Jim Weinstein, one of the original founders of the trade organization that became SIA, and four decades corporate counsel to the organization, died October 20 in Woodstock, Vt. He was 101 years old.
Educated as an attorney, Mr. Weinstein helped organize the National Ski Equipment and Clothing Association, serving as counsel for the group that was founded in 1954 over concerns with the timing of the existing national ski trade show in New York. In 1959 the group had taken full control of the annual show, and changed its name to Ski Industries America. Jim was corporate counsel to the organization for four decades. He also organized and ran the National Ski Credit Association, a credit reporting agency. Later, Jim also served as legal counsel to both the New England Sporting Goods Agents Association and to the American Windsurfing Industries Association.
Jim skied until age 80, and while he and his wife Selma “retired” to Vermont, he continued to practice law, sporadically, until age 99. Weinstein was still sharp as a tack at age 98, when he assisted in preparing a 50-year history of the national trade show.
Jim Weinstein is survived by two children, David and Wendy, five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Wife Selma died in 1996.
