the door down, they followed the Weider narrative which was only those who bent the knee to them – be it physically, economically, emotionally, politically, got recognition.  For example, Doris B.  She kow towed to both Weider & Lurie, she was a mealy mouth double agent.  Lurie gave her a magazine of her own!  She FAILED, the magazine did not sell because she was not capable of running it.  Why did he not give me the magazine?  It could have been successful.  Because look at my success rate.  Now in the Weider rendition of the history of female body building, they praise Doris but ignore me, they speak of her early publication which was just a provincial news piece, probably a circulation of 100 if that.  I had from 1975 to 1979 reached untold millions for female body building.  So she was ‘one of them’.  She even betrayed her friend Rachel McLish.  Somebody started some nonsense about Rachel wearing a padded bra bikini, & she dutifully checked & said yes, the material was kind of thick or words to that effect. If she was her friend she should have said, ‘That’s ridiculous, who cares if her bra is padded?  Don’t look at her bra, look at her body.’  But instead she cooperated with them.  This is shown right in the move, ‘Pumping Iron, the Women.’  I was disgusted & felt pity for Rachel – to be humiliated like that.

 

 

If you get to speak with Charles Gaines again ask him the following:

    “Who forced Kellie off the stage, & how?  She says Arnold de facto pushed her off by getting closer & closer to her to the edge until she had to jump off” 

    “What do you mean by she pulled a stunt?  Was this not the spot where all the champions posed, at the end of the show?  Wasn’t she one of the champions?”

    “She said she was simply posing as a champion, not against Arnold or anyone.  She did it for the women to have equal rights.”

 

This is when female body building went into decline:

American Media, Inc., Agrees to Acquire Weider Publications,

   NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Nov. 27, 2002–American Media, Inc. Evercore Partners and Weider Health and Fitness announced today that they have reached an agreement for AMI and Evercore to acquire Weider Publications, Inc. and its related properties for aggregate consideration of $350 million.            Randy says it started to decline prior to that & Rasa says:  On second thought, when looking at the dates, yes, it was already in decline, this was the nail in the coffin. 

From Randy Roach, {from his future book on female body building}

Rasa, this is a quote from you that precedes What Charles said.: 

…Seeing Arnold on the far right of the platform, I decided it was perfect. I wanted to get up next to him and pose. I had to summon my courage, because this wasn’t your usual routine.  The other women never thought of doing such a thing.  I jumped up and began posing beside Arnold.  He was totally absorbed and didn’t acknowledge me at all, but his vibes were definitely cold.  Arnold began posing against me like one of his fellow competitors as they jostle for best position to the judges.  He would hit a pose and I would follow.   He was very good at this and he kept inching me closer and closer to the edge of the stage until I had to jump from the stage rather than be knocked off.”  

This is what surprised Charles that you would go over and pose against him until he forced you to jump from the stage.  Charles said nothing wrong nor was he nasty or critical of you.  No one saw anything like that in 1974 so it was a bit of a shock to him.

            Rasa says:  About female bb ending – Yes, as I looked at the dates, you are right.  How do you place the end of female bb?  I put it with Kim, after that a downhill deal.  Then the bitter end.  But they deserved it {the women} because, IMO, they repudiated me & parroted the Weider narrative.  {You don’t know what I went through when I returned to speak on body building forums & groups in 2006.  I was ATTACKED by women from all angles – the women who were respected in the field.  My insider was ‘George Legeros,’ a photographer.  He gave me scoops on what had gone on those many years I no longer participated.  He said many things, like Weider dealing against the law in employment, not allowing his professionals to compete elsewhere – that breaks the law.  To be his professional if you entered someone else’s contest you lost your pro card.

My version of what transpired on the stage with the champs?  My memory has a slightly more edited version because  I’m more aware of my intentions.  Even my own observation might be skewed, then.  I can understand then how it looked, if I imitated anything Arnold did.  I wish I had some images.  There had to have been images taken.

 

However, the images taken would all have been by WEIDER PEOPLE.  How do I know?  I gave free tickets to DENIE, who was taking shots for Muscle Training Illustrated of Dan Lurie.  He was approached by the Weider people & told he was not allowed to take pictures.  In a huff, he & his wife walked out.  Wrong move.  I was pissed.  He should have stayed & taken the pictures on the sly. Therefore, any pics taken most of them – perhaps not all – would have been by Weiders & they were ordered NOT to disseminate anything with Arnold & me, especially those which might put him in a bad light – pushing a woman off stage.

There were probably amateurs taking shots, but I don’t have access to that.  After my movie comes out they will come out of the woodwork.

When I was dancing / preaching in Toronto a journalist movie – maker was there many days.  Each day he shot from a different angle, obviously planning a future movie.  This will some day come out – when my name is in lights again.

