creator of PowerBar dies...
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Brian Maxwell, a former world-ranked marathoner who created the PowerBar in his kitchen to improve his performance and kicked off a sports nutrition revolution in the process, has died of an apparent heart attack, friends said on Sunday.
He was 51. Maxwell collapsed on Friday while waiting on line to mail a package at the San Anselmo post office in northern California's Marin County, friends said.
He was taken to Marin County General Hospital where he was pronounced dead, a hospital spokeswoman said. Maxwell was jogging and eating breakfast with his family hours before he died, friend and former co-worker Debbie Pfeifer told Reuters. By all appearances he seemed healthy, she said.
"His sudden passing was a shock and he will be greatly missed," Pfeifer said. "His entrepreneurial spirit, competitive drive, and generosity touched the lives of many people."
Born in London, Maxwell grew up in Toronto. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1975 with a degree in architecture and received the Brutus Hamilton Award as the outstanding student athlete on the track team, according to the Internet sports resource, theactivenetwork.com, which listed Maxwell as a board member.
For eight years Maxwell earned a living as a long distance runner representing Canada in many international competitions. In 1977 he was ranked No. 3 marathoner in the world by Track & Field News. By 1980 he was the top-ranked Canadian marathon runner on the Olympic team that boycotted the Moscow Olympics.
In 1983 after winning 14 marathons Maxwell developed a stomach ailment that slowed his pace near the end of a race, causing him to finish a disappointing seventh.
He took to the kitchen in his Berkeley, California, apartment and began mixing various low-fat potions that could provide easily-digestible, quick energy.
The bar was developed over three years with help from Bill Vaughn, a biochemist from the University of California at Berkeley, and Jennifer Biddulph, a food science student who would later become his wife.
After offering homemade bars to several friends who claimed their performances improved, Maxwell decided to open a business. He poured his life savings into the company and manufactured 35,000 bars in malt-nut and chocolate flavors.
Maxwell was a natural grass-roots entrepreneur, said Pfeifer, who watched he and his wife personally hand out thousands of bars at Bay area sports events. "He wanted the company to appear bigger than it was so he painted a seven on one side of the PowerBar van and an eleven on the other to make it look like a fleet rather than just one van."
Over the next 13 years, PowerBar expanded into a multimillion-dollar company and created a bevy of competitors including Balance Bars and Clif Bars.
In 2000 the company was sold to Nestle SA, the world's biggest food company, for a reported $375 million, and Maxwell turned his energies to mentoring other entrepreneurs and philanthropic activities. He was also a big believer in maintaining a balance between work and family life, Pfeifer said, and he spent enormous amounts of time with his family. He is survived by his wife and six children.
