Old guys skateboard, slightly different angle

Posted by: Kilwag (editor) on May 25th, 2011
Categories: Media Watch, Newspapers, Skate
Tags: downhill, old guys

The San Francisco Chronicle has a very short piece on 76 year old downhill enthusiast Lloyd Kahn who’s only been skating for about 11 years.

– Thanks to Eric Cherry for the tip.

38 thoughts on “Old guys skateboard, slightly different angle”

ryn on May 25, 2011 - Reply

76? I’d say he gets a pass on the longboard. Pretty awesome.

ED on May 25, 2011 - Reply

is that WES??

shvitz on May 25, 2011 - Reply

Gramps would go…

talentlessquitter on May 25, 2011 - Reply

I can only pray I look that good when I’m his age….and still riding!
You’re a hero,Lloyd. check in;I want to know what deck you ride!

K.C. on May 25, 2011 - Reply

I met this old skateboarder Bill Dorr, at Skate City back in 1978. He was in his late 50’s back then, and killed it for an old guy. He passed away a few years ago when he was around 80. Here is a great photo of him skating the old Upland Combi.
http://teamgoon.com/ads/billdorr.htm

Prickly Pete on May 26, 2011 - Reply

I remember this piece on Bill Dorr in Transworld(?).

The oldest skater I ever heard of is a guy named Louis Zamperini. He survived the Bataan Death march, lived in Malibu, surfed, and skated until he was in his mid 80s. His kids made him quit.
Gavin on May 26, 2011 - Reply

I remember reading something about him too, but it might have been Thrasher. I think it said he didn’t start skating till he was 36.
zeno01 on May 26, 2011 - Reply

Dang, I remember that Bill Dorr thing in Thrasher. Wow, awesome, thanks for the link!
ric on December 25, 2011 - Reply

Thank you for the picture. Bill and I were close friends when he was a procucer and art collector in the West Village. If you know any friends of his from the west coast would you ask them to contact me. Thank you. Ric
1. runaway on February 21, 2012 - Reply
  
  could you contact me regarding Bill Dorr pls?
  Thx
  info@addiktskateboards.com
  1. K.C. on February 22, 2012 - Reply
    
    Bill Door set himself apart from any of the other old man skateboarders. In 1980, he skated and ripped bowls, and he dressed like a skate punk way before you could purchase that look down at the mall. He always told me Dennis “Polar Bear” Agnew was his was favorite skater. He really knew what was up. He was way ahead of the times.
2. Diane Johnson on July 19, 2012 - Reply
  
  I am Bill Dorr’s niece. We stayed in touch when he was still here. I loved his emails. I was always inspired by Bill. He really lived life. I believe he would love know that he inspired many! I would love to have contact with someone who knew him. My father passed several years ago. My Dad was about 5’6″. Bill was very tall, like at least 6′. My Dad was a member of Mensa. Bill, was an inspiration. They were very different, but both great men. My Maiden name was Dorr. Contact me if via email if you knew him. Thanks! Diane Skate-on!!!
  1. mike campbell on November 28, 2012 - Reply
    
    awww.. yes,,i use to see him at powell skate zone golet ca,in the early 90’s…he was an awsome skate boarder,,i was 15 at the time
    1. mike campbell on November 28, 2012 -
      
      imean goleta 🙂 santa barbara ca
    2. chris on April 22, 2013 -
      
      I MET BILL AT THE CARLSBAD SKATE PARK BACK IN ABOUT 89 HE WAS SUPER COOL GUY. MY PARENTS WERE WEIRDED OUT WHEN I ASKED IF THIS REALLY OLD GUY COULD TAKE US TO THE TIJUANA SKATE PARK. IT WAS A GOOD TIME. WE ALSO STAYED AT HIS PLACE IN L.A. THE ONLY OLD GUY IN THE WORLS WITH A MINI HALF PIPE IN HIS LIVING ROOM. I STAYED IN TOUCH THROUGH 99 OR SO. GOOD MEMORIES!!
    3. Matt on August 14, 2015 -
      
      I too stayed at bills place in LA. He let us stay at his place to skate in a CASL tournament the next day. He used to skate at mcgill’s skatepark in Carlsbad in late 80’s. He even came to visit me when I moved to Las Vegas. Great skate memories with him.
  2. Duke Perkins on December 5, 2012 - Reply
    
    Diane, I used to skate with Bill from 91-94. He sponsored me to do competition with CASL (California Amateur Skateboard League) in 93 and he really helped boost my skills in skateboarding as he would haul us around to many skate parks in Los Angeles and up to Goleta, CA for the Powell Peralta Skate Zone before it closed.
    
