January 14, 2000 - I sit looking out
the window of my office watching the snow fall and
write this article with a heavy heart. Dan "the
guru" Duchaine passed away in his apartment in Southern
California January 12th, 2000. He was 48 years old.
The very word enigma was designed with Dan Duchaine
in mind. Even his closest friends were never sure
what side of Dan they would see. The outside world
only saw one side, that of the mad scientist steroid
guru looking for a way to shock the world with a
new idea or discovery. Dan's contribution to the
sports and bodybuilding industry stretches much
farther than most people realize and few are willing
to give credit for his genius. I don't use the term
genius lightly. Love him or hate him, Dan Duchaine
was one of the smartest people I have ever known.
Without so much as a high school biology course
under his belt, he understood concepts and theorized
on aspects of human nutrition, biology, and chemistry
that would leave many scientists speechless. He
was not always correct in his theories, but his
ability to open up new avenues of thought on a topic
was unrivaled and unequaled. His creativity and
curiosity in approaching a topic was his greatest
strength, and he knew it. For better or for worse,
Dan has probably had more effect on the sports supplement
industry than any single person.
Dan's public life regarding his legal problems,
jail sentences, and out spoken views on steroids
and other performance enhancing drugs are well known,
so I won't beleaguer his memory with those facets
of his life here. What most people don't know about
Dan is that he had many sides to him no one would
have ever expected. Dan had very few people in the
world he considered close friends, and I was honored
enough to be considered one of them. He was one
of the most generous people I have ever met and
was a very kind person in fact. He would lend money
to friends in need never really expecting to be
paid back. He paid all the bills for his only living
relative, an aunt who resides in Maine. Dan had
a sense of humor that could only be described as
wicked and brilliant. Readers could get a glimpse
of that humor in the many articles he wrote over
the years in countless publications. Dan was more
like a devious ten year old boy than an adult man
at times. The world seemed to bore Dan, and like
many ten year old boys, he would often entertain
himself by making trouble. Most people thought he
did it to be mean spirited, but I knew he did it
out of some devious need for excitement. He would
often tell others some bit of information which
a friend had asked him to keep as a secret. When
confronted with this he would often say "Well, yes
I did it, but I just had so much fun doing it I
could not resist!" and break into laughter. It was
hard to stay mad at him. There was the time he stood
up in a seminar of over 200 people and informed
them that Mike Mentzer had just died. The room was
aghast by the sudden news. When people found out
it was not true, they were angry at Dan. Dan maintained
a "good source" had told him about Mentzer's demise
just before leaving for the seminar. I knew better
and accused him of just making it up to entertain
himself and cause more trouble. He gave me a devilish
grin and refused to speak about it. To me, Dan was
a mixture of Andy Kaufman and Albert Einstein, with
some Bart Simpson thrown in.
Dan tried to give off the persona of that of
an uncaring loner, but nothing could be further
from the truth. Dan loved children and it was one
of his greatest wishes to be a father some day.
I recall him telling me how much he wanted to be
a father as we drove down the highway one sunny
afternoon in LA. "What?" I said "the Steroid Guru
want's to be a father?" "Yes Will," he replied,
"more than anything in the world." Sad to say, that
wish never came true. Dan had many plans for the
future and many talents most people were unaware
of. He had recently started a small bike building
company and had plans to build a new type of hybrid
bicycle he had designed himself. The truth be known,
Dan was sick to death of the bodybuilding industry
and confided in me that if the bike business took
off he would be happy to never write another article
as long as he lived. Dan and I had also been working
on producing a TV show together and he had made
good contacts for pursuing that. The show was going
to be sort of a crazy hybrid fitness show and 50's
style variety show with plenty of hot fitness babes
thrown in for good measure (and ratings!). Dan had
many hobbies and talents people never knew about
and that was fine with Dan. He was a very private
person, though not because he didn't like people
but because he didn't know who liked him. He always
felt like the odd person out. In an industry of
unique individuals, Dan was the most unique of individuals.
As for what happened to Dan, Dan died in his
sleep at his apartment from what appears to be natural
causes. He was found Thursday, Jan. 13th by his
close friend Shelley Hominuk. As most people know,
Dan had always had various health problems throughout
his life. He was born with polycystic kidney disease,
a genetic defect that often leads to kidney failure.
While in prison years ago, Dan suffered a small
stroke which he recovered from. Last year, he had
gallbladder problems which turned out to be gallstones
and a possible ulcer. Most recently, Dan had been
suffering with the flu which had plagued him for
weeks. His health declined and his bodyweight dropped
drastically. Typical of stubborn Dan, he refused
to go to the hospital. When he didn't answer his
phone, Shelley became concerned and went looking
to see if he was all right. Of course the rumor
mill will try and place Dan's death on some more
mysterious cause, but by all accounts, including
both the police and coroner's report, Dan died of
natural causes. Dan is, and will always be, my friend.
Wherever you are Dan, I know you are making trouble
and laughing at all of us. The world will not be
the same without The Guru, Dan Duchaine.
More on The Dan Duchaine Situation
Hello all. As you all know, Dan Duchaine died
of complications related to Poly Cystic Kidney disease
last week. Many people have contacted me asking
if there was a place they could send flowers or
donate money to charity. So, I have set up a special
fund with the National
Kidney Foundation under Dan's name.
Those interested in donating money to this fund
can send it to:
The Dan Duchaine Memorial Fund
c/o Steve Evangelista,
National Kidney Foundation,
129 Morgan Drive,
Norwood MA, 02062
Steve is the CEO of the
National Kidney
Foundation and can be reached at:
[email protected]
if you have any questions.
This money will be directed toward research for
people who suffer from Poly Cystic Kidney disease
and I believe are tax deductible donations. I have
opened the fun with $250.00 of my own money. Please
feel free to pass this email around to others who
are not on my mailing list but may be interested
in this info. If you have a web site, feel free
to post this on your site and/or send it out to
people on your own mailing lists. I will be contacting
the magazines shortly with this info also. In all
honesty, Dan would have made fun of me for setting
up such a fund but I felt it was the best way to
make sure he did not die in vain. I have to think
if there were better treatment options for Poly
Cystic kidney disease, the infamous guru would be
with us today making trouble for years to come...
Regards - Will Brink
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