Lars Weiss was born in Linköping in 1946 and had a long career as a journalist.
He has worked for both Aftonbladet, Swedish Radio and Swedish Television before he started in 1990 on the then newly started TV channel TV4, where he worked as news director and program director.
Anne Lagercrantz, head of the news division at SVT, worked with Lars Weiss on TV4 in the 90s.
- He was tough, with a beard and boots.
At first I was afraid of him but I quickly realized that there was an enormous warmth and generosity behind the tough facade.
He has been a huge inspiration for my generation of journalists with his drive and passion.
He always wanted to complicate things and put them in larger contexts, she says.
- Journalism is among the most expensive and time consuming you can engage in and it is not obvious for for-profit companies to do so.
And Lars was absolutely crucial for that to happen.
I hope by god that his variety does not die out, she says.
"An extremely warm person"
The TV4 profile Bengt Magnusson also highlights the importance Lars Weiss has had for news journalism on the channel.
- He and Janne Andersson built up TV4 Nyheterna together.
He had an incredible drive both in the news work and in general, says Bengt Magnusson.
- He was also an extremely warm and nice person who was fun to hang out with.
He was always quick to laugh and joke, and it is not bad that an editorial leader has that side, he says.
In addition to journalism, Lars Weiss was also active as a writer and has published several books, including In the Time of Lack, which is about the grief of his son who died in a car accident in 2002.
Lars Weiss turned 75 years old.