    Bill was a very cool cat and was down to earth. I cant say how grateful I was and still am that he offered his time and guidance to me and many other skaters in LA and abroad. Last I spoke with him was in 2001 and I never really got to get back in touch with him as I lost his phone number and address (lost my notebook and cell phone). I take it that he passed away. If he has or hasn’t, I would greatly appreciate you letting me know.
  3. George on December 16, 2012 - Reply
    
    Hi Diane,
    
    I knew Bill Dorr very well when he lived in Greenwich Village, NY back in the 70’s. I was in a rock band that he was producing and managing. I knew his roommate Eddie and his cats Moonhaze and Raticator. He had a “playpen” in his living room filled with thousands of little foam rubber cubes. When you partied at his house sometimes he would give you a silk tie-died shift to put on before diving into the playpen. I can’t tell you how many times I fell asleep in that thing. Did you know that Bill appeared in the Dustin Hoffman movie “Midnight Cowboy”? Bill’s friends on the east coast would like to know about his final years. When did he pass away? You can write me at nbdtc@aol.com. Thanks and regards, George Chen
  4. Pietro Balducci on June 3, 2016 - Reply
    
    Hi Diane Johnson,
    
    My name is Pietro Balducci from Brasil, professional skateboarder in late 90’s and i used to live with William in Santa Monica. I understand right, William Dorr passed away? What a sad news for me these weekend. I need to talk to you. Send me some news in my email
    Sincerely yours,
    Pietro
  5. Gon on October 21, 2016 - Reply
    
    Hi Diane,
    My name
  6. Bruce on April 15, 2022 - Reply
    
    I went to college with Bill. We got together when I first visited LA in the early 80s and he took me to the skateboard park. I was just looking him up online and sorry to see he has passed away. I feared that would be the case as he was a lot older than all of us in college. He was quite a character.
3. vic wheatman on April 18, 2014 - Reply
  
  I worked for Bill dorr at New York City liaison films in the 60’s. on a whim I started to look for him. I’m sad that he has passed away to the great skateboard city in the sky.

MC on May 25, 2011 - Reply

Cool, 26 more years for me.

CCKEN on May 26, 2011 - Reply

It would be cool to be 76 and still skating 53 and trying.

Bevilacqua on May 26, 2011 - Reply

I have 32 beautiful years left… ie I am midway in my skating years.

talentlessquitter on May 26, 2011 - Reply

Hah! 40 years to go,but severely lacking body balance…

Bevil,quest’ce que c’est? Did you do the Ultraskate 24hrs last weekend?
1. Bevilacqua on May 27, 2011 - Reply
  
  nonono – too bad – I am not a Parisian , I live 8000 km away from Paris, in Guadeloupe, French West Indies.
  1. talentlessquitter on May 27, 2011 - Reply
    
    I should have known,sorry! Well,I wasn’t there either.I just read it on your site.

Jkp on May 27, 2011 - Reply

Isn’t Duane Peters almost 76?

Human Wreckage on May 27, 2011 - Reply

In DP years! Nyuck nyuck nyuck…

talentlessquitter on May 27, 2011 - Reply

Apparently famous surfer Doc Ball skated well into his 80’s.

A guy in cw vol.3 #3 started skating at 50.

“old men are on the rise”,Kilwag,you said it here:

http://skateandannoy.com/2007/02/a-civilized-way-to-spend-an-evening/#more-1358

Wheel Love » Old Men Skating on June 4, 2011 - Reply

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Dornie on December 26, 2011 - Reply

I’m 25 and I’m gonna start skateboarding right now, this has inspired me

K.C. on April 22, 2013 - Reply

So I’ve been thinking. Old guys skateboarding used to kind of freek me out. I mean there is always that thought in the back of your head that there is something wrong with that old dude that frequents the skatepark. Flashforward 35 years from the time that I met Bill Dorr, and I’m that old dude at the skatepark. Married almost 20 years, I march to my own drum, I wont conform to society’s standards either. Bill had his own thing going and thats cool. Blaze your own trail, do what you want. Anarchy! Skateboarding Rules!

2views on April 23, 2013 - Reply

To K.C.
“I mean there is always that thought in the back of your head that there is something wrong with that old dude that frequents the skatepark.”

What could you mean? MSNBC/Fox/CNN BS perhaps? Funny that such ‘new concepts’ seemed to ONLY happen in the states. In other words; I know a different language/culture…. and those concepts ARE STILL NOT THERE.

Obviously, the corporate US media has put those thoughts in your head.

2views on April 23, 2013 - Reply

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