David Wedeck

A LIFE: DAVID WEDECK, 1926-2011

'It's a triumph of human will and persistence'

Some professional paths are hard to figure. That of Teaneck's David Wedeck is a case in point.

The Brooklyn native enjoyed a successful career in advertising and TV. After a stint in network sales at CBS, he joined NBC Entertainment as vice president/program scheduling. A 1982 promotion, to vice president/programs, East Coast, put him in charge of a new nightly talk show starring a young comedian named David Letterman.

From his office at 30 Rock, Mr. Wedeck watched on a monitor as Letterman taped "Late Night" elsewhere in the building.

Once, after being idled by a writer's strike, Letterman wondered during taping why the NBC brass hadn't welcomed him back. So he picked up the phone, called Mr. Wedeck and the two bantered away.

Mr. Wedeck retired in 1991 and, before long, turned his attention to something entirely different: eyeglass frames.

"For whatever reason, he thought that because women liked to wear their glasses as an accessory, wouldn't it be great if you could change out the frames using the same lenses," Mr. Wedeck's son, Doug, recalled.

What prompted his wonderment?

"His mind was always going," Doug said, "and this is one idea that just popped into his head."

Working from his home office and kitchen table, and consulting people in the eyewear industry, Mr. Wedeck set out to design screw-less eyeglasses that snap open where the temple meets the frame so the lenses can easily pop out and be used in different frames.

This was remarkable for three reasons:

Mr. Wedeck didn't have an engineering background.

He didn't have an optical background.

He didn't even wear glasses.

In the late '90s, Mr. Wedeck, already with one patent to his credit, took his design to an optical trade show at the Javits Convention Center. He met up with David Chute, then an executive with Marchon Eyewear.

Chute listened as the retired television exec spoke about eliminating the tiny eye-wire screws from eyeglass frames. He looked at the plans. Though impressed with Mr. Wedeck's determination, Chute decided the technology wasn't quite there, and took a pass. But the two men stayed in touch.

Several years later, Chute launched a California firm, i2C Ventures, that commercializes patented eyewear techniques. He agreed to help Mr. Wedeck license his technology.

"I worked with him on his prototype and we made improvements, making it more aesthetically appealing," said Chute, who was only too happy to work with Mr. Wedeck.

"Here's this retired guy coming out of left field, with no knowledge of the optical business. But he saw a problem and went out there to solve it. And he kept at it. It's a triumph of human will and persistence.

"I had a warm place in my heart for David," Chute said. "It meant a lot to him to get his design into the marketplace."

In 2005, Viva International Group agreed to globally market Mr. Wedeck's technology under the name V-Lock. While Mr. Wedeck originally envisioned his technology as a way for eyeglass wearers to make a fashion statement, the marketplace saw a different benefit, Chute said: Eliminating the eye-wire screws meant there were no pesky screws to fall out.

"Viva International Group launches V-Lock, a patented technology that replaces the eye-wire screw with a barely visible snap lock-in system," the trade magazine 20/20 reported in April 2006. "The system provides a secure clasp that prevents lenses from falling out and fits snugly, not snagging hair or clothes."

David Wedeck was a man of ideas  and he had royalty checks and four patents to show for it.

He died July 21, at age 85.

E-mail: levin@northjersey.com