To add to what I said about tyrants, once they’re dead the truth comes out, all the bad stuff.  When people are no longer afraid of Weider & Arnold, more & more negative things will surface.  Their reputations will go downhill.  Weider will be a laughing stock.  Arnold, you will see all his flaws as never before.  But my story will be exonerated.  People will look at the facts with logical spectacles & the dates don’t lie.  And then they’ll know I was pushed out of their version of history because I cuckolded Arnold.  It will be a comedy.  It was all about that, years of revenge.  Arnold is like the Godfather.  If you wronged him 30 years prior he’ll come & get you.  He never forgets, he has to destroy who opposed him.  Yes, I studied his life & read some of his books & many articles.  Yes, I fought back & no, I will not fold up like Mike & Ray Mentzer.

 

BTW the reason Mike M couldn’t take it he was an atheist.  Without God where does one get their strength?  Nowhere.  Who & what is God?  God is all good – Our greatest good.  Faith, hope, trust & confidence in God bring those Blessings to us.  Without these aspirations, we have nothing to hold onto.  We even become the devil’s playground.  And so Mike & Ray went downhill not for physical reasons but mental/emotional/spiritual ones.  They believed in evil – that they were washed up.  Then they had nothing to live for, so they died.  Mike & Ray, all they had were Weider magazines.  That’s all there was.  They were cut off after challenging Arnold.  Their only aspiration in life was to be stars & this was through the Weider magazines.  So when that ended, they ended.

I was depressed after they repudiated me, ignored me.  I felt left out, I demoralized.  How ungrateful could the world be?  Then I remembered, the world isn’t fair.  My mother wasn’t fair. She forced me to carry on after hating me to death.  The Holy Virgin replaced her in my mind.  Jesus & his Cross sustained me.   I died with him & rose again.

Same thing with the body building situation.  Against all odds, suddenly, Dan Lurie comes back with Doug Going running the show.  I plead my case.  I write up the entire history, dates, times, facts, only the facts.  I present it to them & the world.  They have a reunion where they give awards, & I get the award called ‘Progenitor’ – the foundress of modern competitive female body building.  I won, but I had to fight for it.  No one can take it away.  They tried – George Legeros, my insider, turned against me.  Why?  He found out I was against Patriarchy, pro Matriarchy, & he wanted to dominate women, so he turned against me.  He tried to persuade Dan to rescind the award, luckily Doug Going talked Dan into staying firm.  Case closed, end of story, I am exonerated.  But it took faith, work, & confidence in God.

Weider & Arnold were not on God’s side.  Revenge, so the saints say, is a grave sin.  Even when they crucified Jesus neither He nor his Holy Mother took revenge – it is a heinous sin that separates the wrong doers from loving souls.  Revenge drags us down into a Hellish place.  That’s where these guys were & are.  But I must add, although Jesus & Mary did not take revenge, the Almighty did.  King Herod died of a horrible disease where his intestines filled with worms & were crawling out.  The High Priest Ciaphas went insane.  Pontius Pilate’s wife left him & joined the Holy Women.  The dead left their graves & walked the streets, the curtain {like 2 floors high} of the temple ripped from the top down – a phenomenon.  Things happened when the time was ripe. Karma is powerful, nothing can stop karma.

I predict that the cuckolding of Arnold by me will become known & will be a joke like the ‘No wire hangers’ cliché.  Franco caught us in the act back stage, then Arnold interrupted Franco & me in their room.  All the world’s a stage & this is entertainment.  When it comes down to it – movies & such, is what is ironic, funny, bizarre, crazy works.  Bland stuff like everyday life doesn’t.  They will become characters in my life as all my abusers are.  I will make money off them, lol.  What a joke. Why did I take it so seriously?

Who is Randy Roach & What has He Done?

 

https://www.amazon.com/Muscle-Smoke-Mirrors-Randy-Roach/dp/1434376788

 

He’s the author of “Muscle, Smoke & Mirrors,” in 3 volumes, the definitive, accurate, detailed encyclopedia on male body building.

His work is a miracle accomplishment, never before done or will be surpassed – because the account is perfect & cannot be improved.  In reading it, I was absolutely amazed & blown away by what he did, & on top of that, Randy Roach is blind!

He interviewed hundreds of people from all angles of the Game & found out secrets that most of us, even those in the field, had no inkling of.

All I can say is bravo, congratulations, God speed; you have done a monument of truth in a genre that lived on lies.  You took off the masks, the facades, the pretensions of some of the members of the Sport, especially its leaders.  You told it like it is – a big change from the stories others perpetrated – It’s the truth, the truth, & nothing but the truth, Amen.