R.I.P. Reggie

Reggie Destin, killed by a drunk driver while skateboarding in a bike lane. He died from his injuries last Saturday. I didn’t know him personally, but I knew Push, and I hail from Chicago (ages ago) so I feel for you Chicago. There’s a fund set up to help his family pay for his medical expenses.

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TOM SIMS R.I.P.

Tom Sims died last week from a heart attack. My first snowboard was a Sims, because it was in the 80′s and quite frankly, there weren’t a lot of other choices out there. Sims put out some of my favorite skateboard graphics courtesy of Bernie Tostenson, so why would any self-respecting skater choose another brand? The Sims name was trusted and it legitimized the sport to a certain extent, at least through my eyes in that time period. As his clout in the skateboard industry waned, he picked up more steam in snowboarding, and that seems to be how the mainstream media is focusing on. The images above were poached from a gallery on ESPN. They’ve got a story and a video up too, mostly focusing on Tom’s influence in snowboarding. Interesting fact, Sims was instrumental in bringing the halfpipe to snowboarding competition, otherwise it would have been endless slalom races.

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Larry Stevenson – RIP

Larry Stevenson,founder of Makaha Skateboards, publisher of Surf Guide and Poweredge Magazines and inventor of the kick tail passed away at age 82. RIP indeed.

Update: Obituaries in the NY Times and LA Times.

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Tommy K Memorial Jam in Virginia

From the organizers:

The past two years people of Williamsburg have started a tradition of Tommy Karafa Skate Day. This is a yearly skate contest to honor our friend and neighbor Tommy Karafa who passed in a tragic car accident two years ago in Williamsburg, VA. This contest is to serve as a remembrance of him, as all profits go toward the Tommy Karafa scholarship fund to help underprivileged youths attend college. His father runs the fund and helps students with paying for the ever rising costs of furthering their education. Last year we had a great turnout of over 150 in attendance, with 30 participants in the contest. This year we hope to double that number by teaming up with Anti-Gravity Skateshop in Newport News, VA to bring the premier contest to the Peninsula.

1st prize is a $1000! I believe that’s more than the entire purse for this year’s Oregon Trifecta!

Anti-Gravity Skatepark
371 Chatham Dr. Newport News, VA 23602
757-890-8040

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Dawn of the Shred – Tommy McGuigan memorial challenge

The BCSA is holding a memorial skate challenge for Tommy McGuigan called “Dawn of the Shred” on Saturday July 10th @ 1pm. The event will be held at the Eric Scott McKinley Skatepark in Corvallis and is a fundraiser for the proposed Corvallis Skate Bowl. We will have live music from Hermit, The Left Ovaries and others and a BBQ. The skate challenge includes a skate track time challenge, long ollie (ramp to ramp), longest grind in the bowl, best trick and highest ollie/hippy jump.

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Bob Biniak R.I.P.

Bob Biniak died from complications related to a heart attack last Thursday. Top left photo courtesy of Glen E. Friedman. Board photo from Disposable. I might have to start reading my Google Alerts again.

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R.I.P. Andy Kessler

Member of the original Zoo York art/skate crew, activist, skatepark designer, and all around skate scene motivator Andy Kessler died from an allergic reaction to a wasp sting on Monday. As reported in Forbes, Skateboarder</a, ESPN, the Associated Press, UPI, New York magazine, and everywhere else but here, until now. Thanks to everyone who sent in the tips, I’m obviously not reading my google alerts this week. Here’s a 2007 video interview with Andy and another lengthy 2005 profile.

[Photo: Kingbee]

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Baby Paul Cullen (1962-2009)

He was the Z-Boy that had the smallest amount of screen time in the documentary, and he was also the youngest one, hence the name “Baby.” Paul Cullen passed away on the 23rd last week. Cause of death has not been officially made known, but there has been some obvious speculation due to a history of substance abuse. His memorial was open to the public this past Saturday. The image above is from Glen E. Friedman, who recommends you check out Paul’s section on the official Z-Boys page. Yo Venice has more recent pictures of Paul.

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