Lenny Persin aka BIG LENNY Dies

Lenny Persin aka BIG LENNY Dies

The bodybuilding world is reeling after the news of the passing of Lenny Persin aka BIG LENNY. Lenny was one of the most celebrated bodybuilders in Palm Beach County, FL. Anytime his name came up on the various message boards, Facebook groups, and Instagram pages, people couldn’t stop talking about how much the man loved bodybuilding. He lived and breathed all things related to building quality muscle. He developed a physique that quite frankly will go down in history as one of the most jaw-dropping. Despite the fact he an odd midsection, he was built everything else as best as he could. He was able to develop tremendous amounts of muscle, posed his heart off on stage, and really believed in entertaining the audience. Although Lenny did not look like Frank Zane or Robbie Robinson in terms of shape, what he lacked in aesthetics, he made up for in heart.

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Lenny made so many people happy – including himself – by pursuing his lifelong passion of competing on bodybuilding stages. He did a number of interviews with a number of outlets and publications and was also the center of a major documentary. Although he was a very humble man, he was also a superstar waiting for his big break. I was able to meet Leonard at the 2017 Ruby Classic in Boca Raton. Not only did he compete at that competition, but he left a piece of his soul on that stage. For years to come people associated that show with Lenny, Jason, and The Delray Misfits. I will be including some of the videos from that magical show on this article. And it was magical, let me tell you.

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It was always my wish to work with Leonard on some capacity, whether it was on IronMag TV or even with StrengthAddicts, directly.  As I said earlier, the guy had tremendous heart. There was no lying in him. Although he constantly threw shade at people he perceived to be cookie cutters, he was never about trying to hurt anyone. This was not a guy who needed to push others down so that he could get ahead. He was a noble soul. He was a caring individual that really wanted to help people. Although often portrayed as a renegade and as an outlaw, Big Lenny – deep down – was a big teddy bear. He probably wouldn’t like that assessment, but that’s exactly who and what he was.

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I think that Andrew and Brad did a great deal for Leonard. They made sure that he wasn’t being taken advantage of and they also made sure that he was able to realize his true potential while not literally going off the deep end. Sadly, a guy like Lenny could get played over and over again in this industry. There’s a lot of scammers here and they really always had his back. They should take great comfort in that. Lenny had two REAL friends in both of them.

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Even the trolls loved Lenny!! Unfortunately the same trolls that made him famous also tried to bring him down. That’s because not all trolls are the same. Some are good people that want to help and others just love the chaos. Whether it was with Lenny, Jason, The Delray Misfits or anybody else, they’re not necessarily supporters – if anything they are saboteurs. Nonetheless, the consensus amongst the trolls was that Lenny was the real deal. He wasn’t a cookie cutter, he wasn’t a faker; he was the same person on camera as he was off camera. Whether you loved him or didn’t understand him, you respected him. And that being said, I don’t know of a single person that ever could say they disliked the big man.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t include one of the best rivalries in bodybuilding history. It involved Big Lenny and Dale “Chucky Cheese” Chance. You couldn’t ask for two guys that loved each other more. Even at the height of their run these guys always had a deep-founded respect for one another. Even the trolls saw it. In fact, they bore witness to the fact that both guys – when stripped of all the nonsense and all the drama and all the shit talk – really liked each other deep down. It was a shame that The Delray Misfits broke up, but at the same time it had to happen. There were things that were going on that were quite frankly just too much. That being said, The Delray Misfits will live on. And you can’t have The Delray Misfits without Big Lenny. You just can’t do it. They will tell you as I am telling you. Lenny was a driving force. He was the heart and soul of that group.

We will always remember people like Big Lenny because they were real. They loved bodybuilding and they loved everything about it. We have plenty of fakers and posers to go around in this industry, but the guys like Big Lenny are a few and far between.

Rest in peace gentle giant!